“Defense” and “Denver” have become synonymous this season thanks to one legendary coach returning to the Broncos: Wade Phillips.

For longtime Broncos backers, the name Wade Phillips brings up memories of the 1993 and 1994 seasons, when Phillips was in the Mile High City as Denver’s head coach. After only a two-year experiment, Phillips was let go and Mike Shanahan was hired; the Broncos glory days ensued.

Meanwhile, Phillips went on to be the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills from 1995-97 and then was promoted to head coach from 1998-2000. He moved on to be the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons (2002-03) and San Diego Chargers (2004-08) before being named the Dallas Cowboys head coach in 2008-2010. Finally, Phillips moved to the Houston Texans defensive coordinator gig under Gary Kubiak, then followed Kubiak to Denver this year in the same position.

Phillips has been in the NFL for 40 years, dating back to 1976, and he’s had more success as a coordinator than head coach.

And despite his advanced age — 68 years old — Phillips is proving to everyone he understands how to coach NFL defense in 2016 better than nearly anyone.

On Wednesday, Pro Football Focus named him the Defensive Coordinator of the Year.

PFF's award for Defensive Coordinator of the Year goes to @Broncos' Wade Phillips: https://t.co/QzVH0XZMLr — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 20, 2016

From their piece, in which Pro Football Focus named positional coaches of the year for the first time:

“Phillips took elite talent and turned it into an elite defense, which in our opinion, is far more difficult than it sounds. Although he had the ability to get pressure with four, he still somehow found a sweet-spot in generating pressure by using the blitz often. That, together with his rotation of weapons, delivered a devastating smorgasbord of woe to nearly every offense they went up against. Again, this appears straightforward, but compare and contrast to a similar situation in Buffalo, which ended with completely different results.”

Neil Hornsby of PFF makes a good point here: Sure, Phillips had all the talent in the world. There’s Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware as edge rushers — their backups Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett aren’t bad either — with Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, Brandon Marshall, Danny Trevathan and the list goes on. Perhaps there has never been a more talented defensive unit in Denver than the one which is currently playing.

But, raw talent doesn’t always translate into a dominant defensive group. It did this year, and the credit has to go to the leadership of Phillips.

He’s rallied the players and earned their trust with a quickness. And what makes him one of the best defensive coordinators is his lack of concern when it comes to attacking the quarterback.

Yes, most of the time the front four can put pressure on the opposing team’s QB, but when they’re not doing so with consistency, Phillips will dial up a blitz, which are historically high risk, high reward plays.

While the Broncos have won the AFC West five straight seasons, a lack of leadership from the coaching staff seemed evident. Especially when they were out-prepared and out-coached completely in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Now, with Kubiak, Phillips and the rest of this current coaching staff in place, the Broncos look more prepared for this current playoff push than they have in recent years.

Next up for Phillips and his No. 1 defense in the NFL is an AFC Championship clash with one of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks, Tom Brady. That game kicks off Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. MT and will be televised on CBS.