In 1998, the Buffalo Bills went 10-6 and made the playoffs in Wade Phillips’ first year as head coach after taking over for the retired Marv Levy. In his new book, Son of Bum, he explains how one of the largest quarterback controversies in NFL history began and how a year later, the quarterback controversy reignited prior to the 1999 Wild Card.
Part of the reason I thought we lost in ’97 [when I was defensive coordinator] was because we didn’t have a quarterback. So one of the first things I said after taking the job was, “We’ve got to get a quarterback.