Terry Don Phillips is an American former college athletics administrator. He served as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Liberty Baptist College—now known as

Liberty University Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservativ ...

—from 1980 to 1981, at the University of Southwestern Louisiana—now known as the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

—from 1983 to 1988, at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

from 1995 to 2002, and at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

from 2002 to 2012.

Playing and coaching career

Phillips played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

from 1966 to 1969. He remained at Arkansas as a graduate assistant for the 1970 and 1971 seasons, before moving to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

as an assistant coach. Phillips left Virginia Tech after 1978.

Administrative career

In 1980, Phillips became

. He moved to

Louisiana–Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana Sys ...

in 1983, before returning to his alma mater, Arkansas, in 1988 as Senior Associate Athletic Director. Phillips stayed at Arkansas until 1994, and then left for the AD job at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

once it became apparent that then-Arkansas AD

Frank Broyles John Franklin Broyles (December 26, 1924 – August 14, 2017) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missouri ...

had no intention of retiring. Under Phillips, the Cowboys basketball team continued their success under coach

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball, Oklahoma State) and was a h ...

, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1995 and the Elite Eight in 2000. In football, Phillips hired coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

in 2001, who would turn the program around and lead the team to 3 straight bowl bids after Phillips left the school. In 2002 Phillips left Oklahoma State for Clemson. There, he has overseen the hiring of basketball coaches

Oliver Purnell Oliver Gordon Purnell Jr. (born May 19, 1953) is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Radford University from 1988 to 1991, Old Dominion University from 1991 to 1994, the University of Dayt ...

in 2003 and

Brad Brownell Bradley Robert Brownell (born November 15, 1968) is an American college basketball coach at Clemson University. Prior to coming to Clemson, he held the same position at Wright State and UNC Wilmington. Early life Born in Evansville, Indiana ...

in 2010. He also promoted

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

to head football coach and oversaw the "WestZone" expansion of Memorial Stadium in 2006. Phillips was inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 2010. Phillips retired from Clemson University in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Terry Don Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football defensive tackles Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Clemson Tigers athletic directors Liberty Flames and Lady Flames athletic directors Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns athletic directors Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls athletic directors Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches