The Ones to Watch

Today: Northwestern safety Brad Phillips

Whenever the rigors of training camp start to take a toll on Brad Phillips, the Northwestern safety calls home.

He doesn't exactly get a sympathetic ear on the other end of the line. No matter how taxing things are for Brad, his father, Duane, can top it.

"He tells me how they used to drive them to the ground, fights, coins in the fist during practice, no water breaks," Brad Phillips said. "How hard camp was back then, it just makes me feel so much better."

But training-camp toil wasn't the toughest part of Duane Phillips' career at Northwestern. An outside linebacker who lettered in 1973 and 1974, Duane played for NU at the dawn of the dark ages.

Starting in 1972, the Wildcats endured 23 consecutive losing seasons, a drought of historic proportions that resulted largely from a lack of institutional support.

Fortunately for Duane Phillips, he can keep those horror stories to himself. Brad is enjoying a completely different experience at Northwestern, which opens its season Saturday against Northeastern.

"It's been quite gratifying to see him become part of the program the way it is now," Duane Phillips said. "It wasn't like that the years I was there.

"The athletics have grown up quite a bit."

So has Brad Phillips, believed to be the program's first "legacy" since Paul Burton, son of former All-American Ron Burton, played at NU from 1993-96.

After a strong performance at camp in Kenosha, Phillips figures to see plenty of time this fall. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound sophomore can play both safety spots and will start the opener at strong safety if Brendan Smith (shoulder) cannot play.

Phillips' ascent has been quick. Defensive coordinator Greg Colby knew it would be after seeing the Export, Pa., native at Northwestern's camp for high school juniors in 2005.

"We watched him for about five minutes covering a guy 1-on-1," Colby recalled. "He was covering him like he was a cornerback, and he was a big ol' guy. We said, 'We can't get that kind of athleticism.'æ"

It wasn't Phillips' size or speed but his intellect that jumped out to cornerback Deante Battle when Phillips trained with the team the summer before his freshman year.

"Mostly when freshmen come in, they seem to be a little lost," Battle said. "But he learned the system and he was making plays.

"I was like, 'That guy's going to be a player.'æ"

Despite growing up in an area spellbound by all things Penn State, Phillips learned about Northwestern "as soon as I knew what football was."

Duane reconnected with the program during NU's mid-1990s renaissance and attended the 1996 Rose Bowl with several former teammates. Brad went to a few games in Evanston but watched more on TV.

"I remember watching Coach Fitz, watching him destroy people," Brad said of current head coach and former Wildcats linebacker Pat Fitzgerald. "Not many people knew about Northwestern, but I did.

"It's where I wanted to go."

Duane admits he would have steered Brad elsewhere had the program not improved since his playing days. Father and son still visited several schools, including Tennessee and North Carolina, before heading to Evanston.

Brad's performance at NU's camp earned him an on-the-spot scholarship offer, which he accepted about a month later.

"He didn't want to fight that recruiting battle all the way through," Duane Phillips said. "I don't know what offers and other things would have (come) after his senior year. Penn State and others, like Pitt, called his head coach many times. Basically, Brad said, 'I've made my decision.'æ"

Football seemed like a preset path for Brad, but his dad never pushed the sport. Duane delayed Brad from playing until the seventh grade, two years after most of Brad's friends had started.

"Some of these kids are starting way too young," Duane said. "I knew from my experience, if he didn't want to commit to the type of regimen, there was no reason to push him into it.

"If he did decide to do it, you don't quit, you don't do anything but give 100 percent."

Those words stick with Brad, who played quarterback and cornerback in high school before moving to safety at NU. He appeared in every game last season, collecting 7 tackles and a pass breakup.

Though the secondary returns all four starters, Phillips will see time behind Smith and Reggie McPherson, in the 3-3-5 alignment and on special teams.

"The second year, they expect a lot more out of you; you expect a lot more out of yourself," said Phillips, who models his game after all-pro safety John Lynch. "Safeties, they tend to call us the quarterbacks of the defense, so we've got to have the best attitude out there."

The Phillips file

Name: Brad Phillips

Class: Sophomore

Size: 6-4, 210 pounds

Position: Safety

Hometown: Export, Pa.

Experience: Played in every game last season, collecting 7 tackles

Quote: "He's a much better athlete than I ever thought or imagined I could be. He's extremely bright, extremely talented player and can handle that mental capacity very easily. He's going to see a lot of the field."

-- Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern coach and former linebacker