Safety Phillips healthy, ready to win

On a rainy afternoon three years ago, Heinz Field played host to Boston College. The field… On a rainy afternoon three years ago, Heinz Field played host to Boston College. The field was muddy, the October air was cold and the 34,000 fans were sullied with both the weather and the score – 17-17 at the end of the fourth quarter.

The game moved into overtime, and BC had the ball on the 25-yard line. At third and 10, the Eagles snapped it. The quarterback did his part and made the throw for the first down. As the receiver, ball-in-hand, reached out to finish the play, Mike Phillips prevented it from happening.

“I was just going in for the tackle,” Phillips said. “But then the receiver fumbled it.”

Phillips is being modest – had he not jarred the ball loose, the outcome of the game could have been very different, and Pitt would most likely not have made a trip to the Fiesta Bowl that year.

Teammate Thomas Smith recovered the ball, and the team began to celebrate.

Now a fifth-year senior, Phillips first started playing football in the city where he was born – Atlanta, Ga. He remembers his brother always insisted on being quarterback, the position Phillips ultimately played in high school.

Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio, was well known and well recruited for their football players. Phillips also lettered in baseball and for four years in basketball but said he knew football would be his focus for the future.

“A lot of college football coaches would be there all the time – it was a football school,” he said. “We had a number of players that went to [Division-I] schools.

“When the recruiter came, the college wanted me to play defensive back. It wasn’t like a culture shock – I was expecting it.”

He changed positions again at Pitt from corner in his sophomore year to safety in his junior and senior years, but he doesn’t mind the position changes.

“Wherever the team needs me, I play there,” he said.

Phillips was first-team All-Ohio Division I in high school and a three-year starter. The Raiders had a 14-1 record his senior year and went on to win the state championship. Phillips was also named “Raider of the Year.”

Of all his great football memories, the first one that comes to mind as the best is his first Backyard Brawl. Phillips’ freshman year is the last time Pitt triumphed over West Virginia.

The Fiesta Bowl is another one of Phillips’ proudest times – he was a sophomore when the team traveled to Arizona. Even though the outcome wasn’t what the team wanted, Phillips said the experience of being in a BCS Game was something he’ll never forget.

Phillips had 27 tackles last season and started in five games after coming back off a severe ankle injury in 2005. During his freshman year, he played in all 12 games and started in seven.

He still plays basketball when he’s not at the gym during the offseason, although he laughs and says, “It’s different now – I’m not in basketball shape like back in the day.”

He also spends a lot of time with his parents, three brothers and two sisters, who he is very close to.

“I’m a big family guy,” he said.

Phillips has completed one degree in communications and is now seeking one in administrative justice as well. He completed an internship last semester with the Pitt athletics media relations office and said he found being on the business side of sports operations to be an interesting, and sometimes difficult, experience.

“You look at it in a different light,” he said. “Doing interviews was harder than I thought it would be. You have to approach everybody differently.”

A job in communications is something Phillips said he would be interested in after college, although he’s still not sure.

“I have no idea what I want to do,” he laughs. “I just love [football]. Even if I can’t play I’d still love to be connected.”

As for the upcoming season, Philips says he knows that some people might be questioning the team’s ability to perform.

“That’s OK ’cause they can’t play the game with us,” he said. “We know how hard we work, and we know we’re ready to go.”

Especially if Phillips is needed for any unexpected, game-winning situations.