National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jan 7, 2010 11:09:46 AM

Kentucky officially elevated Joker Phillips to head football coach Wednesday after head coach Rich Brooks retired January 4.

Phillips, who recently finished his fifth season as the Wildcats' offensive coordinator and his seventh in charge of the wide receivers, becomes the 14th ethnic minority head coach in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Of the 582 NCAA football programs, 26 are now guided by ethnic minorities (excluding historically black colleges and universities). There are seven in the Football Championship Subdivision, two in Division II and three in Division III. 

A former wide receiver at Kentucky, Phillips was designated as the head-coach-in-waiting in January 2008. He becomes the fifth alumnus to guide the football program. 

Phillips began his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 1988-89. The next year he served as an assistant recruiting coordinator and was later promoted to wide receivers coach, a position he held from 1991-96. He also completed assistant coaching stints at Cincinnati (1997-98), Minnesota (1999-2000), Notre Dame (2001) and South Carolina (2002).

Phillips played for the Wildcats from 1981-84, participating in the Hall of Fame Bowl in his junior and senior seasons. He went on to play three professional seasons, two with the NFL's Washington Redskins (1985 and 1987) and  one in the Canadian Football League (1986).

Minority football coaches at NCAA institutions
As of January 20, 2010; historically black colleges and universities excluded