John L. SmithDerek Dooley coached his final game for Tennessee last Saturday in a 41-18 loss at Vanderbilt, and he’s about to have company.
While this season’s Southeastern Conference is filled with powerhouses such as Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Texas A&M and South Carolina, there are four league programs already eliminated from the bowl picture regardless of their Thanksgiving week outcomes. John L. Smith will coach Arkansas for a final time Friday against LSU, and Joker Phillips will guide Kentucky for the last time Saturday against Tennessee.
Phillips has spent 23 seasons with the Wildcats as a receiver, a graduate assistant, a full-time assistant or the head coach.
“I’ve been through this before and understand it, and I know this is definitely not about me and the time that I’ve spent here,” Phillips said. “I’ve left here before and had to leave here before and went out and was building a nice little resumé for myself when I was called back here. We understand it, and very seldom does anyone get to stay at a place nine years coaching for the first time and then 10 years this time.”
His Wildcats were projected to finish last in the SEC East this season, but Arkansas entered September as a top-10 team nationally. The Razorbacks lost coach Bobby Petrino in April after Petrino lied about an extramarital relationship, and Smith was hired later that month on a 10-month contract for $850,000.