KNOXVILLE – As a five-star defensive end recruit from Nashville, Kyle Phillips certainly did not come to Tennessee to play defensive tackle on a full-time basis.
When injuries necessitated the Volunteers sliding a defensive lineman inside from the edge, though, Phillips put his team’s need over his own.
The past two games, Phillips has seen his snap count at defensive tackle rise in wake of the season-ending injuries to Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle, and the sophomore likely will start inside against Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
Tennessee linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. described Phillips as “a guy that’s just selfless. To be able to move from end to three-technique, that’s a pretty big challenge, especially with his size and body weight that he’s really pushing around. He’s making plays at three-technique. I’m really proud of Kyle that he’s stuck with it and is just willing to help the team in any way possible. I really appreciate him.”
After he picked Tennessee over LSU and Ole Miss and joined the Vols in January 2015, Phillips appeared to be the heir apparent to Derek Barnett at defensive end, but his freshman season was hampered then derailed by ankle and shoulder injuries just as he was starting to carve out a role on the defensive line.
That included playing inside in pass-rush packages, and some felt Tennessee was misusing his potential by not lining him up and rushing him off the edge, which led to speculation he was unhappy and looking to transfer last winter.
In August he denied those rumors and seemed in line for a bigger role at one of the Vols’ most crowded positions, but he played sparingly at defensive end, where Tennessee has opted to use veterans Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis and junior college transfer Jonathan Kongbo alongside likely All-American Barnett, who leads the nation with 29 sacks.
The outlook changed against Alabama three weeks ago when injuries and the dismissal of Danny O’Brien prompted Tennessee to play the 6-foot-4, 259-pound Phillips inside for 29 snaps against Alabama.
“How much time you got? I could sit here and rave about Kyle Phillips playing inside for hours and hours,” Lewis said, “because as a defensive lineman and as a defensive end that’s lined up as a three-(technique) in a pass-rush situation or end up there in the run game and get a double team, it’s tough.
“Maybe I’m biased because I’m a D-lineman, but I think defensive tackle is the hardest position to play on the football field. For a guy, especially as young as Kyle is, to go from end into the interior and is doing well – he had a great game, I felt like, last weekend – and really sacrificing the things he thinks and wants to do personally for the greater good of the team, that speaks volumes to the character and the things that Kyle values.”
At South Carolina, Phillips made five tackles with one for a loss, and after the disappointing loss he was one of the players who spoke to the team in the locker room in a sign of his developing leadership skills.
“Kyle has never done that,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.
After this season, Tennessee will lose seniors Lewis and Vereen and likely Barnett – a junior who almost certainly will be a first-round NFL draft pick – so Phillips’ move inside may not be a long-term one, but the Vols need him to continue thriving in the role this season.
“He just went in, and he didn’t ask no questions,” Barnett said. “He’s been making plays ever since he’s been at three-technique, and he played real good (last week). We watched film yesterday, and he played great. Being disruptive, sometimes he’s not getting a sack, but he still opened up a sack for somebody else or just knocked off a block or a puller or two.
“Kyle’s doing a great job. He comes to work every day. Nobody sees that, though, but he’s taking advantage of his opportunity, and I’m very proud of him.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.