Phillips played football at Lamar Junior College before joining the Marines during World War II. After the war he went to Stephen F,Bob Uecker Jersey. Austin where he played two more football seasons before graduating with a degree in education in 1949.
He spent about two decades coaching in high schools and colleges mostly in Texas 鈥?he assisted the likes of Bear Bryant at Texas A&M, Bill Yeoman at Houston, and Hayden Fry at SMU 鈥?before making the jump to the AFL in 1967 as an assistant under Sid Gillman with the San Diego Chargers. Phillips came to Houston in 1974 as Gillman's defensive coordinator and became coach and general manager when Gillman resigned after that season.