100-Day Bulldog Countdown: 78 Days, Former No. 78 Tyre Phillips

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we’re looking back at a Mississippi kid who created a career for himself in the NFL.

78 Days: Former No. 78 OL Tyre Phillips

A few years prior to coming to Starkville to play football for the Bulldogs, Phillips was playing basketball for Grenada High School. He was an athletic big man that would grow to the point that football was bound to be his future.

It wasn’t until Phillips senior season that he truly invested in football. When he wasn’t playing basketball, Phillips was in the band at Grenada and didn’t even play football his junior year.

Phillips was obviously a late bloomer on the football scene, and despite being eligible to go to a four-year college, he started his career in junior college with a National Championship program at East Mississippi. Phillips worked to get into the starting lineup in 2016 and helped the Lions go 11-1 while starring in the hit Netflix show “Last Chance U”. While his personality was something that attracted fans his way, his play on the field and his size was standing out as well.

MSU was the only team that pulled the trigger on the 6’5, 335-pounder. He had some interest from Georgia and Colorado, but the Bulldogs and former offensive line coach John Hevesy thought highly of him. He had committed to State in the summer of his sophomore year and was ready to go by spring.

He was rated the No. 2 offensive guard in the country out of Scooba and the No. 26 player out of JUCO. It was a much different view than the No. 87 player overall by the Composite rankings. Unlike many JUCO players, Phillips wasn’t asked to contribute right away. He redshirted in year one to learn under Hevesy and the players in front of him like Elgton Jenkins.

In his junior season, Phillips was ready to make a difference. He played in every game and got plenty of reps at left tackle for the Bulldogs. As a senior in 2019, Phillips locked down the left tackle spot for the Bulldogs and was one of the best in the league. In 821 snaps, Phillips led the team in grades and allowed just two sacks all season long in 398 passing plays and both came in the same game.

That season made Philips an NFL prospect, and he took part in the Senior Bowl in 2020 as well as the NFL Combine. Phillips would earn a selection in the NFL Draft that year as the Baltimore Ravens picked him 106 overall and in the third round.

Phillips began the season at guard and was able to win the starting spot before going down later in the year with an ankle injury. He dealt with another injury early in the year in year two when he tore his ACL. After that second injury, Phillips was released by the Ravens and he signed with the New York Giants in 2022.

He spent time with the Giants and Philadelphia Eagles before the Giants would sign him to the main roster in 2023. Over the course of the last two seasons, Phillips played in 13 games and started 10 of them for the Giants at tackle. He has a new home in 2025 as he’ll be playing for the Washington Commanders and going into year six in the NFL.

Not bad for a kid from Grenada, Miss.