"I had a hamstring strain, but after stretching (felt good enough to go)," he told AggieYell.com. "I showed out for the linebackers coach (Bradley Dale Peveto) and performed highly in the one on ones."

That led to gaining the attention of head coach Jimbo Fisher and a trip to Fisher's office in the Bright complex.

"Talking to Jimbo and even being in his office was a dream come true, and him saying the words 'you are an NFL talent' was just crazy," Phillips said.

The dream took another step on July 4, with the 6-foot-1, 205-pound athlete committed to the Aggies. He is the 15th member of the 2020 recruiting class and the ninth in the past two months.

Phillips' recruitment started slowly but had picked up speed in late May and early June, with offers from Houston, Wake Forest and Indiana. But when the Aggies offered after their June 7 camp, his course became much clearer.

"It wasn't very hard (to decide on A&M)," he said. The Aggies weren't just the best offer on the board for the versatile Phillips, but A&M also gave him a sense of comfort other programs didn't.

"A&M is the only school that makes me feel welcomed and is basically my second home with all the people I know there," he said. One of his former teammates at Bush, cornerback Erick Young, will be his teammate again at A&M.

In order to take advantage of Phillips' athleticism, defensive coordinator Mike Elko intends to use a position the Aggies didn't use in 2018.

"It’s called 'STAR'," Phillips explained. "They said it’s a linebacker/safety position."

Not bad for a guy who wasn't even at his best on what ended up being one of the most important days of his life.

Phillips' versatility was one of the things that sold A&M on him, and he really does do a lot of things well. He plays linebacker, defensive back on occasion and is a very efficient wildcat quarterback.

One of the things that struck me from his clips at linebacker was his ability to get to the football. He does a great job of working through traffic, keeping his eyes on the ballcarrier and then making the play. It's nice to see that he doesn't go for the big hit with his shoulder, but wraps up properly and takes the back down to the ground.

His speed is fine for a linebacker, but his agility is really good. His cuts as a wildcat quarterback are really sharp, and he changes direction really well. He makes sure that defenders miss him, but when he's on defense, it makes it a lot less likely that he's going to miss the ballcarrier. You have to like someone with good lateral movement who can quickly change direction to break on the ball.

Phillips is a little bit undersized, but the role he described sounds like a good one for him. It sounds like a Rover with more pass coverage responsibilities, and it makes me wonder if Brian Johnson might be used similarly. But Phillips will likely have time to develop physically and get used to his new role, as they won't be forced to put him out on the field immediately due to a lack of numbers. This is a solid pickup of a player who probably hasn't played his best football yet.