Welcome to Wisconsin: Curt Phillips
January 29, 2008 | Football
Each day this week, UWBADGERS.COM will profile one of the four new faces to the UW football team. Each of the four players arrived early on campus to get a head start on Spring Football and the 2008 season. Today we will take a look at quarterback Curt Phillips, a native of Kingsport, Tenn.
Phillips, a 6-3, 215-lbs. 17-year old has been in Madison for roughly two weeks now and has loved every minute of it. The highly acclaimed QB from northeastern Tennessee took care of his high school obligations early and is already enrolled at the UW in order to be here for workouts and Spring Football.
'Whenever you get an opportunity like this you have to jump on it,' said Phillips. 'To be here with the training staff and the coaches getting the offense down and getting into better shape is going to be a huge benefit for me in the long run.'
After a senior campaign in which he ran the ball 240 times for 1,885 yards, completed 159-of-250 passes for 2,263 yards and totaled 57 touchdowns, he was honored as Tennessee 's Gatorade Player of the Year. Phillips accounted for 4.3 touchdowns a game as a senior and had a 3.65 high school cumulative GPA. His Sullivan South Rebels finished the 2007 season with a 12-2 record, and one game shy of the state championship.
Not many high school kids can make the early jump to college. It takes a lot of hard work, you need to be willing to put your last semester of high school behind you and be prepared for the college life. Phillips who amassed over 9,200 yards of offense and scored 115 touchdowns in high school felt he was ready for the challenge.
'Everyone knows the biggest jump is going to be the mental aspect of the game, ' said Phillips. 'I know I'm young, but I really feel ready to be here and I'm already working on the offense and getting all the plays down, doing everything I can to prepare myself for the next step.'
Even with all the hype from his high school playing days, Phillips knows that the only thing that matters is how you perform on the field. He comes to Wisconsin with a hard work ethic and a competitive drive that pushes him to succeed.
Curt's mother Brenda played college volleyball at Memphis and his father Jim can really throw a football, according to Curt. With mom knowing the ropes of recruiting, the Phillips family didn't worry too much throughout the long, stressful process. After it was all said and done, Curt had chosen Wisconsin over a number of SEC schools and the entire family was happy with the decision.
'The toughest thing on my parents is that I'm so far from home, ' said Phillips. 'The leaving early part wasn't too bad, but with Kingsport so far away, it's been a little tough. My parents and my brother support me 100 percent and know that I am going to greatly benefit from this opportunity. '
Being from Tennessee, Phillips was put in a rather funny situation though when his Badgers and native Tennessee Volunteers faced off in the 2008 Outback Bowl.
'It was really cool having my home state and my future college playing each other in the bowl game,' said Phillips. 'I took a lot of heat from my buddies and people down in Tennessee, but I'm glad to be here and am really looking forward to playing another SEC team in the future.'
Phillips liked a lot of things Wisconsin had to offer with the great atmosphere in Madison as one of the major reasons he chose UW. He really enjoyed coming to Camp Randall Stadium and interacting with all the fans and the whole community, but Camp Randall and the fans weren't the only reason Phillips came to Madison. He truly enjoyed the coaching staff, which he deemed 'younger,' making them easy to talk to and get along with. Phillips was impressed with how well the younger staff was able to relate to the players on a daily basis, but they weren't the only ones he gets along with.
'The best thing about being here so far is all the guys,' said Phillips. 'The other guys are really great and everyone gets along so well together. I'm lucky to have such a good group of teammates to play with and be a part of a team with.'
Phillips will be looking to throw his name into the quarterback race come spring practice and the annual Spring Game on April 19th. Badger fans can look for Curt wearing No. 10 as he and the rest of the Badgers start spring practice in March.
Stay tuned to uwbadgers.com for complete coverage of Spring Football 2008.
