By MARK MOSCHETTI

SEATTLE – Staying a step ahead of everything – and a step ahead of everyone.
 
That was a big part of Keith Phillips' leadership style.
 
But there was another part that went right along with it. Not only did Phillips like staying a step ahead …
 
… he often managed to do it without anyone knowing that he was a step ahead.
 
"I think he enjoyed doing the work that enabled other people to succeed," son Rob Phillips said of his late father. "If you do it well, your best work isn't always visible to everyone else.
 
"It's the things that don't go wrong that show you're doing the job," Rob added. "He had a first-hand appreciation of what the coaches needed to be successful, and he took a lot of satisfaction in providing resources and systems and advice."
 
Come Saturday morning, the Seattle Pacific community will have the chance to hear about and appreciate some of Phillips' best work – whether it was in the spotlight or behind the scenes – that he accomplished during his 15 years as the school's athletic director. He will be one of seven inductees into the SPU Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
The ceremony inside the on-campus E.E. Bach Theatre begins at 10:00 a.m. It is free and open to the public.
 
From the renovation of Brougham Pavilion to the construction of Interbay Stadium, from championships won to a legendary cast of coaches who had a hand in winning them, Phillips made an immeasurable impact alongside the south shore of the Ship Canal.
 
"Being at Seattle Pacific in the late 1940s and early 50s was so fundamental to his development as a person and a leader," Rob Phillips said of Keith, who passed away last March at the age of 90. "He had an appreciation of the tradition. He had a recognition that to move the program forward, there had to be elements of change and growth.
 
"He knew how to integrate an appreciation and respect for the past with growing the school and its programs into the future."
 
BACK TO WHERE HE BEGAN
Phillips graduated from then-Seattle Pacific College in 1956 after playing basketball and baseball for coaches Ken Foreman and Dale Parker – both of whom are already Falcon Hall of Famers.
 
Keith and wife Susie (who had been married  70 years when he passed away) then spent two-plus decades in Virginia working at Norfolk Christian School during the academic year, with summers spent at a camp and at a summer camp, the latter of which they helped develop together. Several of his players at the school went on to play college ball. Phillips then became athletic director, professor, and coach at Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Virginia, from 1973-80.
 
He returned to Seattle Pacific and became the athletic director in 1980 – the first alum to sit in that chair.
 
Almost immediately, it became a perfect fit.
 
"It was always really clear to me that what my did was meaningful to him. He had an impact both in the lives of individuals and in strengthening the community," said Rob Phillips, who also went into coaching and eventually administration. (He now serves as head of school at Seattle Academy, which serves some 1,300 students in grades 6-12 and is located just four miles from SPU.
 
Rob added that one of Keith's approaches to his job was, "'We're going to do this stuff together.' That was important to him, and he was really good at it."
 
Phillips was highly instrumental in the early 1990s renovation of Brougham Pavilion. He was equally so in working with the Seattle Parks Department, which led to the building of Interbay Soccer Stadium, providing a long-needed home for that sport after having it bounce around between various facilities.
 
"The Brougham project was a big deal for him and one of the things he was proudest of," Rob said. "Being one of the early architects of the deal with Seattle Parks and the school district to do the Interbay project was another one that was really important to him."
 
NOT JUST BUILDINGS, BUT THE PEOPLE IN THEM
Phillips' acumen for fundraising went beyond Brougham (completed in 1992) and Interbay (1997). It also went toward facilities and offices. and the Falcon Club Lounge (on the top floor of the Pavilion), all of which have served the campus as a whole. He also valued a strong intramurals program – again because it served everyone.
 
During Phillips' 15 years at the department helm, the Falcons won four NCAA men's soccer titles, two women's gymnastics titles, and had 20 finishes among the top 5 in national competition across various sports, including gymnastics, soccer, women's outdoor track, and women's cross country.
 
Phillips also had an instinct for recognizing top coaching talent, and he brought some of the all-time best into the Falcons' nest. That illustrious group included Ken Bone for men's basketball, Nels Hawkinson and Gordy Presnell for women's basketball, Keith Jefferson and Jim Schultz for rowing, and JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner, who started the volleyball program. In addition, he re-hired legendary Dr. Ken Foreman to coach track following Foreman's six-year hiatus.
 
"It was always about the student athletes and their experiences and achievements. And it was the same principle of supporting coaches," Rob Phillips said, "and as you know, great coaches are often big personalities.
 
"He saw his role as supporting them behind the scenes so they could support student athletes. He stayed behind the scenes so they could be front and center," he added.
 
Bone got to see Phillips from multiple angles. First, he was a student-athlete, then came back to be an assistant coach, and then was the first SPU alum to be named head men's basketball coach.
 
"What I appreciated about Keith was that he helped groom me and Gordy Presnell, who came about the same time," Bone said. "Keith helped Gordy and me in our early years. He took us under his wing, and I was always very thankful for that.
 
"He was a great sounding board – very even-keeled in regard to emotions," Bone added. "He was a great listener and was always here for advice, too."
 
Rob Phillips said that if Keith could address those gathered at the ceremony on Saturday morning, his words would be very simple and heartfelt and … well, very Keith.
 
"I think he would talk about SPU and the community, and he wouldn't talk about himself," he said. "I think he would express gratitude for his coaches and mentors.
 
"What's most meaningful to me is just knowing how much this would have meant to him," Rob added. "SPU was, in many ways, his life's work: starting off as a student-athlete, then coming back in a position of leadership and creating opportunities for other student-athletes.
 
"It's a full-circle moment."
 
Phillips and the other six inductees will be honored at halftime of both Falcon basketball games following the ceremony. The women play Saint Martin's at 2:00 p.m., and the men tangle with Western Washington at 4:15.
 
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