a labor of LOVE
Passion for sport drove Phillips back to football
Josh Phillips finally decided to chase his passion.
And now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga outside linebacker is attempting to relearn a sport that was always his first love.
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Phillips earned three letters in basketball at Middle Tennessee State University and was a member of the 2015-16 Blue Raiders, who upset second-seeded Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But Phillips transferred to UTC last summer with hopes of returning to football, a sport he briefly played at Pope John Paul II High School in the Nashville area.
Interestingly enough, he said he physically feels a lot better now that he’s playing football after the wear and tear his body absorbed from all of the running, jumping and pounding associated with battling for rebounds. But that wasn’t the primary reason he chose to change sports.
“I always loved football,” Phillips said after UTC’s spring game Saturday at Finley Stadium. “I really just played basketball because I was tall and could jump, but the love of football was always in me. Playing at MT was great, but I had to chase what I really love, and that’s football.”
Not that he didn’t miss the Blue Raiders to some degree this past winter. With Baylor School graduate Reggie Upshaw Jr. and Howard alum Brandon Walters in the lineup, MTSU went 31-5 this past season, repeating as Conference USA champions and winning again in the first round of the NCAA tournament by upsetting fifth-seeded Minnesota.
Phillips said if he could have played football at UTC last fall and returned to MTSU for basketball season, he would have.
“Just seeing some of my brothers on TV shocking the world again was amazing,” he said.
On the football field, he’s improving a lot on the fly. He played defensive end in 2016 under former UTC coach Russ Huesman’s 4-2-5 scheme, appearing in 12 games and making three tackles, but he has made the adjustment to outside linebacker under new head coach Tom Arth and his staff.
Phillips was very visible in Saturday’s spring game, returning an interception for a touchdown — his first-ever score — and knocking down a couple of passes on rushes from the outside.
“I think Josh is playing really well and getting better every day,” Arth said. “I think he’s a guy that has a very high ceiling. He’s still learning how to play football and learning how to play outside linebacker — a position he’s never played before — but he was an incredible body type for it. His length shows up in the run game in setting the edge. It shows up batting balls and making it tough on the quarterback to make a completion.
“We’re excited about him. He’s got to keep getting more physical, but if he can put it all together, he’s going to be a really good player for us.”
The Mocs play LSU on Sept. 9 in their second game of the season, which means the elder Phillips will have an opportunity to play against his brother Jacob, an incoming freshman for the Tigers who was at UTC’s spring game on Saturday. Jacob was the No. 1 inside linebacker in the country this past season at East Nashville, and Josh admitted there would probably be some trashtalking between the brothers the week of that game.
But Josh — and the Mocs — still have a long way to go before they get to that point. The offense needs some work, but the defense has shown it still has enough talent on to be really good.
And if Phillips can continue his development, he’ll be a big part of that.
“Going from basketball to football and changing positions, it’s all an adjustment,” he said, “but I feel I can handle a little change here and there.
“It won’t hurt me.”