North Dakota State University Phillips got his start at NDSU as an assistant coach under
Tim Miles in 2004. When Miles left the school to coach
Colorado State in 2007, Phillips was promoted to head coach. In 2009 Phillips led the
North Dakota State Bison to win the
Summit League tournament championship and became the first team since Southwestern Louisiana (now
Louisiana–Lafayette) in 1972 to advance to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in their first year of eligibility. On January 17, 2013; Saul Phillips notched his 100th win with the Bison. Phillips reached the
NCAA tournament once again in 2014 after winning the
Summit League tournament. Seeded 12th in the NCAA Tournament, the
Bison upset 5th seeded
Oklahoma in the second round 80–75, then lost to 4th seeded
San Diego State 44-63 in the third round. He is currently 4th on the all-time wins list in NDSU men's basketball history.
Ohio University On April 6, 2014, Phillips agreed to become the 18th head coach of the
Ohio Bobcats. The
2014–15 Bobcats finished with a 10–20 overall record and only 5 wins in the MAC in spite of the presence of future
NBA player
Maurice Ndour. In
2015–16 the Bobcats went 23–12 and 11–7 MAC Conference record giving them the #2 seed in the
2016 MAC tournament. Junior
Antonio Campbell was named the 2016
MAC Player of the Year after averaging a
double-double throughout the season. The Bobcats lost to
Buffalo in the semifinal game of the MAC Tournament 74–88. Ohio accepted an invitation to the
2016 College Basketball Invitational. They reached the semifinals but lost to
Morehead State. His
2016–17 went 20–10 overall and 11–7 in the MAC which was good for second place. His last two seasons at Ohio were plagued by player injuries and resulted in 14-17 records both seasons. On March 13, 2019, Phillips' contract was not renewed by Ohio after 5 seasons. One of his successes at Ohio turned out to be offering
Jason Preston, who was unrecruited out of high school, a scholarship. Preston was later selected in the
2021 NBA draft.
Northern State University On June 11, 2019, Phillips was named the head men's basketball coach at
Northern State following the departure of
Paul Sather In his first season, the Wolves won the
NSIC regular season championship and the
NSIC tournament championship. However, the postseason was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On February 22, 2025, he was relieved of his duties after posting a 2–26 record (1–21 in NSIC play). ==Head coaching record==