Phillips on the mend after challenging year
After injuries forced defensive lineman Harrison Phillips into action in a part-time role during the 2014 season, the Nebraska native appeared poised to break through as a starter in 2015.
But his sophomore campaign ended before it really began. Phillips suffered a torn ACL in the first half of the Cardinal's season-opening loss to Northwestern. He managed to contribute to the program in different ways (breaking down film, supporting his teammates), but nonetheless watched his teammates reach new heights from a distance rather than alongside them in the trenches.
Phillips, who was a multi-sport standout in high school, had never previously suffered a major injury. He dealt with a recurring back issue from time to time, but remained mostly healthy over the course of his athletic career. Phillips competed at the highest level available to him, and more often than not he thrived.
But it all ended in an instant - at least for the season - one depressing early September day in Illinois.
"(The hardest part has) definitely been mentally," Phillips said. "I've kind of done everything (athletically in my career). Just by God's blessings alone I was fortunate enough to be successful at everything. Going from that type of lifestyle, doing something and doing it well and having that chronically competitive mentality to going and having to see your season ripped out in front of your eyes and then having to watch the same guys that you battled with to earn a starting spot go in and do so well without you, it definitely is a mental thing that's been the most challenging part.
"And just trying to stay positive and realize that this is part of the bigger plan and I don't have control over these things. I get my redshirt year now. I get another year to actually develop, turn into a 20 year-old man instead of a 19-year-old boy. I think I'm more settled in with it now. The guys have been helping me out a lot. They all hurt for me, too. The morale when my injury was diagnosed was pretty low. The guys were all trying to play for me, and that was good to see and good to feel. But there's no worse feeling than watching, like, the Notre Dame win or the USC win sitting on the bench, watching on TV, not being able to control anything. So that would be the most difficult part."
To a certain extent, it's inevitable that an injury the magnitude of the one Phillips suffered would separate him from his teammates. For one, he isn't able to join them along the line of scrimmage in practice sessions or games, and rehab and academic obligations also limit his time with the team.
But Phillips has found ways to stay involved in the Cardinal program.
"I go to every meeting I can," Phillips said. "I picked up a few more classes because of the injury, so I took 20 credit hours this quarter, so I had to miss some meetings here and there. And during practice every day I go to physical therapy. The majority of the year until toward finals week when it was getting really busy for me I helped break down film for the coaches. So I was breaking down passing tendencies... that kept me busy outside of meetings. But then when we got toward the finals weeks I had to really focus on school.
"But I kind of am isolated a little bit because at practice I'm off by myself in the weight room. I've been lifting with the non-travel redshirt freshmen lifting group, so I don't really get to be with my class at all. But they try to include me as best as they can."
Through the challenges of 2015 - and there have been numerous - there were also a few bright spots for Phillips. He soaked in the successes of his close friend Christian McCaffrey, and also took advantage of his time away from the gridiron by thriving in the classroom.
"I would say one of the times I was the most excited is when I found out Christian was up for the Heisman," Phillips said. "To see my best friend do something like that, you write books about that type of thing. That's unreal. (He was announced as a Heisman finalist during) our discretionary week, so I was actually back home and I was just sitting there like he is a hero in my state. People would go crazy if they saw him. And he's my best friend. So that was a really cool moment.
"And then probably getting my grades back this semester. Not having to watch extra hours of film and stuff like that I was able to focus a little bit more on school. Getting my grades back was a good feeling this semester."
The good news for Stanford and Phillips - in addition to his rising GPA - is that he could be back on the practice fields sooner than later. As of this interview (which was conducted on Dec. 29th, Phillips was on track to return in some capacity (perhaps not full contact, but at least back out involved with his teammates) this spring.
"I had about six weeks off prior to my surgery (after the injury) where they wanted me to lose some swelling in my knee so it would go down as well as build my strength up as much as I could," Phillips said. "So for those six weeks I was training all lower body trying to get as much as strength as I could so when surgery happened I wouldn't lose as much.
"I had surgery October 15th. And ever since I've been doing everything they've been telling me, trying to push the process as best I can. I think I'm coming back in the middle of spring ballish is the time frame, six months, obviously. There are different goals we have, different objectives. Obviously the Stanford training staff and physical therapists have everything to a T. This isn't their first rodeo. They have weekly marks to hit, and I've consistently been hitting them weeks before they're actually supposed to be hit, so I'm actually ahead of certain things in that aspect. Obviously there are setbacks with the overwork, then there's swelling. If there's no swelling you (resume working).
"I feel very confident in their hands and I feel very good about how the process is going sitting a little over two months in."