Schreiner University introduces first football coach finalist
Phillips runs a spread offense and recruiting from Texas is a priority, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
| Schreiner University’s multimillion-dollar bet on bringing back football moved one step closer on Thursday when the university introduced the first of four candidates vying for the head coaching job. Russ Phillips, a native Texan and current offensive coordinator at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., made the rounds at Schreiner, including a meet and greet at Trailhead Beer Garden. Schreiner University Athletic Director Bill Raleigh said he hopes to have a new coach named by May 1. Other candidates will visit the campus next week. For Phillips, the chance to build a program in Texas was one of his chief reasons for applying. “You know, everybody wants to know what the challenge is gonna be, but I look at it more as an opportunity to put, you know, 120 guys back on campus that have been missing for 68 years,” Phillips said. “If you add that up mathematically, it’s about 7,000 students playing a sport that they love, and I think that’s important.” At Hendrix, Phillips runs a spread offense and recruiting from Texas is a priority, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. What makes this job intriguing is the proximity to football-rich high school programs in San Antonio and Austin. However, he believes there’s plenty of talent in the Hill Country. “I think people here are more familiar with Division 3 football than in Conway (Arkansas), because we were the only one in the state,” Phillips said. The other critical factor came from Kerrville’s 2050 plan, which spells out some of the community’s ambitions, including a focus on intercollegiate athletics. “They want to be known as a thriving college sports town,” Phillips said of Kerrville. “So that tells me that they’re investing into what’s going on at Schreiner University that’s huge.” Earlier this week, the Kerrville Economic Improvement Corp. approved a $2 million grant (2/3 of a $3 million grant to Schreiner University) to help start the university’s football push. That investment will go toward renovating Eddington Gymnasium, which will house a new weight training complex. “It is exciting to see,” Raleigh said. “It’s good to finally see the ball rolling.” |
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