A year ago, Wade Phillips was out of football for a full season for only the second time since he got into coaching as a graduate assistant at the University of Houston in 1969.
He was 67 years old.
His hair long had been silver.
He was vested in the NFL pension.
Conversations about going elsewhere with potential head coaches didn't lead to anything except frustration. Several told him if they landed head coaching jobs for 2014, he was their defensive coordinator.
"The ones I wanted to go with didn't get a job," said Phillips, the defensive coordinator under Gary Kubiak with Houston for three seasons and the interim coach of the Texans for the final three games in 2013 after Kubiak's firing.