Former Eagles assistant putting Super Bowl lessons to work at Lakeridge

Spencer Phillips ground his way to a Super Bowl ring as an assistant quarterbacks coach with Philadelphia.

PORTLAND — When some see Spencer Phillips, the third-year head football coach at Lakeridge High School, they just see the assistant quarterbacks coach who won the 2018 Super Bowl as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles staff — the one who spent roughly half a decade rubbing elbows with NFL coaches like Doug Pederson and Frank Reich. 

And that rankles Phillips in a sense. 

Not because it’s inaccurate or unbecoming. Rather, it turns a blind eye towards what came before the confetti shower; before the Eagles beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ dynasty with a backup quarterback and some spicy play-calling.

People don’t see the kid who paid his way through junior college and at times struggled to afford meals after starting at quarterback for Willamette High School in Eugene. 

They don’t see the guy who slept in the equipment room at his first coaching job, or the one who often drove his players home.

And what about the young man who spent those four years in Philly working 18-hour days game-planning for opponents as far as three weeks ahead of time?

It was 20 to 24 weeks a year like that. No days off, even on the bye week. No sick days — no such thing. He contends he never missed a day of work in his four years in the NFL. 

“It just becomes who you are,” Phillips, 32, said. “It's your identity. You can't turn it off.”