He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was a first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-12 in 2021.

[4] As a freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, Philips played in three of the first four games of the 2018 season before suffering a concussion and opting to redshirt.

[9] The two touchdown catches tied his career high with the other occurring in 2019 against the Stanford Cardinal.

[10][11] For the season, he was named first-team All-Pac-12 as a receiver and garnered second-team honors as a return specialist.

[16] In the 2022 season opener against the New York Giants, he led all Titans receivers with six receptions for 66 yards.

[18] Philips later suffered a hamstring injury in practice and was placed on injured reserve on October 25, 2022.