Jun. 26—Carl Phillip “Phil” Collins is remembered by his former Joplin peers as a beloved coach, devoted mentor and developer of champions.
“And he’s probably one of the finest men I’ve ever met,” said Mike Mitchell, a former assistant football coach under Collins at Joplin Memorial High School in the 1970s.
“He was just a great coach who would do anything for the kids. He led by example and was a great Christian human being. You couldn’t really ask for a better friend. There are so many people who are going to miss him and remember him fondly.”
Collins, a longtime football coach who spent stints as head coach at Joplin’s Parkwood High School and Memorial High School in the late 1960s and ’70s, passed away peacefully while surrounded by family on Tuesday in northwest Arkansas.
The 55-year coach’s most memorable feat during his time in Joplin came in 1976 when he led the Memorial Eagles to a Class 3A state crown for the program’s first state championship in school history.
Memorial defeated Sullivan 31-0 at Missouri Southern’s Fred G. Hughes Stadium in the title game victory — a game that saw Don Reppond rush for 165 yards and three touchdowns while the Eagles’ defense limited Sullivan to 150 yards of total offense. Memorial, aided by key performers such as quarterback Mike Massey, running backs Harry Jameson, David Burton, Reppond and receiver Tony Thompson, finished the campaign with a 12-1 record.
The 1976 Joplin football team was inducted into the Joplin Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. Mitchell, Forrest Reed, Marty Galbraith, Jerry Chew, Steve Hall and Joe Ketchum were part of Collins’ assistant coaching staff.
“As a young coach, I was influenced by a number of coaches, and Phil was at the top of that list with several others,” Ketchum said. “Phil was probably one of the most patient guys I ever worked with. He was not so much of a yeller. He didn’t get after kids. He was the most soft-spoken and a tremendous communicator. Plus he was one of the best Xs and Os guys I’ve ever worked with in football.
“Like I’d say, Coach Collins walked soft and carried a big stick.”
While soft-spoken on the field, Collins was the ultimate competitor at heart. Among the many key Friday night victories on the gridiron during their time together at Memorial, Ketchum also recalled the offseason in 1977 when Collins had his coaching staff take to the tennis courts to measure up each others’ game.
“Phil was one of those two-handed tennis players,” Ketchum said. “There was no such thing as a backhand for him, and he’d get us more often than not with that style. I always reflect on moments like that when it comes to him. He was a competitive guy, and you wouldn’t know it by his demeanor. I never heard him cuss or lash out a day in his life. He was just that Christian-like individual who was a tremendous influence on young coaches like myself as well as the players.”
Collins’ coaching career began in 1965 at Marionville (Mo.) High School, where he coached track and field and football and won a district championship in football in 1967. He continued his coaching career at Parkwood as a defensive coordinator under Dewey Combs in the late ’60s and early ’70s before he spent several years as an offensive coordinator at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.
By 1974 Collins had returned to Joplin to be the head coach at Memorial, where he remained through ’77.
“We loved Joplin,” said Anna Collins, Phil’s wife of 57 years. “I cried when we left both times, and I know Joplin was such a special place to Phil.
“We had so many fond memories. One that stands out to me was the state semifinals against Chillicothe in 1977 (a 34-31 comeback victory for Memorial). … We were behind, and Tony Thompson caught a pass from (Massey) and ran the length of the field for a touchdown to tie the game. I had my oldest daughter with me who was probably 6. She had a stomach ache that day and I was holding her, and I started jumping up and down yelling, ‘Run, run!’ and jiggling her up and down. I think I accidentally made her more sick.”
About a week after the Eagle’s semifinal win, a story published by the Globe on the eve of the state championship game cited Phil Collins as proof that “nice guys don’t finish last.” For many of his loved ones and peers, it’s been the most accurate expression used to describe the devoted Christian, husband, father, grandfather and helm leader who mentored hundreds of athletes and coaches in an accolade-filled career that spanned from 1965-2020.
“Who he was as a person was all driven by his faith,” Anna Collins said. “He was a good Christian. We went to church every Sunday. He did not curse, he did not spew invectives at his players. He sure chewed them out sometimes, but it wasn’t ugly, hurtful or personal. He was a good man who was compassionate and honest, and he loved football and his players. Somehow he was able to get that across to them that he believed in them and wanted the best for them in both sports and in life.
“So many people have texted comments to us saying the same universal thing. They’d say Phil was their mentor and he was the man who made them who they are today. I couldn’t tell you how many of those texts we’ve gotten.”
Collins’ coaching career also included stops at Arkansas Tech University and multiple Arkansas high schools. He finished his career as a volunteer coach in football and track and field at Ozark (Ark.) High School.
Phil Collins is survived by his wife, Anna Collins, Clarksville, Ark.; his daughters, Susan (Keith) Eichenberger, Clarksville and Amy Collins, Chicago, Illinois; his brother, Richard (Barbara) Collins, Memphis, Tennessee; and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth Eichenberger and Anna Grace Eichenberger, Clarksville.
Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.