Brian Hill was a three-year starter at Wyoming and help lead one of the biggest turnouts in the FBS a year ago.
Wyoming went from a 2-10 team to nearly winning the Mountain West conference, and a lot of that is thanks to the nearly 2,000 yards of total offense Hill contributed.
We’ll be following along in his draft process with regular Draft Journals starting with this one, done just before he heads to Indianapolis for the all-important NFL Combine.
From St. Louis, Illinois to Wyoming to now an NFL Draft prospect. Tell me your story on your football career so far.
“In high school, I was mostly playing defense, defensive end and linebacker. My high school team took pride in the defense, so most of our good players wanted to play defense. I was the only one playing both sides my junior year and one of three my senior year. I loved defense, playing physical and making tackles on people on defense. But my senior year I averaged like 9.9 yards per carry, and that’s when [Wyoming Head] Coach [Craig] Bohl wanted me to play, that he wanted me to be a running back. So that was that.”
What has it been like playing with Coach Bohl and being part of a Wyoming program that has grown so much so quickly?
“It was fun, man. Coach Bohl is a coach who believes in his system, and if the players work hard the system will work. It’s not a quick-fix system and it needs to have the foundation built. And I’ve seen that between my freshman and junior year as we went from a 4-8 and 2-10 team and then we just clicked. Same team, same players, same system. And we made huge strides, and then went to the Mountain West championship and bowl game for the first time in five years.
"Wyoming helped me develop as a leader, going through the tough times freshman and sophomore year. I learned you have to stay competing. I’m a super competitor, no matter how many games we have left. I never went into a game saying, ‘I’m going to lose’ or ‘this is a loss.' And there were a lot of guys in the locker room believing in that. And you just see, the same players, same team and we took an opportunity to get so much better. There were still some games we could have won, but all in all we made such awesome strides.”
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You’re one of 19 RBs who declared early. What makes you unique in this loaded running back class?
“I take pride in blocking. I know that the quarterback is what makes the offense go most of the time, and that was the case at Wyoming, too. We had a great quarterback in Josh Allen, and when he passed the ball my main focus was to keep him upright. I didn’t want him to take too many hits. Also, I don’t have any one style as a runner. I don’t try to emulate any one running back when I run the ball. I always looked up to LaDainian Tomlinson, especially because he always ran with his style and in a lot of different ways.”
Do you have a certain goal for your 40 time? Any number in particular?
“Right now, the goal for the Combine is sub-4.5. I’m very very confident I can get that unless something goes horribly wrong. And after that, I just want to catch the ball. I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to do that [at Wyoming] because we had an athletic quarterback and he made a lot of moves with his legs, so I want to show the NFL teams that I can do that and I’m comfortable in that situation.”
What are you hoping to prove to NFL teams at the Combine?
“I want to show teams that the only thing I care about is winning. My goal next year is to win a Super Bowl. I’m not going to be there just to be in the NFL or to play in the league. I want to take every game seriously. I take losses to heart. I want to show them I love football and I’ll never leave football. I took the preparation and film study process very seriously in college, and I want to show them that I can handle the NFL in that way very early on. I want to show them I can handle the NFL, I listen and I do what the coaches tell me. That’s what I want to show them.”
What’s something that people should know about you as a person?
“Other than football, I’m a big gamer. I love playing video games. I can play a lot of different games. 'Madden', 'NBA2K', 'Call of Duty,' and I just bought this Nascar game. Just anything I can play on an Xbox One. It helps me unwind, just relax after being a student-athlete. It’s a long day from meetings to practice to film to school to everything, so it helps me chill out.”
Are you any good though?
“Oh yeah, I’m very good. [Laughs]. If anyone wants to challenge me, my GamerTag is Superman51515. I will accept any and all challenges!”