Jim Phillips is standing alone behind the end zone, the sun beating down on him and on the fans at Ryan Field.
But unlike those in the stands clad in purple t-shirts and shorts, he wears a full suit at field level, where the heat seems to simmer.
His hands are crossed as Northwestern continues to struggle to put away a stubborn Ohio team. He leaves his post in front of the Wildcats’ locker room once and re-emerges quickly. The trip inside was only to put his jacket away, just a tiny defense from the unusual Evanston warmth.
Phillips is not your father’s or senior friend’s athletic director.
Phillips is on the field watching his biggest money-making team win from his solitary corner of the end zone. He is in the press box talking to and thanking members of the media for their coverage, good or bad, of his school.
Even in just a short time as the school’s athletic director, he is making a difference for the sports culture on this campus.
His first move after he received the NU job set the tone for transforming the perception of an already successful athletic program.
When Phillips hired Joe McKeown to turnaround the struggling women’s basketball program, it was a signal for change.
McKeown may not be able to transform the team in one season, but he is already bringing in a culture of winning. Early returns from practice show the team is enjoying playing for their new coach and a positive difference between the new and the old.
Words of optimism are coming from just about every team because of the energy Phillips has brought to the athletic department.
Wholesale change cannot be expected for every sport. But the sense around varsity athletics on campus has changed for the better.
It was Phillips’ grassroots effort at the beginning of the season that fed the hysteria that accompanied the football team’s fast start.
Over 1,200 people attended the men’s soccer game against Loyola-Marymount during New Student Week on Sept. 19 – an attendance figure unheard of, even for the successful men’s soccer program. It was a festival of NU athletics complete with football coach Pat Fitzgerald teaching freshmen the fight song and official introduction of McKeown to the students.
The freshman walk to Ryan Field before the Class of 2012’s first home football game set the tone for what it meant to be a Wildcats fan. Students gathered at Long Field early in the morning before the Ohio game to meet the men’s and women’s basketball team before walking to their first football game – one of the loudest and fullest student sections at a home game since 2005.
The trip was worth their while, as NU walked away with a 16-8 win, and its first 4-0 start since 1962.
The groundswell that came from the beginning of the year re-energized a student body that had grown apathetic to sports.
Naturally, winning certainly breeds that kind of interest.
Without a 7-2 start in football, students would likely be as apathetic as ever. Without a 13-0 start in men’s soccer and a No. 2 national ranking, the Cats would likely get less than the 513-person average at home games, when the team achieved a program-best No. 8 NCAA tournament seeding.
NU athletics has become a school-wide endeavor. With Phillips’ energy and message to the students ringing loud and clear, he has unified this school in a way that has not been seen in a long time.
Sports editor Philip Rossman-Reich is a Medill junior. Donate to his campaign for Winter Quarter sports editor at [email protected].
