Recruiting Anniversary: Wisconsin Badgers QB Curt Phillips

The winning formula designed by Barry Alvarez for the University of Wisconsin was fairly simple and straightforward – run the ball with a power tailback behind a big offensive line. It was a formula that didn’t require the Badgers to get too flashy at the quarterback position, just recruit a steady pocket-passing quarterback who didn’t make mistakes and who could execute the play-action pass.

Bret Bielema knew the formula worked, but he didn’t want to settle.

That’s part of the reason why Bielema – after getting his feet under him after taking over for Alvarez – made a strong push for Kingsport (TN) Sullivan dual-threat quarterback Curt Phillips in the 2008 recruiting cycle. Not only was Phillips a talented quarterback, but his commitment also promised to add a new element to Wisconsin’s offense that would push it to a new level.

In this latest edition of recruiting anniversaries, we look back 13 years at Phillips’ commitment.

Bielema’s 2008 class was off to a slow and unusual start. Wisconsin only had four commitments entering the month of June and came from three different states. The Badgers had locked up the state’s top two players in Peter Konz and Tyler Westphal while also landing a promising defensive back from Texas in Marcus Cromartie and a productive linebacker In Kevin Claxton.

Rated the seventh-best dual-threat quarterback in the country by Rivals.com, Phillips held offers from Duke, East Carolina, Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. He was also drawing interest from Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Georgia, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers and Stanford.

Phillips first saw colleges take a legitimate interest in him after his sophomore season, when he earned all-state honors after rushing for over 1,000 yards, passing for over 1,000 yards and being responsible for 21 touchdowns. As a junior, Phillips completed 61.2 percent of his passes, threw for 2,023 yards and 24 touchdowns and picking up another 900 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

Phillips received his first offer from Duke in late April 2007 and plenty of schools came down to watch him throw during the spring evaluation period, including then-Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst. The Badgers obviously liked what they saw and offered Phillips in late May.

“We kind of researched Wisconsin a bit and saw how they are a really good school and an excellent football program of course, so I was real excited to get an offer from a school like that,” Phillips told BadgerBlitz.com after he was offered. “Last year they finished No. 5. I watched the game against Arkansas, so they're a great football school. I also heard if you get an education from Wisconsin you're set as far as that goes too, so it's a good place.”

Determined to make an early decision once he felt comfortable with a school and a coaching staff, Phillips took unofficial visits to Duke, East Carolina, Kentucky and Wisconsin. His last visit was to Madison, which ultimately gave him the best feeling on what school he wanted to play for.

“I didn't realize Madison was that big. It was a really neat town and I had heard a lot about it. I saw the Sports Illustrated magazine about the No. 1 college town being Madison, so that was nice. It's a real big campus, but at the same time, it's a really clean campus from, I guess, the state capitol there, so they take care of it. And I see that they love football, so I'm pretty excited.

“The first thing we did is go up to Coach Bielema's office. I don't know if you've been up there, how he's got that balcony. That was really impressive. I wasn't expecting that at all when we came up there. I mean that was a great first impression being able to see that. I don't know how you can turn that down with the top school that Wisconsin is, with the education and the football team.”

- Phillips to BadgerBlitz.com

“I enjoy running the ball and getting outside the pocket. I think that scrambling and making throws on the run is probably one of my biggest strengths. That's not something you can really show in these camps, but if you've seen my film, you'll see that's a big part of my game.”

“I'm more of a dual-threat quarterback and I know that they don't run the quarterback very much at Wisconsin. But I'm comfortable doing whatever. At my high school, we run the quarterback quite a bit, but I feel pretty comfortable under center and dropping straight back too. It doesn't really matter to me either way. But (Chryst) has kind of made it clear that he's going to run the running backs and throw the quarterbacks.”

- Phillips to BadgerBlitz.com

Spending his redshirt season developing into a better pocket passer, Phillips played in five games in 2009 and entered spring 2010 looking to compete for the starting spot. In an unfortunate sign of things to come, however, Phillips tore his ACL during spring practice in March 2010 and seemingly went on a downhill injury spiral from that point forward. He tore the ACL again later that November and had another procedure in April 2011 to help clean out the knee. Phillips missed the 2010 and 2011 seasons entirely, watching from the sidelines as Russell Wilson and his dual-threat skills took Wisconsin's offense to the unprecedented heights in 2011.

Good things finally started to happen for Phillips in 2012. Healthy after taking an incredible cautious rehab, Phillips played in two games in October 2012 before getting the chance to start at Indiana. In a game that clinched a spot in the Big Ten title game for the Badgers, Phillips went 4-for-7 for 41 yards, threw his first career touchdown and carried the ball seven times for 68 yards. He started for the remainder of the season, completing a career-high 14 passes against Ohio State, throwing for a career-high 191 yards at Penn State, quarterback the Badgers during their 70-31 romp over Nebraska in the 2012 Big Ten title game and started the 2012 Rose Bowl against Stanford.

Granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA, Phillips played in only three games in 2013 under first-year head coach Gary Andersen.

I distinctly remember standing on the sidelines of the McClain Center watching Wisconsin practice when Phillips took off running during a team drill, planted to make a cut and went down without any contact in March 2010. It didn’t look good and it wasn’t, the first of multiple knee injuries and surgeries for Phillips. Naturally, his ability to scramble and that 10.9 100-meter track speed he had in high school was gone, and he never had a lot of time to develop and grow within the offense because he spent so much time in the training room.

But while he never lived up to the billing, Phillips’ willingness to put himself through all the off-the-field work three times to come back and be able to compete for the program deserves praise. His career numbers won’t leap off the page, but he remains a Big Ten championship quarterback who got to start in a Rose Bowl. That’s not too bad all things considered.