Terry Don Phillips, the athletic director at Oklahoma State from 1994-2002, died this week. He was 78.
Phillips was hired as AD in October 1994 and arrived in Stillwater in August 1995 after finishing his second year of law school at Arkansas. From there, he led OSU into a new era.
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During his tenure, Phillips was part of the construction of Cowgirl Stadium for the softball team and he launched the OSU equestrian program. Phillips was also pivotal in a fundraising campaign that resulted in the renovation of Gallagher-Iba Arena and the plans for major updates to Lewis Field, Cowboy football’s old stadium.
“Terry Don’s vision for our athletic department inspired a new and greater belief in what we could be,” OSU athletic Director Chad Weiberg said in a press release. “He played a significant role in moving Oklahoma State Athletics forward and we will be forever grateful.”
In addition to Phillips’ departmental and structural impact was on-the-field success. OSU men’s basketball, led by Eddie Sutton, reached the 1995 Final Four and 2000 Elite Eight. Cowboy football hired Les Miles in 2001 and began the program’s turnaround and 10 student-athletes across the department won NCAA titles titles.
“He had the vision to know what we needed to do before we did,” said senior associate athletic director Larry Reece said in a press release. “He showed us through the renovation of Gallagher-Iba Arena that we could do big things here. Terry Don is the reason we all wear orange. Before his arrival, we seem to wear every color but orange. His message was ‘Next time, I’ll wear orange.’”
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Phillips left OSU in 2002 to become the AD at Clemson, where he remained until his retirement in 2012. At Clemson, Phillips famously promoted football coach Dabo Swinney to interim head coach for the 2008 season before making Swinney they permanent head coach after the season. Swinney has since gone on to win two national championships and become the program’s winningest head coach.
Before OSU, Phillips was a two-year starter as a 195-pound defensive tackle at Arkansas. He was then a graduate assistant for the Razorbacks and a defensive line coach and defensive front coordinator at Virginia Tech.
