Phil Isom was born in Guntersville on December 16, 1955. He attended Arab High School where he played quarterback for the Knights for three seasons. In his senior year, the 1973 Knights were 7-3 with Isom calling the signals at Arab.

Isom attended St. Bernard College and graduated with a B.S. in 1977 and a M.S. from Jacksonville State University in 1980. During his time at St. Bernard, Phil volunteered to help coach his former teams at Grassy Junior High for two years and Arab High School for one year.

In 1980, Coach Isom began a 30-year career of coaching the Wildcats and teaching Driver Education. During this tenure in Guntersville, Phil was the head varsity girls basketball coach and assistant football.

He also coached the golf, track and field, and softball team; served for three years as the schools athletic director; and was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

In the fall of 1999, Isom was named the Guntersville Wildcats head football coach. He coached the Cats for 11 years and had an overall record of 84 wins against only 41 losses. Under his direction, the Wildcats made it to the state football playoffs in 10 of his 11 years.

Isom led his team to a 14-1 record in 2006 and the only state football championship in the history of Guntersville football. That team defeated Thomasville at Legion Field in Birmingham for the Class 4A title.

Following the 2009 season, Isom stepped away from the sidelines and coaching football. He was named Marshall County Football Coach-of-the-Year six times: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, and 2009.

Coach Isom was selected as the Alabama 4A Football Coach-of-the-Year in 1999 and was selected for the coaching staff in the 2007 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game in Mobile.

In 2007, the playing field at Chorba-Lee Stadium in Guntersville was named "Phil Isom Field" in honor of their championship coach. He was also inducted into the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame.