Joker Phillips Joe " Joker " Phillips , Jr . ( born May 12 , 1963 ) is an American football coach and former player . He served as head football coach for the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team from 2010 to 2012 , compiling a record of 13 wins and 24 losses . He is currently the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Florida , a position he assumed in December 2012 . Playing career . After a standout career at Franklin - Simpson High School , including being the quarterback for two state Class AAA championship teams , Phillips played wide receiver for the University of Kentucky Wildcats from 1981 through 1984 , under head coaches Fran Curci and Jerry Claiborne . During his playing career at Kentucky , Phillips caught 75 passes for 935 yards and nine touchdown s at the wide receiver position . Phillips played on the 1984 Kentucky Wildcats football team that went 9 - 3 , finished # 19 in the AP poll , and won the 1984 Hall of Fame Classic Bowl against Wisconsin . At the time of his departure from Lexington , he stood fifth on the school ' s receiving list . After college , Phillips played two seasons in the National Football League ( NFL ) for the Washington Redskins . Phillips later played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) . Coaching career . After his career in the NFL , Phillips became a graduate assistant on the Kentucky football team . In 1990 , he was promoted to assistant recruiting coordinator and in 1991 to wide receivers coach . In 1997 , he was hired as wide receivers coach at the University of Cincinnati . Following two seasons in Cincinnati , Phillips made coaching stops at Minnesota , Notre Dame , and South Carolina . Phillips succeeded Urban Meyer as wide receivers coach at Notre Dame . When Rich Brooks was hired as head football coach at Kentucky in late 2002 , Phillips returned to his alma mater to serve as recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach . With the departure of Ron Hudson late in the 2004 season , he was named offensive coordinator of the Wildcats . Phillips helped to rejuvenate Kentucky ' s offensive scheme . Under Phillips ' balanced offense , André Woodson established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the country . In his first full season as offensive coordinator , Kentucky finished with a 8 – 5 record and defeated Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl . In 2007 , Kentucky finished the season with another 8 – 5 record , defeating Florida State in the 2007 Music City Bowl . Winning the Music City Bowl for the second year in a row was the first time the Wildcats had won two consecutive bowls in over 50 years . The Wildcats finished in the top 15 nationally in points scored per game and averaged 460 yards of offense . In 2008 the Wildcats finished 7 – 6 with a victory over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl . In January 2008 , Phillips was named as Brooks ' successor , and his title was changed to " head coach of the offense " . He was named head coach of the Wildcats on January 4 , 2010 after Brooks ' retirement . Phillips was the second African - American head football coach in the SEC , after former Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom . He was also the third African - American head coach of a major sport at Kentucky ; the first was Bernadette Maddox , who coached the women ' s basketball team from 1995 to 2003 , and the second was Tubby Smith , who coached men ' s basketball from 1997 to 2007 . His 2011 Wildcats ' season - ending 10 – 7 victory over Tennessee , their first over the Volunteers since 1984 , ended the longest current losing streak against an annual opponent in FBS at 26 . Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced on November 4 , 2012 that Phillips would not return as coach in 2013 after a 1 – 9 start to the season . Barnhart did say that Phillips would coach the remaining games and finish out the year on the sidelines for the Wildcats . On December 3 , 2012 , Phillips was hired by the University of Florida as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator . Personal . Phillips was given his nickname " Joker " by his grandfather to distinguish him from his father , also named Joe .