Jason Phillips has been around a handful of coaches now carving significant careers in football, both at the collegiate and professional levels.
Now Phillips, a former star quarterback at Tennessee prep powerhouse Maryville under current Austin Peay assistant George Quarles who later starred at NCAA Division II program Tusculum, is getting the opportunity to entirely run his own offense.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Phillips is exiting Alcorn to take over as offensive coordinator at Norfolk State for coach Dawson Odums, a proven head coach in his third season at Norfolk after guiding Southern to a string of successful seasons.
Odums and Phillips will join forces, sources shared, after the duo previously faced off against one another when Odums was at Southern and Phillips helped Fred McNair along McNair's record-setting run atop the Braves program.
The move simply is another step up for Phillips, now set to be offensive coordinator for the FCS Norfolk State program after being a co-offensive coordinator recently at Alcorn.
Phillips, who's specialized in coaching both quarterbacks and wideouts, has coached alongside Pittsburgh safeties coach Cory Sanders, Memphis assistant Lou Esposito, Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding and veteran college and NFL assistant Karl Scott, among myriad others, on a coaching path that has included stops at Troy, Tusculum, St. Joseph's College and the Mississippi junior college ranks.
Sources said that Norfolk swooped in to hire Phillips as additional NCAA programs also sought to hire him away from a transitioning Alcorn program, which last month saw McNair leave and school officials promote Cedric Thomas from defensive coordinator to head coach.
Norfolk State is set to open its 2024 season Aug. 24 against Florida A&M in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Atlanta.