Utah football flipped one of the top defensive backs in the country as Clark Phillips de-committed from Ohio State on Thursday.
Who saw this one coming? Clark Phillips went from one of the jewels of Ohio State’s 2020 recruiting class to the top player Utah has ever landed.
In fact, Phillips’ commitment to Utah put him just ahead of James Aiono (2009) and Jaylon Johnson (2017), making this a huge program win for the Utes. Not only does it show that the Utes are contending on a national level, but that they are becoming one of the premier programs out west, landing a California-native.
Before Phillips’ flip to the Utes, their highest-ranked player was No. 246 nationally, according to the 247Sports rankings, but he’s a top-50 player and brings up the average rating significantly.
Phillips must have seen what the Utes did in 2019, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and this just goes to prove that any time you contend for a playoff spot, recruits take notice.
Utah may not be the best recruiting program in the country, but this is a major victory and could create a domino effect for top players looking to join an up-and-coming team. If Utah can recruit at a higher level, just imagine how much better they’ll be under Kyle Whittingham who has hovered between the No. 30 and No. 45 classes in the country for the past five, or so, years.
The Utes have been recruiting at a decent level, but if he Whittingham can land a couple of top-100 or a few top-200 players each class, the Utes are going to be in really good shape.
Phillips is a talented kid who could come in and compete right away and that just goes to show the Utes aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Sorry, Pac-12.