Safe at Home: After 33 years as head coach of alma mater, Eunice High’s Scott Phillips retiring after season

by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Eunice High baseball Scott Phillips found a brief respite on a bright, sunny day to retreat into the bleachers, overlooking the field he labored over for his 34 years with the program. 

The grass was freshly cut, the field perfectly lined, and Phillips reminisced at the spectacle before him.

“What a place it turned into from where it started,” Phillips thought. “I thought it was a nice place when I got it, and I decided to leave it a better place when I’m leaving it. I’m going to miss it, but I’m three blocks from the school. I plan on still helping whoever’s coaching. What can I help with? I’m working on scheduling for next year, working on the summer program for the summer team. I’m sure it’s going to kind of be a good feeling, but also a feeling of, ‘wow’ this is over.”

Phillips, a native of Eunice who played for the Bobcats, decided his 33rd season as head coach at the school (he’s been a head coach for 35 years overall) would be final at the school. The 56-year-old began entertaining thoughts of such a move before the start of the school year, discussing the prospects with his family who asked that such a resolution play out over the season.

Phillips arrived at such a decision on March 27, first informing his principal Irma Trosclair of his choice, which she firmly understood. That left Phillips to address his team that day instead of having such news spread around campus and the community.

He always asked his players for honesty and decided to remain true to his word, calling a team meeting to deliver the news.

“My principal thanked me for everything I had done for the school,” said Phillips, who has also served as athletic director, disciplinarian and taught physical science/health for 24 years. “Telling the team was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I was good for a minute and kind of fell apart at the end. You have to have something you really love to do. One of my coaches, when he saw me falling apart, started clapping and the team started clapping. 

“They were saying they appreciated everything I had done for them,” he said. “It made me feel really good. The players started playing harder after that and I wasn’t looking for, ‘Win one for the Gipper’. I wanted to be honest and that’s been my thing. Whatever they do transition-wise, they have some very qualified guys underneath me.”

Eight-time national junior college championship coach Jeff Willis of LSU Eunice has enjoyed a front-row seat to Phillips’ success. He’s coached the Bengals for 24 years and has been the recipient of some of Eunice High’s top players in pitcher Zac Pearson and catcher Stuart Turner, currently an assistant to Phillips.

“Scott’s done things the right way,” Willis said. “I’ve always admired Scott and the way he coaches. He gets the most out of his kids. It’s a tremendous loss for him to go out of the baseball coaching circle now. He’s kind of been a mentor to me and at times, I’ve had questions for him. They don’t make them like him anymore. Just a stand-up individual that’s for the kids. Has worked incredibly hard to put that program is where it is today.”

The building of a grand career

Among a litany of friends in the coaching profession, Phillips often reflects on the wisdom Lonny Landry of Ascension Episcopal has shared with him.

Landry grabbed an actual baseball, speaking to his team on the merits of what he had in his hand and the role it had played in his life. 

Baseball’s always had a deep meaning for Phillips who was all-district catcher for coach Clarence Merricks and assistant John Burson before going onto play at Southwest Mississippi (Miss.) Junior College and finishing at then USL (UL-Lafayette).

Phillips spent two years as a novice head coach at St. Louis Catholic in Lake Charles until heeding the call of Eunice High athletic director/football coach Johnny Bourque to return home. He served as an assistant football coach, also spending time with Paul Trosclair in a sport for 25 years, and in baseball where he was paired with head coach Scotty Richard. 

When Richard left after a year to coach at St. Edmund, Phillips was elevated to head coach where he’s remained for 33 years. He’s won the most games (692) in school history, never missed the state playoffs, and reached the state tournament three times.

“Baseball has given me a great profession, it’s made me a good living,” Phillips said. “I’ve coached many great kids that went on to be very successful. I’ve made so many friends through this. I’ve been to great places and have been around great people. It’s been phenomenal to me.

“I’ve taken advantage of everything baseball’s had to offer me,” Phillips said. “It’s given back to me four to five times more. I’ve coached both of my sons (Austin and Dru), I’ve coached with my sons. There’s no better feeling than coaching your own son and then having them come back and help you coach. I was living the dream. There’s no better feeling.”

Five years ago, LSU Eunice paid tribute to Phillips with ‘Scott Phillips Day’, paying homage to a coach that would go on to have 22, 20-plus win seasons, win 15 district championships, and 9 St. Landry Parish championships. He would also coach the Bobcats to nine appearances in the state quarterfinals and three trips to the state tournament that ended in the state semifinals.

“All I ever wanted to do was coach at Eunice High School,” said Phillips, a 15-time winner of the district Coach of the Year honors and was the Louisiana Sportswriters Association’s Class 3A Coach of the Year in 2011. “I live three blocks from school. I can almost throw a rock and hit the school. It was a no-brainer to work at my school. When you’re happy somewhere, why move? You see a lot of people and they bounce around. Sometimes they feel they need a new start in life. I never felt that while I was here. I never thought about going anywhere else.”

Eunice High threw its own bash in honor of Phillips before Monday’s game with Oakdale. 

While there was never a total placed on the number of attendees, Phillips said that he hadn’t seen people such as former players and administrators in decades that braved chilly conditions to share in the moment.

Pictures were taken where Phillips joined his family, his wife Lauri, his mother Dean, and both of his sons, daughter-in-law Allie and grandson Tommy, the namesake of both his grandfather (Phillips’ given name is Thomas) and great-grandfather.

A myriad of his accomplishments filled quite a bit of time before the school officially retired Phillips’ No. 15 jersey – joining an elite list of people such as Merricks (No. 79 for the school’s state title team), Burson (No. 45) and Turner (No. 5).

“I’ve had great success at one place for a long time,” Phillps said. “I’ve been very fortunate.”

Turning himself into a baseball coach

Phillips developed a gritty approach to the game by overcoming his own shortcomings. He believed effort was everything a player could give, not only for himself but for his team.

While his own career spanned beyond Eunice High, Phillips also counted his days with Merricks and Burson as tantamount  in the development of a philosophy he would rely on to coach his own players.

“I loved coach Merricks like a dad and still talk to him to this day,” Phillips said. “I played junior college ball and then at USL. I felt like I learned the greatest amount of baseball during the short time I was at USL. Learned more about the game and how to do things.

“I worked hard as a player because I wasn’t gifted with talent,” Phillips said. “I worked for everything I got and that’s the same approach I’ve taken with my kids. I’ve always felt we’ve had blue-collar kids here. We’ve had a run where we’ve had some really good baseball players, but we’ve also had a run where we had to develop a lot of good baseball players. That’s where we’re kind of at right now.”

That became the basis of a familiar refrain for Phillips: “We’ve got to work. We don’t just show up hit fungo and go home. We’ve got to go A-Z with those guys.”

Phillips’ thirst for knowledge included trips to Baton Rouge to listen to the gospel of LSU’s Skip Bertman and to Starkville where he worked the camps of legendary Mississippi State coach Ron Polk. 

He hung onto their very word, and it was the simplicity of their principles that further resonated with Phillips.

“You listen to them talk and realize this is the way to do it,” he said. “You can try different things, but it always comes down to doing things the right way. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Coach the game like it should be coached and usually you’re going to get the result.”

Phillips was a 21-year-old coach looking for a break into the profession after doing his student teaching at Eunice. After graduation, he crossed paths with St. Louis athletic director Randy Cooper who informed him of an opening for a baseball coach at his school.

That led to an interview with Cooper hiring Phillips on the spot.

“I knew zero about coaching,” Phillips said. “All I knew was how to get on kids’ butts really hard and make the most out of them.”

Phillips had caught the eye of Bourque during his student teaching when he hurriedly wrote down notes at practice, trying to bring himself up to speed on a sport that he wound up coaching the junior varsity that fall.

When Bourque called to inquire about Phillips’ interest in returning to Eunice High, he thought about his future and the long-term benefits of getting into the public school system. The Bobcats had won a state title in 1979 under Merricks, who was retiring, and Richard was set to take over. 

“I said absolutely,” Phillips said to Bourque’s offer. “I learned so much from Scotty Richard who was one of the best in the business to this day. We’re still friends today. He decided to go back to St. Ed’s and the rest is history.”

Perennial winning program

Phillips’ fire, something he acknowledges has been dimmed over the years, led to a product on the field that commanded the respect of the opponent.

It was reciprocal in nature, the same way Phillips looked across to the opposing dugout and realized that day was going to be a battle.

“I also told my kids that when you see Eunice on your schedule you know Eunice is going to come with it,” he said. “That’s the same thing we feel when we play someone that’s good. We have to come with it. That’s something Eunice has always done before I got here until now.”

Eunice won 20 or more games in its first eight seasons under Phillips, claiming five district championships and advanced to two state tournaments. 

The Bobcats reached the state tournament in 2009 and two years later in 2011, falling both times.

Eunice was a No. 20 seed going into the ’09 playoffs and reeled off wins over Teurlings Catholic (6-5) and Tioga (1-0) and advanced to the state tournament. The Bobcats lost 11-1 to Sam Houston in the semifinals.

The two teams twice intersected earlier in the season, the first with Eunice absorbing a 27-1 road defeat at Sam Houston. Several weeks later, the Bobcats were much more competitive in a 10-9 defeat, providing optimism for the postseason.

“We knew that wasn’t good,” Phillips said of the first matchup with Sam Houston. “It’s the middle of the season and we thought it was going to be a rough finish. I do what I always do and got the kids back to work the next day and played them to a 10-9 game later in the year. Before I knew it, we were in the playoffs and beat some very good baseball teams.”

The sight of Person was enough to help draw interested onlookers to Eunice’s home field when he pitched.

But not even the talents of Person were enough to lead Eunice beyond the semifinals following a 10-0 win over Plaquemine and a 10-5 victory over Iowa. The Bobcats eventually dropped a 2-1 decision to Livonia who went on to win that year’s state title.

Person, a first team Louisville Slugger All-American who led the state in strikeouts with 182, went on to star at LSU Eunice where he was 17-0 in two seasons. The Bengals won the 2012 national title and were runner-up the following year, and Person signed with LSU where he compiled a 5-1 record with 65 strikeouts and was a ninth-round draft choice of the Houston Astros in 2015.

“It was so cool to watch,” Phillips said of first-team all-state choice. “Zac Person was a legend. It was awesome. He went to LSU and was very successful there.”

Phillips also coached Turner who also launched a terrific college career at LSU Eunice. The catcher signed with Ole Miss where he’s still considered one of the best players at his position after batting .374 with 51 RBIs, five homers and was named first team All-Southeastern Conference in his only season.

Turner won the Johnny Bench Award – emblematic of the nation’s top catcher in 2013 – and became a third-round draft choice of the Minnesota Twins. He went to make his Major League debut with the Cincinnati Reds and homered in his MLB debut on April 6, 2017.

“The biggest thing that I’ve always appreciated and thought a lot of is the toughness factor of any player that’s come out under his leadership,” Willis said of Phillips. “They’ve always been incredibly hard-working individuals. Their attitudes have always been right. 

“You look at who those kids are down the road, and who they are now, and he was a part of developing those young people,” Willis said. “Not just to reach their potential as a baseball player, but to reach their potential as a human being. He deserves a ton of credit in this state. I think he’s one of the best high school coaches this state’s produced.”

One final postseason run to the end

More than a decade later Eunice was back in the semifinals in 2023 and this time a trip to Sulphur struck a different chord with Phillips.

The fourth-seeded Bobcats won their last 11 games of the regular season. They extended that streak to 13 straight with Division II non-select postseason wins over West Feliciana (2-1 in best-of-three series) and Pearl River (2-0 sweep). They advanced to the semifinal, only to be turned away by Lakeshore, 8-3.

“It was devastating when we did lose at the end,” Phillips said.

He was thankful for such a ride with a team where his son Austin was the first base coach and his younger son Dru, the starting shortstop.

“Everybody wants to win a state championship and there’s only going to be so many that are going do that,” Phillips said. “The pinnacle to me was always to get to the state tournament and to what was going to happen. I would have loved to coach a state championship team, but I’ve always said I’ve coached many champions in my day and that’s all that really matters when it comes down to it.”

His final team has been on a roller-coaster ride of sorts, enjoying a pair of three-game winning streaks in March and also won five straight until a two-game losing streak beginning with a loss to Oakdale.

Eunice, the District 3-4A runner-up to Iowa, finds itself on the cusp of hosting a first-round playoff game. The Bobcats have a No. 16 power rating going into their final two games at home against Zwolle (Friday) and Iota (Monday).

“Earlier in the year we didn’t take care of business and it’s coming back to bite us in the end,” Phillips said. “This is the time to get going. That’s typical of a lot of the teams I’ve coached throughout my whole career. I’ve tried a bunch of experiments to see what happens. I think we’re a better-than-average team. This is not nearly the best team I’ve ever had, but they’re a bunch of good guys that work pretty good together and I think that can pay dividends at the end.”

Phillips is appreciative of the job his coaching staff of Turner, Trey Brown and Casey Charlie have done throughout their stay with him.

Phillips is a guy that’s benefitted from such knowledgeable and like-minded assistants over his career such as Burson, who spent more than 25 years with him. With more than 20 years, Danny Soileau provided his expertise like former assistant and the school’s former softball coach Scott Deshotel, both of whom remain close friends of Phillips.

“John was my main guy,” he said. “When I needed some advice or he thought I was doing something wrong, he would say coach this isn’t right. I admired him for that and treated him like a dad as well. He was very important to this program. 

“Danny was a school teacher and serves as security at my games,” Phillips said. “He has dragged our infield in his cop uniform. You have people that want to help you. That tells you, you must be doing something right. I appreciated Scott and the help he’s given as a friend. He’s like a brother and I love him to death. That guy’s been my mentor for 34-35 years.” 

Several factors contributed to Phillips’ choice to step away following the end of the season.

His mother Dean remains active but requires additional care in getting around town, a task Phillips doesn’t mind fulfilling. 

His youngest son Dru will be attending UL-Lafayette in the fall and a lawn care business that he’s built to a 20-yard clientele won’t suffer during baseball season next year.

The arrival of his first grandson further helped Phillips organize his priorities to spend more time with his budding six-month-old shortstop who simply refers to him as ‘paw’.

“It was weighing on me,” Phillips said. “It wasn’t anything bad or personal. When they say you’ll know and that’s where I was with it. I don’t feel I’m done coaching. I feel I need to recharge my jets and see if I’m really going to miss it and if I do, then I may go help somebody or may go coach somewhere else in a private sector. I don’t know if it will be next year or the year after. The biggest thing right now is I don’t want to have to punch a clock.”

Phillips’ focus turns toward his final postseason where next week the LHSAA will reveal its pairings next Tuesday with the playoffs scheduled to begin as early the following day.

“I don’t know how that’s going to hit me at all,” Phillips said. “Right now, I’m at peace.”

For Phillips, who has coached 1,050 games and won 66% of his contests, it will be the 33rd trip to the postseason in his familiar No. 15 uniform. Until then, he’ll face a flood of emotions from a rewarding career that’s produced a lifetime of memories.

“I’ve had so many people reaching out, texting me,” Phillips said. “There’s been kind words from coaches and former players. It kind of chokes you up. The community of Eunice has been good to me. I’ve had so much help from the businesses in town, the people in town, that have made this ride pretty good. I’m thankful.”