Phil Collins

(From Hardwicke Funeral Home)

Carl Philip “Phil” Collins passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on June 22, 2021. A devoted husband, father, and grandfather, he was also a beloved football coach and mentor to hundreds of athletes and fellow coaches. 

In a vital career that spanned generations from 1965 to 2020, his big-hearted love for the game—and its strong formation of community and character—will be remembered by all who knew him.

Collins was born on December 30, 1942 in Midland, TX to Carl Richard Collins and Gladys Baker Collins. He grew up in Memphis, TN and graduated from Messick High School in 1960. 

A first-generation college student in his family, he graduated from College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, AR in 1964, where he received a BS in Physical Education. He received his master’s degree in Education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1968.

As a student at College of the Ozarks, Collins had a stellar football career, starring on the Mountaineer teams of the early and mid-1960s, and once rushing for 224 yards in a 14-7 victory over Harding College in 1963. He was ranked both All-Conference and All-American.

Collins began his coaching career in Marionville, MO, at Marionville High School in 1965. While there, he coached track and football, winning a conference championship in 1967. He continued his career at Parkwood High School in Joplin, MO, as defensive coordinator, then went to Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO as offensive coordinator. He then moved to Memorial High School in Joplin, MO, as head coach, where his team won the AAA MO state high school championship. 

On the eve of that victory, a profile on Collins in the Joplin Globe held him up as proof that “nice guys don’t finish last.” The entire team was inducted into the Joplin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.

In 1977, Collins accepted a position as defensive coordinator at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, where he coached for nine years. He then went to Dardanelle High School, where his teams in 1987 and 1988 enjoyed two 10-0 seasons in a row, and were conference champions and participated in the state playoffs. He went to Russellville High School (AR), where he was head coach and athletic director, garnering a tri-conference championship in 1992. He continued to coach football in many area schools in Arkansas, including Horatio, Pottsville, and Western Yell County. He finished his career as a volunteer coach in both football and track for eight years at Ozark High School in Ozark, AR.

Such a wide-ranging career built an enormous family tree of football colleagues. When he started a new position, he had a rule never to disparage the outgoing coaches: “Don’t tear down the other person to build yourself up.”

Collins also loved an underdog. At the beginning of every season, he told his teams the story of Pat Fischer—an NFL player in the early 1960s who was small and scrawny in his early career. Fischer worked tirelessly, improving so much that he finally started at the University of Nebraska. At the end of each season, Collins gave the Pat Fischer Award to the player who was the underdog, the one devoted to improvement.

Collins loved nature and the outdoors, discovering new sports through the eyes of his beloved granddaughters, and was a man of quiet faith, built primarily on actions, not words.

Phil Collins is survived by his wife of 57 years, Anna Collins, nee Schwegler, of Clarksville; his daughters Susan (Keith) Eichenberger of Clarksville and Amy Collins of Chicago, Illinois; his brother Richard (Barbara) Collins of Memphis, Tennessee; and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth Eichenberger and Anna Grace Eichenberger of Clarksville. In his legacy as coach, he is also survived by the many athletes he mentored to become men.

Visitation is from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., Monday, June 28, 2021 at the Hardwicke Chapel in Clarksville, Arkansas.

Funeral Services are 11 a.m., Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at the First United Methodist Church in Clarksville, Arkansas with Reverend David Hanshaw officiating. Burial will follow at Oakland Cemetery in Clarksville, Arkansas. Pallbearers are Austin Wheelus (Ozark High School), Bobby Brown (Dardanelle High School), Brent Haggard (Dardanelle High School), Gerald Ware (Dardanelle High School), Sam Blocklyn (Russellville High School), Scott Carter (Dardanelle High School), Kurt Spears (Dardanelle High School) and Alan Kirkland (Dardanelle High School). Honorary Pallbearers are members of the Scripture Seekers and Outreach Sunday School Class at First United Methodist Church of Clarksville and former players and coaches.