Kendallville, Ind. – When East Noble made its run to the 4A state title game last fall, eighth-grader Austin Phillips sat in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium, cheering on older brother Alex and the rest of the Knights as they battled New Palestine.
If the Knights make a return trip to Indianapolis this fall, Phillips will no doubt be front and center as the freshman running back/linebacker currently leads a Knights team that’s ranked third in the IFCA’s 4A state poll with 394 yards rushing through four games. He’s also tied for second on the team with 29 total tackles, just one behind his brother Alex.
“He’s not built like a freshman,” says East Noble head coach Alex Stewart of the chiseled 6-foot-2, 200-pound Phillips, who benches 275 pounds and squats 455. “He started strength training with us in the off-season and he came in and was working out with our upperclass linemen. Coming up through middle school we knew he was a special athlete.”
College coaches have already taken notice of Phillips, who says he’s planning to play linebacker on the next level. Last week he had a game day visit at Notre Dame. This weekend he’s planning to attend Louisville’s home game against Bowling Green. He also has game day visits at Michigan and Ohio State scheduled for October.
“I was at a camp at Ohio State in July,” says Phillips. “Coach Vince Kehres, the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Toledo, came up to me and asked, ‘Austin, do you have any offers?’ I said, ‘no.’ He stuck out and shook my hand and said, ‘Here’s your first one.’ I was so blessed to get a D1 offer before even starting high school.”
Phillips notes he’s a big Notre Dame fan. If he does ultimately end up choosing the Irish, Phillips would continue a recent trend of northeast Indiana standouts to suit up in South Bend, including Tyler Eifert (Bishop Dwenger HS), Jaylon Smith (Bishop Luers), Drue Tranquill (Carroll), and current redshirt freshman Tae Johnson.
“I talked to Jaylon Smith a little bit up there this past weekend,” Phillps said. “Tae Tae – I’ve trained with him before and he’s amazing. Especially with that big game against Texas A&M this past week with him returning a blocked punt for a touchdown, even though they lost he still had an amazing game.”
While featuring Phillips among a cadre of talented running backs was always the plan coming into this season, the freshman has taken a larger role with junior running back Ian Ramey suffering a broken ankle in week two that could sideline him deep into the playoffs.
“He’s gotten better each week at reading blocks,” says Stewart. “In middle school, he could just outrun everybody to the corner. Now he has to understand blocking schemes, where his cuts are, he’s got to be a bit more patient and he’s done a good job of getting better at that.”
While Phillips will play a key role when the Knights host Northeast Eight Conference rival Leo this coming Friday with the Lions ranked fourth in the state in 4A, football isn’t the only sport he excels at. This past summer Phillips won the Adidas National Championship in the shot put, topping all competitors with a throw of 56 feet, 3 inches at the national meet in North Carolina.
“I’ve been lifting since, like, sixth grade,” Phillips said. “I just love getting bigger, faster, stronger. For shot put, really, this past year was the first year I put a lot of focus into it. My friend’s dad went to college for shot put, and we put a lot of work in over the winter.”
On the football field, if there’s one player he models his game after Phillips says its former linebacker Luke Kuechly. While injuries shortened Kuechly’s NFL career to eight seasons, the Cincinnati native was a five-time All-Pro First Team selection and a seven-time Pro Bowler.
“Luke Kuechly was so defensive-minded,” says Phillips. “He read the offense perfectly. Just a super-smart guy.”
Aside from his physical gifts, just like his idol Kuechly, it’s the cerebral part of his game that truly sets Phillips apart from other ninth graders.
“For sure, he’s the best freshman that I’ve ever coached,” says Stewart. “It’s really rare for a kid to have that type of athletic ability, but he’s very humble. He’s one of our hardest workers and that goes back to the way his parents raised him. Just a tremendous kid to be around and I’m having a lot of fun coaching him.”