NC State football moved quickly to replace receivers coach George McDonald by announcing the hiring of Joker Phillips as his replacement. Phillips also added the title of assistant head coach.

Phillips has an extensive background, including a three-year stint as the head coach at Kentucky from 2010-12. Prior to beginning at NC State, Phillips was a receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator for the past two years at Maryland.

Much of Phillips’ rise in the coaching profession can be traced back to his time at Kentucky, where Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated noted that he began making a name for himself first as a player under head coach Jerry Claiborne and then when he returned as an assistant coach, first from 1991-96 and then again in 2003.

“He quickly became one of the staff's top recruiters,” Drummond added. “He just had a ton of energy, a great personality, and a real knack for communicating with kids and getting them to take a look at what the UK program had to offer.

“Back then, that was a much bigger challenge as the Cats had no track record of winning consistently, and the school had yet to put the kind of financial resources into its facilities as it does now.”

Drummond noted that Phillips had a long track record of success on the recruiting trail.