Joker Phillips

Joker Phillips coached for three years in the SEC at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, from 2010-2012. Phillips had limited success as a head coach, leading UK to a bowl game in his first year at the helm of the program. Things took a turn for the worse in Phillips’ final two seasons in Lexington, as UK finished 5-7 in 2011 and 2-10 in 2012. He was fired as the Wildcats’ head coach following the 2012 season.

Phillips returned to Kentucky as an assistant coach in 2003 and in 2005 he was promoted to offensive coordinator. In January of 2008, then-head coach Rich Brooks named Phillips his coach in waiting, and Phillips took over the program when Brooks retired following the 2009 season.

One bright spot for Phillips during his tenure as head coach was Kentucky’s 10-7 victory over Tennessee to end the 2011 season. The win was UK’s first over Tennessee since 1984, when Phillips was a senior wide receiver on the Cats’ football team. The win snapped what was, at the time, the longest losing streak by one opponent to another in the nation.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.