KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football senior defensive end Kyle Phillips captured the 2018 Piesman Trophy on Monday. He becomes the fourth winner of SB Nation’s award that honors a lineman “who does something truly special with the ball in his hands.”
Phillips won the award for his 27-yard pick-six against Alabama on Oct. 20 inside Neyland Stadium. The 6-4, 273-pounder intercepted a pass by Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts in the third quarter, broke several tackles and rumbled into the end zone for the first touchdown of his career.
“On behalf of us big guys out there – offensive linemen and defensive linemen – I’m honored to take the 2018 Piesman Trophy award,” Phillips said. “I would like to thank SB Nation for making this award for us big guys. A lot of big guys don’t get a lot of credit. “
He was chosen by a media panel and fan voting among 11 nominees and five finalists.
Phillips joins previous winners Ashton Henderson (Southeastern Louisiana), Brian O’Neill (Pitt) and Brock Riggs (Heidelberg).
“I would like to thank our fans for voting for me,” Phillips said. “It’s been a great ride. Go Vols!”
Phillips had a standout senior campaign on Rocky Top and was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game last week.
He ranked second on the Vols in sacks (5.0) and tackles for loss (8.0), and finished third in tackles (56), while starting all 12 games this fall. For his career, he finished with 114 tackles, 16 TFLs and eight sacks, while appearing in 41 games with 20 starts.
In addition to being named a permanent captain for the 2018 season, Phillips took home the Bill Majors Award and Defensive Player of the Year honors at the end-of-season team banquet.
Phillips collected SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors after logging a career-high nine tackles and forcing a fumble in a 30-24 victory at No. 21 Auburn on Sept. 13. Phillips was a semifinalist for the 2018 Campbell Trophy as well as the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, and grabbed Google Cloud Academic All-District honors.
Phillips graduated in three years with a degree in sports management and was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. He was named to the SEC Community Service Team in 2017 and traveled to Vietnam as a member of the 2016-17 VOLeaders Academy class.
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