Early Football Career
Phillips played football at Lamar College (now Lamar University) in Beaumont, Texas, but enlisted in the United States Marine Corps shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He became one of the elite Marine Raiders.
After he returned from the war, Phillips completed the remaining year on his degree at Lamar, and enrolled at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, lettering in football in 1948 and 1949 and graduating with a degree in Education in 1949.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Phillips coached high school football in various Texas cities including Jacksonville, Amarillo, Port Neches-Groves, and in his hometown of Nederland.
His college coaching stints included serving as an assistant coach at Texas A&M University (for Bear Bryant), the University of Houston (for Bill Yeoman), Southern Methodist University (for Hayden Fry), and Oklahoma State University. He was the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso for one season in 1962.
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