Terry Don Phillips obit

Terry Don Phillips

August 29, 1947 — May 26, 2026

 

He was not on the list.

Dr. Terry Don Phillips, who made some of the most significant coaching hires in Clemson history during his 10 years (2002-12) as athletic director, passed away early Tuesday morning in Clemson, SC. Phillips, 78, had been in hospice care after being diagnosed with dementia over a decade ago.

Among the coaches he hired are current football coach Dabo Swinney, current men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell and current men’s soccer coach Mike Noonan.

Swinney is the winningest football coach in Clemson history and Brownell is the winningest men’s basketball coach. Clemson is the only Division I school in the nation where the current men’s basketball and football coaches are the winningest in school history.

Noonan has won two national championships (2021 and 2023) and Swinney has won two national championships (2016 and 2018). Those are four of the six national titles in school history. A fifth, the 2003 golf national championship under Larry Penley, was earned in Phillips first year as athletic director.

Over his 10 years as Clemson athletic director, Clemson won 13 ACC Championships in eight different sports, including five different women’s sports. Clemson athletic programs had 57 top 25 national finishes, 37 top 20s, and 14 top 10s during his time leading the program. Fifteen different sports had a top 25 finish, including six different sports that recorded a top 10 finish in that time frame.

Clemson went to the Final Four of national tournaments in three different sports during this time, Baseball, women’s tennis and men’s soccer.

A major facility enhancement took place in every program over his 10 years with an investment over $140 million with just $25 million of debt. The combined unrestricted fund reserve grew approximately 90 percent between 2002-12 

Phillips was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 and was also made an Honorary Alumnus of Clemson University by the Clemson Alumni Association on August 22, 2019.

Phillips came to Clemson after serving as the athletic director at Oklahoma State from 1994-2002. During his career in Stillwater, Oklahoma State won a pair of national championships in men ’s golf, reached the Final Four in men’s basketball and made two trips to the College World Series. Additionally, Oklahoma State won 13 Big 12 Championships and had 11 individual national champions across various sports.

Phillips began his 42-year career in college athletics as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Arkansas, his alma mater, in 1970. He then became an assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 1971-78 where he worked with former Clemson head coaches Danny Ford and Charley Pell.

He then moved into administration and became the athletic director at Liberty University in 1980-81, then at Southwestern Louisiana from 1981-88.

Phillips returned to his alma mater as a senior associate athletic director under Frank Broyles in 1988 and remained there until 1994 when he became the athletic director at Oklahoma State.

Phillips was a three-year letterman as a defensive lineman at Arkansas under Broyles and played in the famous Arkansas vs. Texas game of 1969. He lettered in 1966, 1968 and 1969 and the Razorbacks posted a 27-5 record.

Phillips was inducted into the University of Arkansas Hall of Honor in 2010.

Phillips earned his undergraduate degree from Arkansas in 1970, earned a Master’s degree from Virginia Tech in 1974 and his Ph.D from Virginia Tech in 1978. He earned his J.D. degree from Arkansas in 1996.

He continued to teach a sports law class while he was the athletic director at Clemson.

Born in Longview, Texas, Phillips was the third son to Verna (Zimmerman) and Loyd Fay Phillips, and raised in east Texas with his two brothers, David Neal and Loyd Wade.

When Terry Don was diagnosed with an unspecified type of dementia after his 2012 retirement, he and Tricia were determined to “make the best of a journey nobody wants.” Their intentionality to find joy in every day brought laughter, traveling backroads across the U.S. with their beloved yellow lab, Atticus, and a lot of ice cream. It also created an opportunity for friends and family across the country to share visits, fond memories and special words of affirmation when it meant the most to Terry Don.

Phillips is survived by his wife Tricia Brown Phillips, beloved children, Sarah-Jane Mayer, Fayetteville, Ark.; husband Jonathan; John Dennis Phillips, Phoenix, Az. Meagan Stone, Duncan, SC; Marshall Stone, Carrollton, Ga; wife Ashley; Madison Archer Stone, Jupiter, Fla. and grandchildren Shelby and Will Mayer, both students at The University of Arkansas; Darcy and Derek Schall; Ozzy Stone.

A private burial and service will be held at a later date in Quitman, Texas.

Any memorials may be made to one of two programs that support and provide a variety of services to people with disabilities, mental health challenges or special needs.

He served as the athletic director at Liberty Baptist College—now known as Liberty University—from 1980 to 1981, at the University of Southwestern Louisiana—now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette—from 1983 to 1988, at Oklahoma State University from 1995 to 2002, and at Clemson University from 2002 to 2012.

Phillips played defensive tackle at Arkansas from 1966 to 1969. His older brother, Loyd Phillips, was an All-American defensive lineman for Arkansas between 1964 and 1966, and won the 1966 Outland Trophy.

Phillips remained at Arkansas as a graduate assistant for the 1970 and 1971 seasons, before moving to Virginia Tech as an assistant coach. Phillips left Virginia Tech after 1978. He then joined the Florida Gators coaching staff as an administrative assistant to head coach Charley Pell.

In 1980, Phillips became athletic director at Liberty University. He then served as the assistant athletic director at the University of Missouri. He moved to Louisiana–Lafayette in 1983, before returning to his alma mater, Arkansas, in 1988 as Senior Associate Athletic Director.

Phillips stayed at Arkansas until 1994, and then left for the AD job at Oklahoma State once it became apparent that then-Arkansas AD Frank Broyles had no intention of retiring. Under Phillips, the Cowboys basketball team continued their success under coach Eddie Sutton, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1995 and the Elite Eight in 2000. In football, Phillips hired coach Les Miles in 2001, who would turn the program around and lead the team to 3 straight bowl bids after Phillips left the school.

In 2002 Phillips left Oklahoma State for Clemson. There, he has overseen the hiring of basketball coaches Oliver Purnell in 2003 and Brad Brownell in 2010. He also promoted Dabo Swinney to head football coach and oversaw the "WestZone" expansion of Memorial Stadium in 2006.

Phillips was inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 2010.