The day was supposed to be about Joker Phillips, but Kentucky’s newest head coach had one person on his mind: his former coach.With Rich Brooks seated not even 10 feet away to his right, Phillips struggled to fight back emotions for the man that made Wednesday’s historic hiring possible.”The guy that I owe the most thanks to is Rich Brooks and his wife, Karen, who have worked tirelessly to build this program and build it the right way,” said Phillips, choking up nearly every two or three words as he tried to find the words to thank his mentor. “He has done a phenomenal job, and as I follow a true champion, plowing against adversity, he has had a huge affect on me as a person and as a coach. As I take the reins from him, I feel confident knowing that he has prepared me well.”Phillips took the reins of the program Wednesday, just weeks away from the two-year anniversary when he was named the successor to Brooks. The Kentucky native has waited a long time to get the UK job. Even before his days as a wide receiver on the UK football team from 1981-84, Phillips dreamed as a young boy in Franklin, Ky., of being a Wildcat in a time, as Phillips described it, “when it wasn’t a very popular choice.”That love and affection for Kentucky football turned into a desire. Soon after, it turned into a playing destination and eventually an assistant coaching job.”I remember when I was a recruiting host while I was a player,” Phillips said. “Back then, the recruiting coordinator was Dick “Fox” Redding. As I went to pick up my $20 that I had to take out the recruit, I remember telling Dick, ‘One of these days, I want your job. I want to be a coach at Kentucky.’ “Wednesday he got finally got the big job, taking over for a man that showed him the ropes and helped open the door for just the second black coach in the history of the Southeastern Conference.The shoes he has to fill are undoubtedly big.”I predict the appreciation for Rich will grow even greater as time goes by,” Phillips said.But as Phillips mentioned, he had the added advantage of learning as Brooks’ right-hand man, knowing that this historic hiring would one day come.Looking back at everything Brooks had taught him brought Phillips to tears at one point. When everything that led up to Wednesday’s hiring came rushing back, Phillips put his head in his hands and wiped away the tears and memories, knowing wholeheartedly that his mentor and friend would no longer be on the sidelines with him.”This guy (Brooks) means the world to me,” Phillips said. “He does. I mean it sincerely. When I was asked about if I was getting anxious (to take the head coaching job), no, no, I was not getting anxious. I had one of the best jobs in America. I was able to sit back. I am in a unique position, first of all. I am getting the job that I was able to study for, for two years. I got to study from one of the best in the business.”After all the battles to get to Wednesday, Phillips felt a sense of perpetual gratefulness to Brooks.”One of the things that I have admired about him is that at a time when we had a lot of young coaches, me included, on our staff and we might have taken a different direction the first few years, Rich stayed the course,” Phillips said. “He didn’t listen to the noise of us young coaches that thought we knew everything. He stayed the course of the plain and we made the turn.”The next turn will be up to Phillips, a move that seemed to give Brooks some noticeable ease and relaxation as he arrived at Wednesday’s news conference.As Phillips projected the image and vision he shared for the future of the UK football program, one Brooks helped mold and construct, Brooks sat nearby with the smile of a proud father.”I’m very proud,” Brooks said, “(because) one, two years ago the administration was confident enough to name him the coach-in-waiting and now to see it fulfilled, I am very proud.”Brooks said he was a little surprised at how emotional Phillips got at the microphone, in part because he didn’t know he had that large of an influence on Phillips, but he made sure to offer a hand of support to UK’s newest head coach, even if that means sticking his head in on a practice or two.”I’ll be around,” Brooks said. “I don’t want to be in the way. “I don’t want to take anything away from Joker because this is now his time.”