In addition, he was the head basketball coach at Saint Mary's for two seasons during World War II (1943–1945), where he amassed a record 10–11.

In his first game as a reserve quarterback and placekicker for the football team, he threw for a touchdown and ran for another in a 32–0 victory over Alma College.

This earned him the starting job, and he would go on to complete a 7–1 season, the lone defeat was by one point at Nebraska.

The 1917 campaign began with a 55–0 victory over Kalamazoo, followed by a scoreless tie at Wisconsin, in which Phelan attempted to win the game by kicking a 61-yard field goal; the ball bounced off the crossbar.

A 7–0 loss at Nebraska the following week was the last game of his career, as he was drafted into military service for World War I and sent to Camp Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.