Ever since he opined about the situation on Mile High Sports Radio earlier this week, there has been a flood of speculation regarding the future of Wade Phillips with the Denver Broncos.

Though many are crossing their fingers that Phillips will stay, there has been a large amount of chatter that his days in the Mile High City are numbered. You can now count former Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist amongst those who hope he sticks around.

“The best way that Denver’s got a chance in 2017 to compete for a Super Bowl championship, is through that [defense-led] formula,” Sundquist told Renaud Notaro and Dan Jacobs on Mile High Sports Radio’s The Final Verdict, “And I think a lot of that has to do with the leadership of Wade Phillips and what he brings to the defensive side of the ball.”

Phillips gets players to buy into his system.  He also has shown the ability to bring the best out of the men that play for him.

“The guys love playing for him,” Sundquist said of Phillips. “I think he puts them into schemes and gives them opportunities to make plays and to make things happen, versus sitting back and catching an offense. I think players like that type of system.”

It’s no secret that the Broncos defense has been elite under Phillips for the past two seasons. The fact that Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr., and Aqib Talib were named All-Pros on Friday was just further validation of the job he has done. Jeopardizing the unit’s production is something anyone that the Broncos bring in as head coach must be extremely mindful of when filling out a staff.

“If he [the new coach] comes in with a different philosophy and wants his own guy on that defensive side, you’ve got another learning process,” explained Sundquist. “You’ve got another situation where players are trying to not only get used to their coordinator, but get used to new position coaches… philosophy. You’ve got this tremendously talented side of the ball that’s having to go through their own learning curve, and your taking away the number one strength of the team: that aggressive defense.”

Listen to the full interview with Ted Sundquist, including his thoughts on who the Broncos should look to for the next head coach, in the podcast below…

https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/01-05-17-ted-sundquist-notaro-and-jacobs-the-broncos-need-a-hc-with-experience

Catch The Final Verdict with Notaro and Jacobs every Monday-Thursday from 6p-8p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.