As a 12-year-old kid, he claimed a world championship in giant slalom skiing in Whistler, British Columbia. At 17 he made the U.S. Development Team. For the better part of his five year skiing career, he was ranked the No. 2 skier in the world behind Marcel Hirscher, a two-time World Cup skiing champion. So how is it that Andy Phillips no longer represents the U.S. on the slopes, but rather the Utes on the gridiron?
“He was a world class skier,” said his father and ski coach Greg Phillips. “He was, and still is, such a gifted skier. I have no doubt that if he went back to skiing right now, he would pick up right where he left off.”
But during a time that the skier was rehabbing from a back injury, the U.S. ski team was struggling financially and asked for more money to be a part of the team, so Andy Phillips and his wife decided to move on from the slopes.
While his professional skiing career is over, Phillips still goes up to ski in the best snow on earth whenever he gets the chance.
“I still love it and my best friends are still skiing so I still have my toe into the sport,” he said. “It was the hardest decision of my life to give up skiing, but I still get my thrill from skiing and try to go as much as possible.”
So with no football background whatsoever, how did Phillips end up on a Pac-12 football team as a kicker?
The answer lies in a sport his family is heavily involved in — soccer. He’s been playing it since he was two, but it wasn’t until a family Thanksgiving football game that Phillips realized his potential as a kicker. Phillips and his brother backed up as far as 55 yards out to see who could kick the longest.
Realizing he had a strong leg, Phillips decided to make some film of himself kicking and send it to Utah special teams coach Jay Hill. Hill liked what he saw and subsequently decided to give Phillips a shot on the team.
Although it was not a big deal to Phillips, it came as a huge surprise to those around him.
“I was in shock when he showed me the video of him making those field goals,” Greg Phillips said. “The first thought in my mind was, ‘Good luck. That’s kind of a pipe dream.’ ”
After not seeing any time on the field in 2012, Phillips won the starting kicking job during fall camp and will make his debut this Thursday against Utah State.
“It’s an honor to be on this team, and I have worked really hard to get where I am at right now,” Phillips said. “I have prepared myself to handle game situations even though I have very little experience kicking in front of 50,000 fans. But the experience I do have is from my ski background, and I had to perform under pressure my whole career skiing. After five years of professional skiing, you learn how to get your mind right. It’ll be a new experience for sure, but I am looking forward to it.”
Even though it was hard to watch his skiing aspirations be left by the wayside, Greg Phillips is excited to watch his son take his next journey as Utah’s kicker, and has no doubt he will succeed.
“It’s awesome,” Greg Phillips said about having his son be a part of a major Division 1 football program. “To think that he is going to be playing in front of 50,000 fans week in and week out is incredible. He will be performing in front of more people every week on the football field than he would in a lifetime of skiing. It’s very exciting.”
Even though Andy Phillips has already built up a lot of confidence from himself and his family, it doesn’t hurt to add a little more boost from his head coach.
“I’m optimistic about the kicking game right now, and I don’t usually say that,” Kyle Whittingham said. “Andy has been the clear-cut, number one kicker for us. He has performed well under pressure, or as much pressure as we can create out here. He has the right mentality, so I am excited to see what he does this year … I trust him right now, I’m going to continue to trust him until he proves me different.”