Joker Phillips
| Joker Phillips | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Kentucky |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 11–14 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 12, 1963 Franklin, Kentucky |
| Playing career | |
| 1981–1984 1984, 1986 1985 |
Kentucky Washington Redskins Toronto Argonauts |
| Position(s) | Wide receiver |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1988–1989 1990 1991–1996 1997 1998 1999–2000 2001 2002 2003–2004 2004–2008 2009 2010– |
Kentucky (Graduate Asst.) Kentucky (Asst. RC) Kentucky (WR) Cincinnati (WR) Cincinnati (DB) Minnesota (WR) Notre Dame (WR) South Carolina (WR) Kentucky (WR/RC) Kentucky (OC/WR) Kentucky (Offensive HC/WR) Kentucky |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 11–14 |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
Joseph "Joker" Phillips, Jr. (born April 12, 1963) is the head coach for the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team.[1]
Phillips was given his nickname by his grandfather, to distinguish him from his father, also named Joseph.
Contents |
[edit] Playing years
After a standout career at Franklin-Simpson High School, including being the quarterback for two state Class AAA championship teams, Phillips played wide receiver for the University of Kentucky Wildcats from 1981 through 1984, under head coaches Fran Curci and Jerry Claiborne. During his playing career at Kentucky, Phillips caught 75 passes for 935 yards and nine touchdowns at the wide receiver position. At the time of his departure from Lexington, he stood fifth on the school's receiving list.
After college, Phillips played two seasons in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins.[2] Phillips later played for the Toronto Argonauts.
[edit] Coaching years
After his career in the NFL, Phillips became a graduate assistant on the Kentucky football team. In 1990, he was promoted to assistant recruiting coordinator and in 1991 to wide receivers coach. In 1997, he was hired as wide receivers coach at the University of Cincinnati. Following two seasons in Cincinnati, Phillips made coaching stops at Minnesota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina. Phillips succeeded Urban Meyer as wide receivers coach at Notre Dame.
When Rich Brooks was hired as head football coach at Kentucky in late 2002, Phillips returned to his alma mater to serve as recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. With the departure of Ron Hudson late in the 2004 season, he was named offensive coordinator of the Wildcats.
Phillips helped to rejuvenate Kentucky's offensive scheme. Under Phillips' balanced offense, André Woodson established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the country. In his first full season as offensive coordinator, Kentucky finished with a 8-5 record and defeated Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl. In 2007, Kentucky finished the season with another 8-5 record, defeating Florida State in the 2007 Music City Bowl. Winning the Music City Bowl for the second year in a row was the first time the Wildcats had won two consecutive bowls in over 50 years. The Wildcats finished in the top 15 nationally in points scored per game and averaged 460 yards of offense. In 2008 the Wildcats finished 7-6 with a victory over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.
In January 2008, Phillips was named as Brooks' successor, and his title was changed to "head coach of the offense." He was named head coach of the Wildcats on January 4, 2010 after Brooks's retirement.[3] He is the second African-American head football coach in the SEC, after former Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom. He is also the third African-American head coach of a major sport at UK; the first was Bernadette Maddox, who coached the women's basketball team from 1995 to 2003, the second was Tubby Smith, who coached Men's Basketball from 1997 to 2007.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (2010–present) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Kentucky | 6–7 | 2–6 | 5th (East) | L Compass | ||||
| 2011 | Kentucky | 5–7 | 2–6 | 5th (East) | |||||
| Kentucky: | 11–14 | 4–12 | |||||||
| Total: | 11–14 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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[edit] References
- ^ Cosby, Chip (4 January 2010). "Brooks retires as UK coach". Lexington Herald-Leader. http://www.kentucky.com/817/story/1081945.html. Retrieved 4 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Joker Phillips NFL stats at pro-football-reference.com
- ^ "The Future Is Now for Joker Phillips" (Press release). University of Kentucky Athletic Department. 2010-01-06. http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010610aab.html. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
[edit] External links
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- 1963 births
- Living people
- African American coaches of American football
- American football wide receivers
- Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches
- Kentucky Wildcats football coaches
- Kentucky Wildcats football players
- Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches
- People from Simpson County, Kentucky
- Players of American football from Kentucky
- South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches
- Washington Redskins players
