Dan Phillips Officially Named Tulsa Central Football Coach

Originally Published: Apr 19, 2010 6:57 PM CDT

Kyle Dierking
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Broken Arrow assistant coach Dan Phillips was officially named the head football coach at Tulsa Central High School on Monday.

Oklahoma Sports first reported last Wednesday that Phillips would be taking over for Corey Russell, who left to become Idabel’s head coach in February.

“They have great athletes over there and a little bit of tradition to carry on and I thought it would be a place where I could be successful,” Phillips said. “I’m excited to get over there and get to work.”

Phillips takes his first coaching job after serving as the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Broken Arrow. He also served as an assistant coach under Tulsa Head Coach Todd Graham for 10 years at Allen (Texas) High School, West Virginia, Rice and two stints at the University of Tulsa.

“The chance to work with Todd and learn from him and to be his right hand man for about 10 years, it was a great experience – I can’t replace that,” Phillips said. “We’re still great friends – I talk to him every day. He was excited for me to get this job.”

Tulsa Central made its first postseason appearance since the 2003 season last year, falling to Bixby in the first round of the OSSAA Playoffs. Phillips will have to try to replace the production of Texas signee Demarco Cobbs, who accounted for 24 total touchdowns last season as a quarterback, running back, wide receiver and kick returner.

“There’s definitely a few holes to fill, but from what I saw the cupboards not bare,” Phillips said. “We have a good freshman group coming up.”

Phillips will start observing offseason workouts for the Braves and will coach the team during spring football next month.