Everyone is Glad Indiana is the Home of the Whop (Philyor)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Through every move her little boy De'Angelo had to make, she still kept seeing something special in him. From Mom’s house to Dad’s to Grandma’s and then back — in various orders and for various lengths of time in and around some of Tampa’s more troubled neighborhoods — Holley Mouling knew her only son would make a name for himself someday.
And he did.
Now his name is Whop. Or Superstar Whop to some. That’s how Indiana football fans know junior wide receiver Whop Philyor now.
Mom doesn’t like it one bit.
“Oh my God, that name,’’ Philyor’s mother Holley Mouling said by phone from Tampa Tuesday night. “His dad gave him that nickname because he loved Burger King Whoppers and then his whole side of the family started calling him Whop. Then all his friends started with it, and then everybody else.
“But he’s always going to be De'Angelo to me. That’s my little boy right there, my little De'Angelo.’’
That’s not a battle Holley is going to win anymore because Whop — not Mister Elias De’Angelo Philyor — is becoming a national name. The electrifying wide receiver is getting a national reputation as well after leading the nation in receptions the past two games with 24 catches against Michigan State and Rutgers.
He’s the leader on an Indiana offense that’s hitting its stride, and everyone is getting to know his name now.
Whop.
The De'Angelo thing only works now with her phone calls back and forth to her 21-year-old son. They talk constantly, connected to Bloomington from Tampa with the love the two of them have for each other that is off the charts.
“We probably talk five times a day,’’ Philyor said during an extensive interview earlier this week. “My mom, she’s my everything. I love her so much.’’
And she loves him, too. Everyone does. He’s just that kind of kid, with that kind of bubbly personality and boundless energy.
He’s always had it, and always will.
Whop Philyor and his two sisters at Christmas.(Photo courtesy of Holley Mouling)
Whop Philyor (left) was an excellent baseball player as a kid, too.(Photo courtesy of Holley Mouling)
Whop Philyor dressed for success with his two sisters. (Photo courtesy of Holley Mouling)
‘He just lights up every room he walks into’
Philyor is part Energizer Bunny, part stand-up comedian, and part wide-receiver diva, without the selfishness. He’s all about Indiana’s LEO (Love Each Other) movement, and every time he's talking about a teammate, it’s always “I love that guy,’’ or ‘’He’s my dude’’ or “I’d take a bullet for him.’’
But he’s also a playmaker above and beyond that dynamic personality. When the ball is in his hands, everyone watches. He’s that explosive. His 24 catches for 324 yards in just the past two games proves that.
He’s good, and he knows it.
He’s confident without being cocky. Well, not too cocky. He talks about Indiana running the table during the second half of the season, and he says it with a straight face. He’s sure that no one can stop Indiana’s offense, especially now that his buddy from Tampa, redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr., is healthy and firing the ball all over the field.
He wants to put on a show.
Always has. Always will.
“Here’s the best way I can describe how good Whop is and how much he likes making sure you know how good he is,’’ said Robert Weiner, his coach at Plant High School in Tampa, a Florida football powerhouse. “When he was just a freshman, we had him on the JV at the beginning and I’m out there on the sideline one night, watching them play.
“I swear every play Whop ran was to MY side, just so I could see him every time. He’d be running with the ball right in front of me all the time. His dad (Dan Philyor) is up in the stands ligthheartedly yelling at me, ‘You see my boy, you see my boy.’ And I swear, one time, Whop comes my way on a play and he’s looking right at me while he’s running. We moved him up the varsity pretty soon after that.’’
You would think that would have set the stage for a terrific four-year career for Philyor, but it never happened. He tweaked a knee as a freshman after getting moved up to the varsity, and didn’t do much that year.
Personal issues on both sides of his family basically derailed his sophomore and junior years, too. Both parents were struggling with family problems, and Philyor bounced from home to home every few months. He couldn't get eligible to play football because of residency issues.
It was not easy for a young kid trying to find his way. Even someone like Philyor, who always exudes confidence.
“My sophomore year at Plant, I was going through some hard living situations and I couldn’t even play my first half of the year,'' Philyor said. "My junior year, it was the same thing. They wouldn’t let me play because of my living situation. I was staying with my Grandma, but that was out of the district, so I had to move in with my Dad because he was in the district. I was always going back and forth. I never really had one place to call home.
“I bounced around because my mom, she had to leave Florida to take care of some family stuff, and I missed her so much. I moved back and forth between my Grandma and my Dad, because he was having some family things, too. It was just hard. I used to get in a little trouble around school because I wasn’t around my Mom and I missed her so much. I was always kind of angry. But it made me tougher. I love my parents. I’d take a bullet for my parents anytime.’’
Things finally got straightened out his senior year, and he had a huge year. Plant won its first 13 games before losing in the Class 7A state championship game to Fort Lauderdale powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, which had 17 Division I players on their roster in that title game.
“My senior year, it was on. That’s when I finally started to getting noticed, but it was really kind of too late for a lot of schools,’’ Philyor said. “But God works in mysterious ways. He’s always got a plan for his people. Everything worked out. I love Indiana and I’m glad I wound up here. I would have never changed that.’’
East Lansing, MI, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Nick Westbrook (15) and wide receiver Whop Philyor (1) celebrate a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana in the right place at the right time
Because of his big senior year, Philyor, a 3-star recruit who was the 199th-ranked receiver in the country, started getting Power 5 interest, but Indiana had already been there for a few years. They had an in, because Tom Allen, who was hired first to be Indiana’s defensive coordinator and now has been its head coach for three years, had strong ties at Plant. His son Thomas, now an IU linebacker, was a teammate with Philyor at Plant, as were current Hoosiers Micah McFadden and Juwan Burgess.
Wide receivers coach Grant Heard, who used to work with Allen at Ole Miss and was one of his first hires at Indiana, played a huge role, too.
“I had already known about Whop when I was at Ole Miss, so it was only natural for us to continue to pursue him when I got here, especially with Tom’s ties down there, and where we were behind here at some positions,’’ Heard said Tuesday at Memorial Stadium. “The things we were looking for then that we really needed here, he provided a lot of that. We worked that one hard, and it worked out perfect for us. He’s a hell of player.’’
Like most recruiting battles, this one came down to the mom. Philyor, though admittedly a huge fan of his decision to come to IU, said it really came down to his mom Holley making the call.
“It was really my Mom’s decision,’’ Philyor said. “She really trusted Coach Heard a lot, and Coach Allen, too. It was a big trust thing, and it was really my mom’s call. She knew they’d take good care of me.
“It was good with Thomas being there at Plant. He came up here (to Bloomington) early and he was always calling me and telling me, ‘Whop, it’s awesome up here. You’ve got to come up.’ So I figured I’d take a visit and see what he was talking about. He was my host, and I liked it a lot. As soon as Mom said yes, I said yes.’’
Whop Philyor (left) watches a fall camp practice with Marcelino Ball.
Everybody’s favorite, everywhere he goes
William Inge, Indiana’s special teams coach, can’t say enough good things about Philyor and what he brings to the team.
“The one thing that you love about Whop is that he can do things to help provide your team that winning edge. He’s at his best when in counts the most,’’ Inge said. “He is so eager to want to be the best. The guys just feed off his energy and his relentless pursuit to be the best.
“This is a BYOJ sport, where you have to bring your own juice. He does that every day, and the other guys feed off of that. They’re like, ‘I’ve got to try to match him’ or ‘I’ve got to try to outmatch him.’ Guys raise their level of energy, their level of performance, because of him.’’
Indiana is so much better with him that without him, that’s for sure. Allen said that was evident a year ago when he missed nearly half a season with ankle and knee issues.
“We’re just weren’t the same team after he got hurt. It was obvious,’’ Allen said a few weeks ago. “He is just such a dynamic player, and he can make a big play every time he touches the ball.’’
His teammates all love him, too. He and Penix are together constantly, talking football and playing video games. “We play Fortnite a lot, and it’s a team thing, so it’s life or death,’’ Penix said with laugh. "He’s fun to be around, that’s for sure.’’
The wide receiver room is really tight, too, with this collection of Florida receivers. Philyor is from Tampa, Donovan Hale is from Largo across the bay and Nick Westbrook is from Lake Mary in central Florida. During their time at Indiana, the trio has caught an astonishing total of 293 passes for 3,123 yards.
If Florida, Florida State and Miami want to argue who has Florida’s best receiving corps, it’s actually Indiana’s.
And it’s not even close.
“Well, that’s certainly a good argument,’’ said Weiner, who’s been around 33 years and knows all those Sunshine State programs pretty well. “I’d have to say I would take Indiana’s group, too. All three of those Florida guys at Indiana, they’re really, really good.’’
Philyor is approaching 100 career catches — he’s at 97 now — and he’s in the top 10 in the country in many receiving categories this season. There’s more to come, too, that’s for sure.
His mom, she’s so proud of her little De'Angelo.
“I enjoy my kids. They’re my life, and it will always be that way,’’ said Philyor’s mother, Holley Mouling, who also has two daughters. She couldn't hold back tears as she talked about her son.
“It’s hard being a single mom, and it’s hard with boys because it’s so easy for them to stray, especially here in Tampa. But he’s been so good, and that’s why I love talking to him so much every day. I just love everything about that kid.’’
There’s a lot to love. The smile, that energy, the will to succeed, and to be great.
“All the times he had to move with different people, he was still always happy and always so focused on what he wanted,’’ Weiner said. “I knew when he was a freshman that he’d be a great college player, and be an NFL player someday. We had one talk about not going on auto-pilot with all his talent, and he never did. He wanted to be great, and he never let anything bad about growing up the way he did define him.’’
Our biggest laugh came at the end of our interview on Tuesday. We were talking about the new California law where college players will be able to make money off their name and likeness while still in school.
Whop gave that big laugh, as he headed out the door.
“I agree with all the little money-making thing for players,’’ he said. “Man, you know I could sell me some Whoppers.’’
No doubt.
The kid can accomplish anything he wants, and do it all with a smile on his face.
Whop Philyor meets with the media after Saturday's win against Rutgers.
