Jim Phillips began the toughest day of his tenure as Northwestern athletic director at 8 a.m. Saturday by telling the father of his son’s seventh-grade basketball coach how much he respected him.

The meeting with Bill Carmody lasted long enough to fire him.

Michael Carmody, Bill’s oldest child, coaches Luke Phillips, Jim’s son, at Saint Francis Xavier School in Wilmette – just one of many close connections between the families that made Northwestern’s coaching change more painful. The tears that Phillips fought back explaining the decision in an interview weren’t forced or fake.