Loyd Phillips, who was a key member of Arkansas’ dominant football teams in the mid-1960s, has died at age 75, HawgBeat has learned.
One of the Razorbacks’ all-time greats, Phillips was a first-team All-SWC selection all three years on the varsity squad, a consensus first-team All-American each of his last two years and the 1966 Outland Trophy winner as a senior.
Following his career, Phillips was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame and Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. He was also named to the UA’s All-Century Team.
“You coach a lifetime before you see one that can play defense like him,” the late Frank Broyles told the Associated Press in 1966. “I’ve yet to see anybody chase the fullback in such a frame of mind. It’s unbelievable to just watch him perform in a game.”
A standout player from Longview, Texas, Phillips was recruited by numerous Division I schools. He ultimately chose the Razorbacks over Oklahoma because of his relationship with Arkansas assistant Jim Mackenzie.
Freshmen weren’t allowed to play on varsity teams back then, so it wasn’t until his sophomore year in 1964 that Phillips finally played for the Razorbacks.
Playing alongside the likes of Ronnie Caveness, Ken Hatfield and Jimmy Johnson, Phillips racked up 107 tackles as a vital piece of a defense that allowed only 5.8 points per game and posted five straight shutouts to end the regular season.
Arkansas finally allowed a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl, but beat Nebraska 10-7 to cap a perfect 11-0 season. The Razorbacks finished second in the AP and UPI polls, which were voted on before the bowl games, but they were named national champions by the FWAA after Alabama lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl.
Phillips followed that up by leading Arkansas in tackles each of the next two seasons. As a junior, he made 100 tackles and earned first-team All-America honors from the AFCA, AP and Walter Camp. Those organizations also named him a first-team All-American as a senior, as did the FWAA and Sporting News, despite his tackle total dipping to 97 in 1966.
That season, Phillips also won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. He is one of only two players in UA history to win that award, as he followed in the footsteps of Bud Brooks in 1954.
In his three seasons, the Razorbacks went 29-3 overall and 19-2 in SWC play. Phillips racked up 304 tackles during that time, which ranks 17th on Arkansas’ all-time list.
About a month after his final game at Arkansas, Phillips hometown of Longview declared Dec. 22, 1966, as “Loyd Phillips Day” and more than 200 people packed a motel ballroom to honor him, according to an AP report.
Among the guest speakers at the event was Broyles, the Razorbacks’ head coach at the time who would later become the school’s athletics director.
“I told Loyd to come to Arkansas and some day he would be one of the greatest players to ever play for the Razorbacks,” Broyles told the crowd. “I sincerely believe Phillips is the finest player I have ever coached.”
The Bears took Phillips with the 10th overall pick in the 1967 NFL Draft and he spent three seasons in Chicago, starting 21 of the 32 games in which he appeared. He notched a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery during his professional career.
After his NFL career ended because of a leg injury, Phillips returned to Fayetteville and completed his degree in health education and obtained a master’s degree in administration. He made Northwest Arkansas his home and later became a public school administrator in Springdale and Rogers.
Phillips’ son, Mackenzie, also played for the Razorbacks, lettering as a defensive tackle in 1988, 1989 and 1991.
