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DERRICK ODUM
JASON PHILLIPS
ASSISTANT COACH SECONDARY SIXTH SEASON UTAH
ASSISTANT COACH CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/WIDE RECEIVERS SECOND SEASON HOUSTON
Derrick Odum enters his sixth season coaching SMU's secondary having come to SMU after three seasons at Utah where he coached safeties. In 2012, Odum’s group was decimated by injuries. SMU lost three-year starting safety Ryan Smith for the year when he went down with a season-ending injury against TCU. Brett Haness, who then earned the job in Smith’s absence, was then lost for the year just three games later. Sophomore J.R. Richardson, slotted as a starter at corner in the preseason, got injured in training camp and missed the year. Shakiel Randolph, who did earn All-C-USA Freshman Team honors, also missed time and back-up corner Horace Richardson missed with a torn ACL. Despite these injuries, Odum still led Kenneth Acker to All-C-USA honors as the SMU defense posted two shutouts (SMU’s most in a season since 1983), tied an NCAA season record for pick-sixes and tied for third in the country in total takeaways and second in fumble recoveries for TDs. The 2011 season saw the continued development of the SMU secondary, as Richard Crawford earned first-team All-C-USA honors and Chris Banjo was honorable mention. The season was capped off with a BBVA Compass Bowl win that saw the Mustangs limit Pitt to just 10 rushing yards and a Bowl-record-low six points. Following the season, Crawford was selected by the Washington Redskins in the NFL Draft. In 2010, Odum led Banjo to second-team All-Conference USA honors and Crawford to honorable mention accolades, while helping SMU rank second in the league in pass defense efficiency. Another SMU corner, Sterling Moore, would go on to start for the New England Patriots in 2011. In 2009, Odum helped guide a defense that notched 17 interceptions, a number which tied for the 16th-best total in the nation, and led defensive backs Rock Dennis and Bryan McCann to honorable mention All-Conference honors. In 2007, Odum tutored a defense that finished number one in the nation in pass efficiency defense and fifth in the country in scoring defense. Among the standouts he helped develop were Joe Dale, the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl MVP, Steve Tate, a first-team All-Mountain West selection, and Robert Johnson, who was named the ESPN National Player of the Week after his performance against UCLA. Odum also turned a pair of one-time walk-ons into All-Conference-caliber players while at Utah. In 2005, Casey Evans led the league in interceptions and earned second-team All-MWC honors and Steve Tate led Utah in tackles in both 2005 and 2006 en route to honorable mention (2005) and first-team (2006) All-MWC accolades. Odum also played a role in the emergence of one of the greatest defensive players in Utah football history in 2005, when Eric Weddle manned a safety position for the first eight games of the season before moving to corner. Weddle, a 2006 consensus All-American and two-time MWC Defensive Player of the Year, became a second-round NFL draft pick of the San Diego Chargers. Odum also assisted with the Ute kick returners and the punt team - the latter of which ranked No. 1 in the nation in net punting in 2006. His off-field duties included serving as the team's pro liaison. Odum's first full-time coaching opportunity was with the defensive backs at Montana from 1998-99. Montana won back-to-back Big Sky Conference championships and led the conference in pass efficiency defense. All of Odum's backfield starters earned All-Conference recognition in 1999, including safety Vince Huntsberger who was selected as the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. From there, he went to Utah State (2000-02) where he spearheaded a 25-place improvement in pass defense. The Aggies placed second in the Big West Conference in interceptions his first year there. Odum spent the summer of 2002 interning with the Tennessee Titans, working with their defensive backs and linebackers. He left Utah State to coach the defensive backs at Houston, where he stayed from 2003-04. The secondary accounted for 13 of Houston's 14 total interceptions in 2003 and Odum produced a Conference USA All-Freshman team selection both years. Odum returned to his alma mater in 2005, where he had served as a graduate assistant eight years earlier (1996-97). He assisted with the safeties in 1996, and assumed full responsibility for the safeties in his final year as a G.A. Odum lettered at Utah from 1989-92, starting at free safety his freshman year and cornerback his junior season. He started for Utah in the 1992 Copper Bowl and also played centerfield for the Ute baseball team for two seasons. He earned his bachelor's in political science from Utah in 1993. He is married to the former Ania Homan and has two sons, Dominic and Jeremiah, and a daughter, Ryann.
Jason Phillips joined the SMU football coaching staff as co-offensive coordinator and assistant coach in January 2011. Phillips came to the Hilltop after completing his ninth season at Houston, where he served as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Phillips had also served as UH's recruiting coordinator. In his first year on the Hilltop, the Mustangs posted top-10 school efforts in scoring, scoring average, total offense, passing yards, passing TDs, completions, attempts, completion percentage and first downs among others. Phillips’ receivers Darius and Jeremy Johnson each earned All-C-USA honors. Phillips capped a successful 2011 season by helping UH to a dominating 30-14 win over Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl, with his offense finishing with 600 yards of total offense. It was the eighth time in 2011 that the Cougars reached that total. In all, the 2011 Cougar offense was one of the most prolific in NCAA history, averaging nearly 600 yards per game in total offense, ranking second all-time just behind another the 1989 Houston Cougars, who averaged 625 yards. A huge reason for that production was the play of Houston's wide receivers, which was the country's most productive group. Houston had a number of record-setters on this year's team, including Patrick Edwards, who led the country with 20 touchdown catches. Edwards also ranked second nationally with 1,752 receiving yards and is the school and Conference USA all-time leader with 4,501 career receiving yards. In 2011, Tyron Carrier also ranked in the top 20 nationally in receptions per game and senior Justin Johnson ranked 16th in the nation with a 1,229-yard season. During his tenure at UH, Phillips worked with stellar wide receivers like Carrier, Edwards, Johnson, and Donnie Avery, the first wide receiver taken in the 2008 NFL Draft. In just the past four seasons at UH, Phillips produced seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons from four different players. Phillips also directed an offense led by quarterback Case Keenum, whom Phillips helped to numerous NCAA records. Phillips was a consensus All-America wide receiver during his playing days at Houston. As a coach, Phillips has shown that he has the ability to communicate his ideas and pass on the benefit of his experiences to young players. Phillips was selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Coaches Academy Program and the 2010 NCAA Champions Forum, both of which were designed to identify and nurture minority future head coaching candidates. A native Houstonian who played at Ross Sterling High School, Phillips first made his mark at the University of Houston by hauling in passes from Heisman Trophy quarterback Andre Ware during the Cougars high-flying, high-scoring Run-and-Shoot heyday. Phillips led the nation in receiving yards in 1987 (875 yards) and 1988 (1,444), the first player since Tulsa's Howard Twilley accomplished that feat 23 years earlier. In 1987, Phillips not only was an All-Southwest Conference pick and the SWC Newcomer of the Year, but was also selected to the UPI All-America team. The following year Phillips was named to the All-SWC First Team, was the SWC Co-Offensive Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-America pick. Phillips was also selected to the SWC's All-Decade Team for the 80s and, in 2006, Phillips' spectacular contributions to the program were recognized when he was inducted into the Houston Hall of Honor. Phillips was drafted by Detroit in 1989, where he set a rookie record with a 10-catch, 155-yard performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Phillips enjoyed an eight-year professional career, playing six seasons in the NFL and two in the CFL before moving into the coaching ranks. In 2001, he coached as an offensive intern for the Minnesota Vikings, working under head coach Dennis Green and offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis. In that capacity, Phillips worked closely with wide receivers Randy Moss, Chris Carter, Jake Reed and Chris Walsh. The following season, Phillips served in a similar capacity with the Atlanta Falcons, where he worked under head coach Dan Reeves. Phillips began his college coaching career in 2001, when he served as an offensive assistant at Houston. He spent the following season coaching wide receivers at Texas State before returning to the Cougars as wide receivers coach in 2003. He spent the 2007 at Baylor, serving as the recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. He returned to his alma mater in 2008 as Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach in 2010. Phillips writes about coaching and has published articles in American Football Monthly Magazine. Phillips earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UH in 2001. Phillips is married to Kimberly.
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