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- Thread starter wadc45
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ok guysOnebuckfan
classof76
Schools like Utah Washington Baylor have small windows , they only get one shot.
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Crump's brother
Moxahala Park Carnie/ Rehoboth Strangler
Just imagine being a USC fan and watching talent like this go to Utah.
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Onebuckfan
classof76
Slip. Clemson tOSU Alabama LSU OU according to recruiting ratings aren’t going away. Even increasing the CFP to 8 probably won’t change the final 2.
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https://theathletic.com/3660663/2022/10/05/clark-phillips-utah-utes/
Clark Phillips and his ‘little man complex’ are perfect fit for Utah, and a star in Pac-12
...
Phillips has been a perfect fit for the Utes, starting every game — 25 of them — since he’s been on campus. In 2021, after playing the COVID-19-shorted five-game season for Utah, Phillips made All-Pac-12, leading the league in passes broken up with 15 and making 63 tackles.
But that perfect fit almost ended up playing somewhere else. Phillips had committed to Ohio State the summer before his senior year and would have been a Buckeye had Boston College not hired Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as head coach less than a week before signing day in 2019.
“I was committed to Ohio State for so long,” Phillips told The Athletic. “It’s just wild how things happen. That was such a difficult decision for somebody 17 years old. I didn’t know what I wanted exactly, but I felt like I did. I wanted to go to a program where I’d be valued, somewhere that would believe in me. That’s why I felt so confident about Ohio State. I knew coach Hafley loved me, but when I found out he was leaving … I couldn’t do it.
“So I transitioned to Utah, where I loved coach Whittingham, loved (Utah defensive coordinator) coach (Morgan) Scalley, loved (cornerbacks) coach (Sharrieff) Shah — all defensive-minded guy. I wanted to be part of a program that took defense seriously and I had the possibility of getting to the next level.”
Phillips and Hafley, a former NFL defensive backs coach, had developed a strong bond through the recruiting process.
“There was just something about him,” Phillips said. “He really bought into me as a player like no other recruiter. I was a top recruit and had a lot of other schools recruiting me, but the way he approached it probably because he came from the league was a lot different. He understood my value and my assets. He did a lot of his homework and where I fit in the system. It was just appealing to me and my family. We felt like that is the place that I want to go and be developed by. That’s the guy I want to take the chance with. And he was a little bit shorter than me. We just clicked. We both had that ‘little man complex’. He’s short. I’m short. We immediately bonded. He was super intense. I just believed in him as a coach. Even now, we still text every now and then.
“He’s very straight to the point. He doesn’t leave anything open-ended. He’s super detail-oriented, and that was what I wanted to be a part of. That’s what was also so intriguing about this program because I saw that coach Scalley was very similar.”
Making that last-minute switch to Utah after being committed to Ohio State for six months was very difficult for Phillips. For people on the outside, it was a head-turner.
“A lot of people had their own opinions, but I ignored all that stuff,” said Phillips, whose father is a health care executive and whose mother is a nurse. “You’re going to get cold feet when you’re 17 and making that sort of decision, but I’m grateful for it. I did a lot of praying. ‘Get me reassurance that I made the right decision,’ and He did in so many ways. It was just obvious. The transition was smooth.
“Fast forward two years, and I’m playing against them in the Rose Bowl and it was a surreal moment. That whole week was surreal, and for it to happen (in Los Angeles) where I’m from … my high school coaches are at practices, everything about it was crazy, magical. Except for us losing.”
Cont'd ...
Clark Phillips and his ‘little man complex’ are perfect fit for Utah, and a star in Pac-12
...
Phillips has been a perfect fit for the Utes, starting every game — 25 of them — since he’s been on campus. In 2021, after playing the COVID-19-shorted five-game season for Utah, Phillips made All-Pac-12, leading the league in passes broken up with 15 and making 63 tackles.
But that perfect fit almost ended up playing somewhere else. Phillips had committed to Ohio State the summer before his senior year and would have been a Buckeye had Boston College not hired Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as head coach less than a week before signing day in 2019.
“I was committed to Ohio State for so long,” Phillips told The Athletic. “It’s just wild how things happen. That was such a difficult decision for somebody 17 years old. I didn’t know what I wanted exactly, but I felt like I did. I wanted to go to a program where I’d be valued, somewhere that would believe in me. That’s why I felt so confident about Ohio State. I knew coach Hafley loved me, but when I found out he was leaving … I couldn’t do it.
“So I transitioned to Utah, where I loved coach Whittingham, loved (Utah defensive coordinator) coach (Morgan) Scalley, loved (cornerbacks) coach (Sharrieff) Shah — all defensive-minded guy. I wanted to be part of a program that took defense seriously and I had the possibility of getting to the next level.”
Phillips and Hafley, a former NFL defensive backs coach, had developed a strong bond through the recruiting process.
“There was just something about him,” Phillips said. “He really bought into me as a player like no other recruiter. I was a top recruit and had a lot of other schools recruiting me, but the way he approached it probably because he came from the league was a lot different. He understood my value and my assets. He did a lot of his homework and where I fit in the system. It was just appealing to me and my family. We felt like that is the place that I want to go and be developed by. That’s the guy I want to take the chance with. And he was a little bit shorter than me. We just clicked. We both had that ‘little man complex’. He’s short. I’m short. We immediately bonded. He was super intense. I just believed in him as a coach. Even now, we still text every now and then.
“He’s very straight to the point. He doesn’t leave anything open-ended. He’s super detail-oriented, and that was what I wanted to be a part of. That’s what was also so intriguing about this program because I saw that coach Scalley was very similar.”
Making that last-minute switch to Utah after being committed to Ohio State for six months was very difficult for Phillips. For people on the outside, it was a head-turner.
“A lot of people had their own opinions, but I ignored all that stuff,” said Phillips, whose father is a health care executive and whose mother is a nurse. “You’re going to get cold feet when you’re 17 and making that sort of decision, but I’m grateful for it. I did a lot of praying. ‘Get me reassurance that I made the right decision,’ and He did in so many ways. It was just obvious. The transition was smooth.
“Fast forward two years, and I’m playing against them in the Rose Bowl and it was a surreal moment. That whole week was surreal, and for it to happen (in Los Angeles) where I’m from … my high school coaches are at practices, everything about it was crazy, magical. Except for us losing.”
Cont'd ...
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