Mike Phillips - Tennis Coach - University of Colorado Athletics

Mike Phillips

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Michael.f.phillips@colorado.edu
Phone:
303-492-7969

Michael Phillips wrapped up his first season as an assistant at Colorado in 2017-18, but he is no stranger to collegiate tennis. It was his 26th overall as a coach, and his 18th overall coaching Division I tennis, including four years with the men’s CU tennis program.

Phillips joined the Buffs in January 2018 and helped the team to one of its best seasons of doubles play in recent memory. CU went 11-9 on the doubles point, the most wins since going 12-12 in doubles in 2010. The Buffs also won two Pac-12 matches, tied for the most since joining the conference in 2012. The team opened Pac-12 play with a win over Arizona and then wrapped up the regular-season with a 4-3 victory against Utah, the first win over Utah since the Buffs joined the conference. Freshman Linda Huang was ranked three times during the season and earned two victories over ranked opponents.

Phillips came to CU from the United States Tennis Association, where he was the Intermountain Sectional coach and co-leader of USTA’s Team Colorado. Before this, he was the head tennis director at The Meadows Swim and Country Club. He also spent three years as the head men’s coach at the University of Northern Colorado, where he led the program to its first ever Big Sky Conference appearance.

He started as a head coach at Montana State University in 2000, where he was also the director of tennis. During his 12 years with the program, he collected seven coach of the year awards, three BSC championships and five NCAA tournament appearances. He was also able to take the program to their first-ever national ranking.

Phillips started his Division I coaching career in 1997 as an assistant coach for Colorado’s men’s tennis team. He spent four years working for the Buffs before departing for Montana State. His other early experiences include a tennis professional at Van Der Meer Tennis Academy, Tennis Professional at Breckenridge Resort and Colorado Mountain College.

Phillips has a B.A. in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado, as well as multiple tennis coaching certifications.

Some of Phillips’ top accomplishments include earning the Big Sky’s coach of the year four times, USTPA’s Intermountain Coach of the Year two times, Coach of the Year in the ITA Mountain region in 2005 and, most recently, a 2018 inductee into the Montana State University Hall of Fame.

When he is not coaching, Phillips enjoys skiing, mountain biking, running hiking and tennis. On top of this, he loves travelling and spending time with his wife, Ginger, and dog, Ford.