"[1] Phillips was twice selected All-Southern as a guard and captain of the 1902 Sewanee Tigers football team.

[2][3] On the dedication of Harris Stadium, one writer noted "The University of the South has numbered among its athletes some of the greatest.

"[4] A description of his play by John de Saulles included "His weakness has always, and only, been that of Southern players generally – defense.

Between 1915 and 1922 he served as chaplain at the University of South, professor of English Bible and rector of Otey Memorial Parish in Sewanee, Tennessee.

In 1922 he became rector of Trinity Church in Columbia, South Carolina, a post he retained till 1938.