Iowa football: Chattanooga wide receiver transfer Sam Phillips commits to Hawkeyes

Posted by Admin January 9, 2025 Football

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IOWA CITY — Iowa football has added another new weapon to its offense.

Chattanooga wide receiver transfer Sam Phillips has committed to the Hawkeyes.

In his career with the Mocs, Phillips hauled in 153 receptions for 2,088 yards and nine touchdowns. Phillips has recorded at least 600 yards receiving each of his last three seasons. Listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, he has one season of college eligibility remaining.

In his college career, Phillips has recorded five games with more than 100 receiving yards, three of which came in 2024. He had nearly 200 in a loss to Georgia State in 2024, accumulating 195 receiving yards in that contest. In 2023, Phillips had two games with at least 10 catches.

Unranked as a high school prospect from Georgia, according to the 247Sports Composite, Phillips didn’t garner attention from major college programs. He received offers from Mount St. Joseph University, Huntingdon College and Reinhardt University, among others. He also had preferred walk-on opportunities from North Alabama, Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Chattanooga. He ultimately chose the Mocs.

After redshirting his first season in the program, Phillips was put on scholarship ahead of the 2022 campaign. His 661 receiving yards helped him to be named third-team FCS Freshman All-America by Phil Steele. Phillips followed that up with a career-high 60 receptions the next season. In 2024, his 803 receiving yards were a career-high. As a result, Phillips was named first-team All-Southern Conference.

After entering the transfer portal in December, Phillips received offers from Pittsburgh, Florida Atlantic and Memphis, among others. Phillips recently visited Iowa City in December, an experience he told the Register was “great.”

Here are some highlights of Phillips:

It’s another new player being added to revitalize Iowa’s struggling aerial attack.

The Hawkeyes landed a commitment from Auburn quarterback transfer Hank Brown in December. Then Iowa made a massive splash in early January by signing South Dakota State transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski, who helped lead the program to two FCS national titles.

Iowa’s inexperienced wide receiver group showed some flashes of promise this season under first-year position coach Jon Budmayr, but improvement is still needed. The Hawkeyes lost Kaleb Brown to the transfer portal, though he only appeared in four games in 2024. Iowa is projected to return the bulk of its production from 2024, including Jacob Gill, Reece Vander Zee, Seth Anderson, Dayton Howard and Jarriett Buie.

Phillips gives Iowa someone who has more established production in college than any other receiver on the roster and should bring a veteran presence to the room.

Iowa has dipped into the transfer portal for receivers recently. Gill, who was brought in from Northwestern leading up to the 2024 season, was a great fit. Anderson has battled injuries over the last two seasons. Brown made a splash toward the back end of the 2023 season but his career at Iowa ultimately didn’t pan out.

There is hope that Phillips can be a transfer portal success story to help elevate that position group.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com