Canes call on a ‘freak’ to follow departed star
It’s hard not to notice University of Miami defensive end Jaelan Phillips.
Maybe it’s his 6-5, 270pound physical attributes that have astonished fans and teammates and coaches alike, most of whom have used variations of the word “freak’’ in their descriptions.
Maybe it’s his ability to have overcome significant injuries, some of which stemmed from a January 2018 accident in which he was hit by a car while on his scooter and later required intricate surgery.
And maybe it’s because he was the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2017 when he became a freshman at UCLA.
“It’s been a hell of a journey,” Phillips, 21, a redshirt junior from Redlands, California, said this week.
Phillips transferred to UM and began working out last fall at 225 pounds, the lightest he had been since high school. Now he will replace first-round 2021 NFL Draft prospect Gregory Rousseau, the redshirt sophomore who announced recently he was opting out of the 2020 season and leaving
Miami defensive end Jaelan Phillips, the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit in 2017 who first played at UCLA, has a ‘freakish’ body up to 270 pounds from 225 last year, when he got to UM after a previous car/scooter accident.
the program.
“He’s a freak of nature,’’ Rousseau said of Phillips, who will be flanked on the opposite side of the line by graduate transfer and former Temple star Quincy Roche.
‘VIDEO GAME’ BODY
“A special dude,” is how UM defensive coordinator Blake Baker described Phillips. “It’s like creating a player on NCAA Football when they used to have that video game. He has very low body fat percentage [and is] flexible. Very, very smart young man, so he’s got all the tangibles and intangibles.”
Defensive line coach Todd Stroud, who has been coaching college football since 1986, said for a 270-pounder, Phillips “runs like a safety.”
“His ability to run and jump and twitch ... I would put Jaelan Phillips in the 99th percentile of any player I’ve ever coached in terms of physical attributes.
“The athlete meets the hype as far as him being a five-star guy.”
Phillips had 21 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 31⁄
2 sacks (second on team) and two pass breakups as a UCLA true freshman in 2017. In only four games as a sophomore in 2018, he had 20 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and quarterback hurry. But he was plagued with injuries, including concussions and a severe wrist injury after the car accident.
UCLA declared Phillips out for the season on Oct. 15, 2018, because of what UCLA coach Chip Kelly described as a concussion situation. “He had a head injury and is out for the year,” Kelly said back then.
PUBLIC LETTER
Phillips posted a public letter on social media thanking everyone at UCLA in mid-December 2018 explaining his decision to transfer.
“These last two years at UCLA have been extremely difficult for me, to say the least, but I will always love the amazing people I met along the way. With that being said, due to multiple injuries, I have decided to withdraw from UCLA. ... UCLA is an amazing school, but I am looking to pursue a major in music production/technology. ... I’m going to be taking this time to heal and to look over all of my options.’’
Enter Miami’s wellrespected Frost School of Music and music production program.
Phillips’ grandfather is Jon Robertson, an internationally acclaimed pianist and conductor who earned three degrees from the famed Juilliard School and now serves as dean of the Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton.
Phillips was also already friends with elite Canes tight end Brevin Jordan, whom he met during a high school recruiting trip, which made his decision to enter UM even more comfortable.
And the reception he got from Miami fans on Twitter didn’t hurt.
“Miami fans show crazy love,” Phillips tweeted in January 2019. “They already got me 1,300 followers in one night.”
Phillips said Tuesday that he knew the other Hurricanes might be expecting him to feel “entitled,” so he put his “head down” and worked his “butt off every single day for a year.”
“That was the most important thing to me,” he said of how he earned his teammates’ respect.
ASTOUNDING TRANSFORMATION
Phillips’ physical transformation has been astounding. “A year of not being in the weight room definitely makes your muscles atrophy a little bit,” he conceded. “The good thing is I already have a big framework. I mean, obviously it was a challenge, a lot of hard work and my diet is crazy. I have to eat around 260 grams of protein a day just to kind of maintain what I got going on.
“When I first came in I wasn’t cleared to work out during fall camp so I was literally every single day working out for two hours during practice. So I think that time was definitely just what I needed. It let my body kind of naturally get back.”
During his toughest days at UCLA, Phillips said he stopped being as invested in football and was “trying to figure out my passions” outside of the sport.
FOOTBALL DAYDREAMING ‘24-7’
Now, said Phillips, “I find myself daydreaming literally every single day when I’m taking showers, when I’m lying in bed. I daydream of making plays. Football is in my head 24-7.
“I never thought I would have the opportunity to be out here playing in Miami in the best physical shape of my life.”
Phillips said he is handling the COVID-19 pandemic situation by sticking to strict safety protocols and focusing only on what’s ahead of him.
“In these times, this world is so easy to get caught up in what’s going on outside of where you are that a lot of people aren’t present.
“It’s kind of a distraction being able to practice — you know how busy we are during fall camp.”
Phillips was asked if he has any friends who won’t get to play college football in the fall because their conferences either canceled or postponed the fall season.
“Sadly enough,” he said, “I do have a couple friends both back at UCLA, and two friends who transferred from UCLA who are in the Mountain West conference, so their seasons are canceled. I just feel bad for them because [for] two of them particularly this is their fifth year. So if nothing happens after this they’re kind of screwed.”
JERSEY SWITCHED
Last week, Phillips had his jersey number switched from 95 to 15, the number he said he has worn since he was 7 years old, and coincidentally, Rousseau’s former number.
“I was lucky enough to get to know Greg and watch his hard work and watch how he carries himself out on the field, and I have nothing but the highest praise and most respect for Greg,” Phillips said. “But I’m not trying to be the next Greg Rousseau.
“I’m just at this point trying to stay healthy and be the best version of myself that I can be.”
After Rousseau’s decision to leave was made public, Phillips posted “No need to fear” on Twitter.
“I was just trying to reassure some of the
Canes fans [that] ‘Greg might be gone, but you don’t have anything to worry about.’”