Phillips to finish season

The Kentucky Wildcats will play under recently-dismissed head coach Joker Phillips in their final two games of the season, the school announced Monday.

The day after news broke that Joker Phillips will be relieved as head football coach at Kentucky, the school announced Monday that he will remain on the sidelines for the Wildcats' final two games of the season.

Phillips will coach UK (1-9, 0-7 SEC) against Samford in the home finale on Nov. 17 and against Tennessee on Nov. 24 in Knoxville.

Kentucky officials stated via e-mail that Phillips and select players will be available for comment during normal media availability following Tuesday's practice, which is scheduled to conclude at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET.

Phillips, who played at Kentucky in the early 80s and served as an assistant coach under Bill Curry and Rich Brooks, was told he would not return for the final two years on his contract after the Wildcats suffered a 40-0 defeat by Vanderbilt on Saturday. It marked UK's worst loss to the Commodores since 1916 and dropped Phillips' record as head coach to 12-23.

Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said Sunday that the search for Phillips' successor would begin immediately.