Like father, like Phillips: Phillips leading West Morgan to success in more ways than one
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 29—TRINITY — When you think of all the success West Morgan football has experienced in recent years, Drew Phillips usually comes to mind.
Since taking over in 2021, the Rebels' head coach is 57-13 with three region championships, three undefeated regular seasons, a quarterfinal berth and a semifinal berth.
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This year, however, while a Phillips is still leading West Morgan to success, it's not just Drew.
Drew's son Brantley has taken over as the starting quarterback, and the results have been stellar. So far this season, he's 6-1 as a starter, passing for 1,254 yards and 18 touchdowns. Oh, and he's just an eighth grader.
"It was a whirlwind at first being an eighth grader playing on a varsity team," Brantley said. "I just kept going out there and playing and eventually I got used to it. Now it just feels like a normal game."
Starting the youngster may look like a genius move now, but Drew Phillips would be the first to tell you it wasn't part of his master plan.
The dad and head coach had concerns about throwing an eighth grader into varsity action. It wasn't until multiple assistant coaches and players, including junior Asher Fletcher, came to him and convinced him it was best for the team that he agreed.
Fletcher started the first two games at quarterback after starting last year at receiver and cornerback.
"I think the best leaders are the ones that let others make the decisions sometimes," Drew said. "I've seen him compete and I knew what he could do but he had to go out there and prove it and he did. I think that gave the coaches and his teammates ammo to fight for him.
"Him taking over as quarterback, I wanted that to happen naturally. Having so many coaches and players believe in him means a lot and we've noticed a big jump in the consistency he's provided our offense as a result." — Explosive offense
One of the coaches leading the charge to make Brantley the starting quarterback was West Morgan offensive coordinator Caleb Graham.
Because of preseason injuries, Brantley had to work with the varsity, and Graham quickly realized what an asset he would be to the offense. As the architect of offenses that have averaged at least 39 points per game each season he's been at West Morgan, Graham's opinion carried plenty of weight.
"When he had to play in fall camp because of injuries, you could just tell the pulse of our offense was different with him out there," Graham said. "He's consistent and he's really like no one we've ever had in terms of just his attention to detail and figuring out the things he needs to do to get better. He also responds well to adverse situations which is rare for an eighth grader.
"The moment doesn't get too big for him, he controls the highs and lows, and I think you've seen so much growth in him each game he's played."
The results have shown on the scoreboard. After back-to-back road losses to open the season against Athens and Madison Academy, Phillips took over as the starter in the third game of the season. West Morgan beat Brooks 63-14 to open region play.
Since taking over as starter, the Rebels' offense is averaging 53 points per game, two points more than the 2023 squad that led the state in scoring.
Graham admitted he tried to protect Phillips early in the season due to his youth and inexperience but has opened up the offense more in the last month. Since doing that, Phillips has thrown for nearly 900 yards and 10 touchdowns over the last four games.
"I feel like I did a poor job earlier in the season of being too conservative and not just letting him do what he does best," Graham said. "Eventually we decided to just let him go be him and that's been the story of the last few weeks. He's getting the ball to our best players and just has this fearless aggression that our offense is thriving on." — Playing for dad
When your head coach is your dad, it creates an interesting dynamic.
It's a tough act to balance between doing what's best for your team and your kid while avoiding any appearance of favoritism.
Brantley thinks his dad has nailed it, saying sometimes he even forgets he's playing for him.
"He's tough on me and he expects the best effort from me just like he does everyone else on the team. He wants what's best for all of us," Brantley said.
Drew said his assistant coaches have made coaching his son much easier.
"Coach Graham runs the offense and Coach (Cameron) Doerfinger is his position coach so I just kind of let them handle it because they do a much better job coaching him at quarterback than I ever could," Drew said. "I do my job and let them do theirs, which is cool because sometimes it lets me step back from a dad standpoint and realize how proud I am of (Brantley)."
Of course, that dad perspective goes out the window on Friday nights. Phillips is locked in on the sidelines each game, and he said there's no time for dad moments.
"I think maybe the first touchdown he threw I had a little bit of a dad moment but after that it just became an expectation," Drew said. "The focus has got to be doing whatever we have to do to make the team successful."
He was quick to add, though, that he doesn't always stay in coach mode.
"When I watch the game back on film, after I watch it once as a coach, I'll watch it again as a dad and just be amazed at what he's doing," he said.
This week, West Morgan will close its regular season against Cullman, a Class 5A team. The Rebels opened the season with a 28-6 loss to another Class 5A team, Athens, which scored twice in the final minutes.
Brantley Phillips barely played that game. With another 5A team on the docket, he and his teammates are eager to showcase just how far they've come in 10 weeks.
"The team we were at the beginning of the season isn't close to the team we are now," Brantley Phillips said. "I think this game is a cool chance to show everyone just how much better we are."
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