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Ex-Kentucky coach Joker Phillips joining Ohio State staff

Joker Phillips is now at Ohio State (AP).
Joker Phillips is now at Ohio State (AP).

Former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips is now at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have hired the Wildcats’ coach from 2010-2012 as a quality control assistant. The news, first reported by KentuckySportsRadio.com, was confirmed by a school spokesperson to Cleveland.com.

Phillips, 53, was last a college coach when he was at Florida. While he was the Gators’ wide receivers coach he was accused of a Level II recruiting violation in a dead period in January 2014. Phillips committed the violation by meeting with a recruit after being notified where the recruit would be outside of school. He then spoke to the recruit about Florida and Phillips got his contact information.

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Phillips resigned from Florida after he was suspended. Florida did not recruit the player he contacted further.

In three years as Kentucky’s head coach, Phillips compiled a 13-24 record. The Wildcats went to the BBVA Compass Bowl at 6-6 in his first season and lost the game to finish 6-7. In 24 SEC games, Kentucky was 4-20 under Phillips.

Phillips was the wide receivers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2015. He was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2005-2009 before he was promoted to head coach to succeed Rich Brooks.

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For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!