Dr. Phillips head coach leading 2 teams at once

Dr. Phillip’s head girls’ basketball coach Anthony Jones is a busy man.

Right now he’s splitting time between preparing the Panthers for a national hoops tournament in Washington D.C. and coaching the flag football team.

"Right after school, I get started with basketball practice. Leave basketball and go to flag practice or vice versa," Jones told FOX 35.

Normally the basketball team wouldn’t be practicing this late in the year. But since Dr. Phillips won another state title this season, they were invited to ESPN’s state champions invitational. Easter weekend, they’ll face off against other state champs from around the country.

"We feel good. It’s going to be the biggest moment of most of our lives as high schoolers," freshman Kendall Perry said. Coach Jones starts his day before the sun rises and doesn’t get home until around 7 o’clock at night.

This sounds like a very exhausting schedule. But he says it’s something he’s used to. This isn’t the first time Jones had to juggle the two sports at the same time, with so much on the line.

"We won a state championship in flag football as well in 2011. The same year we won a state championship in girl’s basketball, and the same year we won a Geico national championship. So that 2011 doing double duty was quite historical for us," Jones said.

Jones is in year 14 as head coach for girls’ basketball, and he’s led the flag football team for over 20 years. His commitment to both teams is undeniable. 

"He does a great job of not letting us know if he had a bad day. He still comes into practice. He still pushes us the same, give us the same energy," junior center, Taylor Giguere said.