27 Joey Phillips
  • Position
  • Class
  • Weight
  • High School/Other
  • Hometown
  • Fullback
  • r-Freshman
  • 215 lbs.
  • Blacksburg
  • Blacksburg, Va.

A young player who has shown toughness and an outstanding work ethic … Joined the team as a walk-on when school started and worked at fullback … Made strides during spring practice … Benefited from his first year in the Hokies’ strength and conditioning program … Is still learning and needs to keep improving … A good athlete who benefits from his wrestling background in high school … Has shown great hands catching the ball out of the backfield … May be a candidate for special team duties in the fall.

2008: Worked at fullback during the fall … Had the best 10-yard sprint time among the running backs during off-season testing at 1.65 seconds … Also tied for the best clean (316 pounds) among the backs … Caught a 5-yard pass during the first spring scrimmage … Was in on a tackle on special teams during the Maroon-White game.

High School: A three-year letterman as a linebacker and running back for Dave Crist at Blacksburg … Won second-team all-district honors as a linebacker his last two seasons … Posted 85 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a senior … Blocked two punts, returning one for a score … Had over 50 tackles for loss during his career … Set school records for RBIs and doubles while lettering four years in baseball … Earned all-state honors his final year … Also set a school mark for wrestling wins with 125 over four seasons.

Personal: Joseph McGovern Phillips … Born 7/24/90 in Fairfax, VA … Son of Jay and Kathy Phillips … His dad, Jay, is a former baseball player and coach at Virginia Tech … Enrolled in university studies.