It appears Wade Phillips is finally retired.

The former Broncos head coach and defensive coordinator in April 2025 extended his record for being the oldest head coach in pro football history, steering the San Antonio Brahmas of the United Football League at age 77. He ended up stepping down after three games that spring season for medical reasons, but Phillips wouldn’t acknowledge last year that he was retired.

But what about now for Phillips, who turned 79 on June 21?

“I’m retired,” he told The Denver Gazette on Saturday.

Then there was a pause.

“Unless somebody calls,” he said.

Phillips does acknowledge that is unlikely. And he was happy to reflect on his career, which included being a head coach for six different NFL teams. He was the Broncos’ head man from 1993-94 and their defensive coordinator from 1989-92 and 2015-16.

“Being in the NFL for 42 years is a long time,” Phillips said of an NFL coaching career that spanned from 1976-2019 with two seasons away during that time. “I enjoyed it, the players and coaches I’ve been able to coach. It’s been a great career. I’m lucky to be where I am.”

The son of legendary NFL head coach Bum Phillips overall was a coach for more than 50 years. His first job was as a graduate assistant at his Houston alma mater in 1969. After his last season in the NFL in 2019 as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, he had spring stints as head coach with the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks in 2023 and in the UFL with San Antonio. He led the Brahmas to the championship game in 2024 before his abbreviated 2025 campaign.

Phillips told The Denver Gazette last September he stepped down from the Brahmas because medicine he was taking for diabetes “was giving me bad side effects.” But he was able to return later in 2025 to what he considers good health for his age.

As to still being in the record books as the oldest head coach in pro football history, Phillips said, “I’m glad it’s me. That’s the one you want.”

Phillips spends his time these days following the career of son Wes Phillips, the offensive coordinator for Minnesota. He stood on the sideline Saturday for the Vikings’ 13-3 preseason home loss to Baltimore.

The Vikings close the preseason at Denver on Friday night, but Phillips said he will be watching at his home in the Houston area. And when the regular season gets underway, he will be glued to the television.

“I watch eight games at once (on Sundays) and it drives my wife (Laurie) crazy,” he said.

Phillips compiled a strong 82-64 NFL head-coaching mark in 12 seasons between 1985 and 2013. He had full-time gigs with the Broncos, Buffalo and Dallas and interim stints with New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston.

Phillips called a top highlight winning Super Bowl 50 with Denver in the 2015 season while serving under head coach Gary Kubiak. He was thrilled when the Broncos had a 10-year reunion for the champions and he led the team out of the tunnel at halftime of an Oct. 19, 2025 game against the New York Giants while holding up the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“That was nice,” he said. “That was really nice of Gary and those guys to let me do it. It was a proud moment for all of us.”

Phillips’ unit that season was ranked No. 1 in the NFL in total defense, the only time in team history the Broncos have been at the top of the heap.

“I think I turned around the defense almost every year with every team I went with,” Phillips said of his coaching stints, which also included being defensive coordinator for New Orleans, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Atlanta, San Diego and Houston.

As for a career lowlight, Phillips was asked if it was as Buffalo’s head coach in the 1999 playoffs, when Tennessee beat the Bills 22-16 on the “Music City Miracle.” The win came on a last-second 75-yard kickoff return by Kevin Dyson after a controversial lateral that stood after a replay as being illegal.

“It was a forward lateral, but you can’t get it back,” Phillips said. “But the losses wear you down. I had so many wins, so I try to think back to them.”

There is indeed plenty for Phillips to look back at.

Broncos beef up defense with Rapp

After being No. 2 in the NFL in total defense in 2025, the Broncos are looking to pass Houston to be No. 1 in 2026.

Perhaps the addition of veteran safety Taylor Rapp will help.

The Broncos on Thursday signed Rapp to perhaps be the No. 3 safety behind starters Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones. Last year’s top reserve at the spot was P.J. Locke, who ended up starting the final three regular-season games and Denver’s two playoff games after Jones suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. But Locke signed with Dallas in March as a free agent.

Rapp played for the Rams from 2019-22, which included being a starter on a Super Bowl-winning team in the 2021 season and for the Bills from 2023-25. Phillips was Rapp’s defensive coordinator when he was a rookie in 2019 and had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

“He’s real smart and he has some athletic ability,” Phillips said. “We really liked him. He’s versatile enough to play strong safety, free safety and even some nickel back, if you need him.”

Rapp was a starter for Buffalo in 2024 and until being lost for the season in Week 6 of 2025 with a knee injury. He was released by the Bills last March.

“I think he should help Denver,” said Steve Tasker, a Bills special teams ace from 1986-97, who is a longtime broadcaster in Buffalo and was recently named the team’s radio sideline announcer for 2026. “He’s a good athlete. Rapp is one of those guys who is a solid pro and I think they really liked him (in Buffalo).”

Rapp didn’t play in the Broncos’ 33-13 loss to Green Bay on Friday night at Empower Field in their second preseason game. He could have come in handy since Packers reserves had plenty of success against Denver defensive reserves.

What I’m hearing

— Another week, another Denver player talking about winning the Super Bowl. That’s been a regular occurrence for the Broncos since they lost 10-7 to New England in the AFC Championship Game last January. Many believe the Broncos at least would have been in the Super Bowl had quarterback Bo Nix not been out with a broken right ankle. “We were one game away from it last year, and we got about the same team back plus two additions,” Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin said about receiver Jaylen Waddle and special teams ace Tycen Anderson signing as free agents in March. “So I think (winning the Super Bowl is) the only thing on our minds.”

— The week before the loss to the Patriots, the Broncos defeated the Bills 33-30 in overtime in a divisional playoff. The key play was a controversial interception by Denver cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian in overtime in which he wrestled the ball away from Brandin Cooks as both players went to the ground. Bills fans continue to believe it should have been ruled a catch. “That’s part of Bills lore now,’’ Tasker said of it being the latest heartbreaking loss for Buffalo in the playoffs. “It’s happened every year for the last six years in one way, shape or form. That’s just another one on the deck.”

What I’m seeing

— Even when it’s preseason, Sean Payton loves to win. So it was no surprise the Broncos head coach was in a grumpy mood when they had their eight-game preseason winning streak snapped Friday. After Payton took over as head coach in 2023, the Broncos lost their first two preseason games in 2023, 18-17 at Arizona and 21-20 at San Francisco. But a 41-0 rout of the Rams then started a streak that lasted three years. “We can’t just say, ‘Hey this is preseason, “’ Payton said. That Denver was dominated by the Packers added even more to the coach’s frustration. “I can’t think of one area that we outplayed them,” said Payton, who listed among his many gripes Green Bay outrushing Denver 118-70 and the Packers having five penalties to the Broncos’ 10.

— Defensive linemen Zach Allen and D.J. Jones have talked about the Broncos breaking Chicago’s 1984 NFL record of 72 sacks in a season. In two preseason games, though, Denver has had just two sacks. None has been by a starter although starters have had reduced playing time. Outside linebacker Drew Sanders had a sack in the 27-7 win at Atlanta on Aug. 14 and outside linebacker Que Robinson had one against the Packers. The continued progression of Robinson, a second-year man, has been a positive for the Broncos in training camp. “I’ve been giving offensive tackles hell all camp, so it feels pretty good to go against somebody else and work a move I’ve been practicing for I don’t know how long,” he said.