Wise beyond his years, Clark Phillips III is poised to be a critical leader for the Utah defense
With Utah’s spring camp nearing its halfway point, the Utes are continuing to get a better idea and understanding of what their roster may look like in the fall. A critical aspect of their fall roster will undoubtedly be who is willing and ready to step into a leadership role after a significant turnover in that department following the 2021 campaign. As one of the spring captains, Clark Phillips III is showing both on and off the field why he will be a critical leader for Utah and its defense moving forward.
Phillips has been a lockdown defender from the moment he stepped onto the field in 2020. Not only was he impressive in the shortened COVID year, but he also took his game to the next level in 2021, capped off with an outstanding performance in the Rose Bowl.
In addition to five tackles against Ohio State, Phillips also caused two turnovers with a remarkable interception in the end zone and a magnificent forced fumble on a would-be touchdown.
Beginning with the fumble, CJ Stroud fired a beam from the 50-yard line to Jaxon Smith-Njigba into broken coverage near the 30. Despite a wide-open lane to the end zone, Phillips tracked down Njigba and punched the ball free from behind which was eventually scooped up by Cole Bishop in the end zone.
“That was just an instance of me being relentless,” Phillips said. “I had to be smart in it by punching it a certain way and securing the tackle but that was just a play of me saying, ‘I want to make a play, I don't want to make a tackle on the one yard line, that's just going to give them more momentum, we gotta make a play,’ and I just sought it out. I bet on myself in that moment, I knew what the team needed and I am glad I was able to make that play.”
As for the interception, creating that turnover began long before Stroud threw the pass. According to Phillips, he had watched an interview with Stroud where the Buckeyes quarterback called out Phillips by name and said he was an aggressive corner who liked to jump quick routes. Recognizing that comment and the situation he was in, Phillips stayed home when Stroud threw in his direction and made an unbelievable play, resulting in a turnover.
“I knew at some point they were going to try and make me bite. So I felt like it was the situation, the play, the moment in that game where they were going to try me and I had to have good eye discipline. I was in a cover-three-shell, he ended up doing a double move, he gave me a nice pump and shoot, the rest was history. I went up and made a play,” Phillips explained.
Now stepping forward into spring ball and beyond, Phillips has recognized the need for leadership with the departure of so many valued upperclassmen, especially on the defensive side of the football. However, despite that turnover, Phillips is confident in both himself and several others to step into those roles and maintain the R.S.N.B. culture.
“I feel like we have great leadership,” Phillips stated. “I feel like we have that established in guys like myself, I think about guys like JaTravis Broughton, Cole Bishop, guys that started to establish themselves as leaders throughout last season. It’ll be for us now, times like now during spring ball, fall camp to continue to establish that leadership, that presence and promote that culture that we stand for.”
As for his own spring camp goals, Phillips hopes to improve his technique and be a leader in creating more turnovers next season. According to Phillips, they did not create enough turnovers last year and that will be an emphasis in 2022.
“Technique right now for me. The biggest thing individually and I feel like in the corner room is just continuing to be consistent, working on our technique and we want to come out of spring healthy…we want to take the ball more. That’s our biggest focus. We didn’t have enough turnovers last year and I feel like it starts with spring,” Phillips said.
Facebook - @UtahSportsIllustrated
Twitter - @SI_Utah
Instagram - @SI_Utah
