Fast Break SEA CHANGE

Sarasota High boys basketball Coach B.J. Ivey recorded the 300th win of his career Tuesday night when the Sailors beat Braden River High 55-43 on the road. The Sailors are now 18-4.

… The Sarasota Paradise USL League Two soccer team is holding an open tryout from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Tatum Ridge Soccer Complex. Registration is $50. Interested players can register for the tryout at SarasotaParadise.US/ Tryouts.

High school postseason soccer begins this week, with district quarterfinal games taking place Jan. 26 and tournaments finishing next week with championship games on Feb. 2.

The Riverview High girls team (6-1-3) is one to watch. The Rams are second in their district and ranked No. 22 in Class 7A according to MaxPreps.

Serious about your putting? Golf equipment company TaylorMade has joined Tiger Woods and the ownership group of PopStroke, the putting and dining venue that has a location in University Town Center. Special TaylorMade putters will be available at a price for those seeking that perfect round.

Don’t forget about the inaugural NBP Paddling Classic coming to Nathan Benderson Park on Feb. 4. It will see dragon boats compete in 200- and 500-meter races in various divisions, including a newly formed 18+ division. Food and beverage trucks will be on site. The event is free for spectators. For more information visit NathanBendersonPark.org.

A new NFL-affiliated youth flag football league, BFL Flag Football, has come to Sarasota. It’s a chance for kids to learn the fundamentals of football while eliminating the contact part of the sport. The league’s upcoming season begins April 1. For information or to register for a spot, visit BFLFlagFootballLeague.com.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

Josh Phillips did not feel compelled to leave Bradenton at first.

He was comfortable there, and it kept his commutes to a minimum. Phillips worked as the offensive coordinator for Bradenton Christian School’s football program before being named the Manatee High defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach in 2022. A move to Sarasota, where Phillips’ wife, Traci Ruth Phillips, owns property, would complicate things. But there were certain scenarios that, should they ever arise, would make a move worth it for Phillips.

A prime example: While walking out the side door of one of Traci’s properties one day, Phillips noticed he could see the Sarasota High football stadium in the distance.

“We kind of joked and dreamed about it,” Phillips said. “You know, ‘Wouldn’t it be wild if you coached here someday? Are we going to make this our permanent home?’ But I never expected the job to come open.”

It’s no longer simply a dream. On Monday, Sarasota High announced Phillips, 43, as its next football coach. Phillips replaces Brody Wiseman, who was let go after the 2022 season. Wiseman finished his Sailors tenure with a 16-15 record over three seasons, including a 5-5 mark and a playoff win over Manatee in 2022. Wiseman has since been hired as offensive coordinator at Riverview High.

Phillips may come from Manatee, but the former Yale University football player has a lot of experience. After graduating Yale, where he played wide receiver/defensive back, Phillips played for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 2002, then went to training camp with the Houston Texans that fall. In 200304, Phillips played for the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League.

Once his playing days were over, Phillips got into coaching. His stops outside of the Sarasota-Bradenton area include stints with University of California-Berkeley as a strength and conditioning coach, with Wagner College as a defensive backs and special teams coach and with Granada High in Livermore, California, where he was defensive and passing game coordinator.

X’S AND O’S

Phillips knows what he believes. That includes his faith — Phillips identifies as a Christian and minored in religious philosophy at Yale — but it also extends to the football field. While Phillips was hesitant to get specific, he said a tenet of his offensive playbook is the running and passing games working in tandem. That doesn’t necessarily mean a perfect balance of the two, but Phillips emphasized the importance of things like play-action passes that cause the defense to be hesitant or out of position.

“You need to have things that look the same, but they’re not,” Phillips said. “I’m going to use multiple formations, multiple personnel groups and motion to give myself advantages on offense — to see what the defense is doing, to let me outnumber people, to give me angles.”

Defensively, Phillips said he likes to play in a four linemen, three linebacker scheme if possible, but more than on offense, a defensive scheme relies on the talent available. Last year, Manatee had the defensive line talent and depth to run the 4-3. Phillips said it remains to be seen whether the Sailors will in 2023. If they don’t, Phillips said he’s also comfortable coaching the 3-4 and other formations.

Making Words Matter

Phillips said he held a team meeting with the Sailors on Monday and shook everyone’s hand afterwards.

On Tuesday, he watched players work out informally, and Phillips started his individual meetings with players to pick their brains and evaluate how they feel about the program and the 2022 season.

While it will take awhile to get through every player, Phillips said multiple players have noted they believe the team underachieved in 2022, for various reasons, despite the Sailors winning their first playoff game in 18 years. Phillips said he likes that the players’ expectations are that high. It matches what he expects from his first season, which is to best the team’s 5-5 mark from 2022.

It has not been the Sailors doing all the talking. In his first two days as coach, Phillips has had a message for them as well: if they’re going to be part of the team, they better be all the way in it.

“Football takes way too much work and is too hard, too physical, to just have your toe in it,” Phillips said. “And if you say you’re all in, you should set goals for yourself. Are you willing to do the things it takes for you to get to those goals? You have got to show me that.”

Phillips said it is easy for players to say they want to get faster or add 10 pounds of muscle, but many players don’t exhibit the follow-through to make it happen.

What Phillips wants is for his team to do what it takes.

To get faster, Phillips said he might tell a player to join the track and field team or to participate in additional speed workouts. If a players wants that extra muscle? Phillips said he had better see them in the weight room consistently and they had better be eating right.

“Do they have the discipline it takes to actually achieve their goals?” Phillips said. “We’re going to find out.”

TALENT ON DECK Phillips said he felt like the Sarasota program was the right fit for him not only because of the view from his wife’s property, but because of the Sailors’ talent. Phillips said he views