Countdown to Kickoff: No. 8 Clark Phillips III

With just over a week remaining until the University of Utah kicks off the 2021 season, we take a look at no. 8 Clark Phillips III. The freshman cornerback is one of the highest rated recruits to ever attend Utah.

Despite being only a freshman—thanks to not losing a year of eligibility for the shortened 2020 season—Phillips is an unquestioned leader of the Utes secondary, with a maturity well beyond his years.

Phillips started all five games in 2020 and tallied 25 total tackles (2.0 TFL), a fumble recovery and three passes defended (1 INT, 2 PBU) including a pick-six against Washington State. He had a career-high of nine tackles (1.0 TFL) against No. 20 USC.

At his current trajectory, Phillips is likely to not use up all of his eligibility before entering the NFL Draft. The good news for Utes and the program is that he still has two years before that’s even a conversation.

UteNation take

Phillips held his own early on in 2020 before really emerging in the Washington State game. He has such a high football IQ that cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah also has him take reps at nickelback, something that Shah thinks could have hindered some of Phillips' already impressive development.

Despite his group's late season success, they’ll be tested early and often, something Phillips smiles at when asked and relishes. By midseason, we could be talking about the Utes’ next great shutdown corner.

Alex remembers Phillips recruitment

Despite being a commit to Ohio State, Phillips tripped Utah late in the recruiting process. He did so not only because of Utah’s track record at his position, but also because of his family longtime relationship with Shah. Throughout his trip, Phillips' phone was getting blown up by Ohio State coaches and players alike, as they were playing defense worrying about what would soon come. Utah stole him right before the early signing day in December of 2019.

Utah won over 37 other schools, including Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama and seven other schools in the SEC. It was arguably Utah’s biggest recruiting win in school history.