Former Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips dies. School mourns loss
Former Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips has died.
Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney announced during a news conference that Phillips passed away early Tuesday morning. He was 78 years old.
According to a school-issued obituary, Phillips was diagnosed with dementia over a decade ago. He was living in Clemson in hospice care at the time of his death and “really wasn’t doing well” in recent months, Swinney said.
“It’s a very sad day, but it’s also a blessing because I know he’s not suffering anymore,” Swinney said, calling Phillips “one of the greatest mentors of my life.”
Phillips served as Clemson’s athletic director from 2002 to 2012, his final job before retiring in his 60s. He also worked as the AD at Oklahoma State (1994-2002) and held administrative roles at Liberty, Southwestern Louisiana and Arkansas.
An Arkansas alum, Phillips played defensive tackle for the Razorbacks in the late 1960s. He also spent time as a football assistant coach before pivoting to administration, held a law degree and taught legal classes at Clemson and OSU.
Terry Don Phillips’ ‘unique ability’ as AD
Phillips is known for his notable coaching hires and eye for talent.
He picked Swinney as Clemson football’s interim coach after firing Tommy Bowden in 2008 and chose Swinney as the team’s full-time coach as well. Swinney was a wide receivers coach with zero coordinator experience, but the risky hire paid off.
Swinney delivered the program two national championships in 2016 and 2018 and is the winningest coach in school and ACC history entering his 17th full season.
Swinney said Tuesday that Phillips’ initial belief in him as an assistant, plus his willingness to stick with Swinney after Clemson went 6-7 in his second season in 2010, were key moments in his coaching career.
“I really can’t even begin to quantify his impact on me personally,” Swinney said.
Phillips also hired current Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell, the school’s all-time winningest coach and the ACC’s longest tenured coach, and men’s soccer coach Mike Noonan, who’s won two national titles with the Tigers.
During his time as Oklahoma State’s AD, Phillips also hired football coach Les Miles, who went on to win a national title at LSU.
“I look at the fact that he hired Coach Swinney, Coach Noonan and myself and we’re all still here,” Brownell said in a news release. “He (Phillips) had a unique ability to find coaches with the values that fit Clemson.”
Making the best of a tough diagnosis
Phillips had lived in the Clemson area after his retirement. Swinney said Phillips’ wife, Tricia, had been an “amazing” supporter and kept Swinney and other current and former Clemson colleagues up to date on Phillips’ condition.
When Phillips was diagnosed with an unspecified type of dementia after his 2012 retirement, he and his wife decided to “make the best of a journey nobody wants,” according to his obituary.
“Their intentionality to find joy in every day brought laughter, traveling backroads across the U.S. with their beloved yellow lab, Atticus, and a lot of ice cream,” Phillips’ obituary read.
Friends, families and former coworkers also traveled from across the country over the years to spend time and reminisce with Phillips, something he loved.
Phillips is survived by his wife, children and two grandchildren, both of whom are now students at his alma mater, Arkansas.
“It’s a tough day for a lot of people, but man, so much to celebrate and so much to be thankful for,” Swinney said of Phillips. “Because this man lived, and this man changed a lot of people’s lives. He certainly changed my life. He changed Clemson.”
Terry Don Phillips’ college athletics career
- 1966-69: Arkansas football player
- 1970: Arkansas graduate assistant coach
- 1971-78: Virginia Tech assistant coach
- 1980-81: Liberty athletic director
- 1981-88: Southwestern Louisiana athletic director
- 1998-94: Arkansas senior associate AD
- 1994-2002: Oklahoma State athletic director
- 2002-12: Clemson athletic director
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Former Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips dies. School mourns loss."
