Late broadcaster shares life at Clemson in book

CLEMSON, S.C. - Jeff Phillips still chuckles a bit when he thinks about his late father's broadcasting career path: A college dropout from Ohio who moved South to become "The Voice of The Clemson Tigers" for 36 years.

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"He became an adopted son. I guess it was just destiny," Phillips said.

Jim Phillips' time at Clemson is remembered in a new book, "Still Roaring: Jim Phillips's Life In Broadcasting," written by Phillips and Ken Tysiac, who covers sports for The (Charlotte) Observer.

The book, just going out to area bookstores and shops, focuses on Phillips' extraordinary run at Clemson, from the time he answered a blind ad for the job until his death two years ago.

"By the end, Jim was somebody who was revered by everybody" connected with Clemson, Tysiac said.

Only days after calling his 401st Clemson football game in September 2003, the 69-year-old Phillips died from an aneurysm in his aorta. It brought an end to a career in which Phillips was practically a one-man show, calling Clemson football, baseball and men's and women's basketball games at the Atlantic Coast Conference school, along with hosting coaches TV and call-in radio shows.

"He was beloved. He was respected," Jeff Phillips said. "When he died, the outpouring from not only Clemson but the state of South Carolina showed the mark that he had made."

Tysiac remembers his wife, Lura, a lifelong Clemson fan, feeling a bit lost when she heard someone's voice other than Phillips' broadcasting Tiger sports. "She thought it was shocking that Jim wasn't on the radio," he said.

Phillips approached Tysiac several years back after Tysiac, who covered Clemson at the time, profiled the broadcaster for the (Anderson) Independent-Mail. The two would discuss Phillips' career during down time on Tiger road trips.

Tysiac recalled talking Clemson basketball with Phillips before a Duke game at Cameron Indoor Arena, or Tiger baseball at the College World Series in Omaha. "Usually, the sport we were at would spark memories for Jim," Tysiac said.

Phillips hoped to publish the book after his retirement. One of the final tweaks Phillips made before his death was taking out much of the biographical information. "Jim wanted it to be about his time and Clemson," Tysiac said.

For Clemson fans, it's a rich memoir with positive stories about many of their most beloved coaches like football greats Frank Howard and Danny Ford, basketball's Rick Barnes and baseball's Bill Wilhelm.

Jeff Phillips says that was precisely what his father wanted since he considered every coach he worked with a friend. Among his father's greatest assets were his loyalty and "his ability to keep things to himself, things that might have furthered his career, told to him in confidentiality," Jeff Phillips said.

Jim Phillips also wasn't afraid to detail his mistakes. In the chapter about college baseball, Phillips' includes the text of a 1993 radio commentary where he apologized for missing on the air that Clemson center fielder Keith Williams had hit for the cycle. Phillips also shared in great detail what he considered among his most drastic mistakes, referring to football coach Tommy West as Danny Ford during a postgame interview only weeks before West was let go as Clemson coach.

"That hurt him," Phillips wrote. "It hurt his family and it hurt me."

Phillips' son and Tysiac both agree the broadcaster's willingness to acknowledge errors and ask forgiveness was a reason he became a fixture for Clemson fans. "To me, it shows Jim's humanity," Tysiac said.

Phillips felt as comfortable mixing with Clemson fans as he did among Tiger stars and coaches, according to Tim Bourret, Phillips' men's basketball broadcast partner. "He didn't come off as a bravado type of guy. He was a regular person," Bourret said. "It was his genuineness" that connected with listeners.

Jeff Phillips and Tysiac think that came out in the finished product. Their one regret is that Phillips isn't alive to share the book with Clemson fans. "That's what he really wanted out of this project," Jeff said.

Perhaps Phillips' long career at Clemson is best summed up by the conclusion of a chapter about men's and women's basketball. Phillips talked of how several people like ex-women's basketball coach Jim Davis, golf's Larry Penley and volleyball's Jolene Hoover thought of the school as family. "Those are good people," Phillips wrote, "and that's what Clemson is all about."