Phil graduated from  the University of North Alabama where he was a pitcher on the Lions baseball team coached by Mike Lane. Phil  began coaching as a graduate assistant for his alma mater in 1985 which helped to launch a career that would span over thirty-three years to this date. He is a well respected baseball coach in the Shoals area with stops as the head coach at Deshler, Colbert County, and currently at Sheffield High School. Teams coached by Phil have compiled a record of 346-196 and 25 players from those schools have gone on to play college baseball. He was the 1999 4A-6A Times Daily Coach of the Year when he led the Deshler Tigers to a 35-6 record, advancing to the State Semi-Finals and again in 1A-3A in 2002 as Colbert County was 30-13, also reaching the State Semi-Finals. He was chosen to coach in both the 1999 and 2014 AHSAA All-Star games.