Top #KeepWade Phillips Tweets After Broncos Hire New Coach Vance Joseph | Westword
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#KeepWade Hashtag Fails to Keep Wade Phillips From Signing With L.A. Rams

The #KeepWade hashtag had little effect on the status on the Denver Broncos staff of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, one of the main architects of the team's victory in Super Bowl 50. Mere hours after former Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was introduced at a press conference yesterday, reports confirmed suspicions that Phillips had been named DC of the Los Angeles Rams — a woeful franchise, but one with a defense capable of much better things. Whether the same will prove true of Denver's D will be among the more intriguing story lines of the upcoming season.
January 13, 2017
Wade Phillips, in white, at the Broncos' victory parade last February. Tweets and more below.
Wade Phillips, in white, at the Broncos' victory parade last February. Tweets and more below. Photo by Michael Roberts
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Update: The #KeepWade hashtag didn't prevent defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, a major contributor to the Denver Broncos' victory in Super Bowl 50, from either jumping or being pushed from the team's staff. Mere hours after former Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was introduced at a press conference yesterday, reports confirmed suspicions that Phillips had been named DC of the Los Angeles Rams — a woeful franchise, but one with a defense capable of much better things. Whether the same will prove true of Denver's D will be among the more intriguing story lines of the upcoming season. Continue for our previous coverage.

Original post, 6:30 a.m. January 12: Over the objections of many Broncos fans on Twitter, executive John Elway named Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as the team's new head coach — a decision that has those very same supporters so terrified that current DC Wade Phillips will now be jettisoned that they've started a campaign to save his job using the hashtag #KeepWade.

Talk about a worthy cause.

We were among those who didn't think the Joseph hire made sense. After all, the Broncos' biggest problems involve a terribly deficient offense and two young QBs, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, whose development is key to Denver doing damage in the years to come. As such, the best man for the job seemed to be Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, whose play-calling acumen and quarterback-whispering skills are second to none right now.

In contrast, the Broncos' defense under Phillips remained the strength of the squad — which is why, in our previous post, we urged Elway and company to move heaven and earth to retain Wade.

Instead, Big John gave the nod to Joseph, setting into motion a classic fixing-what-isn't-broken scenario. The offense could still be addressed, especially if either Mike McCoy or Bill Musgrave (a graduate, like me, of Grand Junction High School!) are brought aboard to coordinate things on that side of the ball. But Phillips now becomes extraneous under Joseph, who'll want to use his own system rather than deferring to a veteran in his specific area of specialty.

Nonetheless, plenty of fans don't want Phillips to go anywhere — hence the proliferation of #KeepWade (and #SaveWade) hashtags. Count down our picks for the twenty most memorable tweets on the topic below.

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Continue to see ten more memorable #KeepWade Phillips tweets in the wake of the Broncos hiring Vance Joseph as the team's next head coach.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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