GARDEN CITY, Kan. — DelShawn Phillips surprised his junior college coach with the news: He was switching his transfer choice from Arizona to Illinois.
“I’m surprised because he had been with Arizona for a long time,” Jeff Sims said following linebacker Phillips’ commitment to the Illini on Wednesday. “But he told me that Arizona had a coaching change and he didn’t know who his linebacker coach was going to be. He felt the linebacker coach (Tim McGarigle) and defensive staff at Illinois was going to put him in the best position to try to become an NFL football player.