Where Jay Hill Sees Value In His Coaching Career

SALT LAKE CITY – Weber State head coach Jay Hill is the new Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at BYU.

Hill coached at Weber State for nine seasons, guiding the Wildcats to six FCS Playoff appearances. Before Hill’s arrival, the Wildcats had only won two playoff games. Hill led Weber to six playoff victories.

During Hill’s time in Ogden, he won 68 games, becoming the winningest coach in Weber State history. Hill has led the Weber State defense throughout his tenure with the Wildcats.

All that success now comes to a BYU defense that showed signs of issues in 2021 amidst a 10-3 campaign but bottomed out in 2022. BYU finished the regular season 100th in scoring defense, allowing 30 points per game. In addition, former defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki stepped down from his post, a spot he held in title alone after being demoted to the defensive line position in the middle of the season.

So why now for Jay Hill? Well, we got a little bit of insight into his thought process during a December 6 interview on “Jake & Ben” (weekdays, 10 a.m. to Noon) on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM).

Hill has been a weekly guest with Jake & Ben throughout the 2022 college football season. So Hill’s visit was a regularly scheduled appearance on the program to recap Weber State’s FCS Playoff loss to Montana State.

#BYU makes it official. Jay Hill is the new Associate Head Coach & Defensive Coordinator for the Cougars.#BYUFootball #GoCougs https://t.co/4c3Zrwioy1

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 7, 2022

The two KSL Sports Zone hosts, Jake Scott and Ben Anderson, didn’t directly ask Hill about the rumors surrounding his candidacy for BYU’s defensive coordinator position. Hill even joked with the hosts by saying, “So you’re not going to ask it then?”

But they did ask what Hill values the most in his coaching career, which Hill discussed on the show.

“First and foremost, family. Does the job fit with the values that I have with my social life, with religion, with everything that is dear to me? Family obviously, as I mentioned, is a huge deal, finances,” Jay Hill said to the KSL Sports Zone. “Everybody knows we go to work each day to provide for our families and do that. So to say that finances aren’t part of it, someone would be lying if they said that. But that’s a big part of it.

“Level of competition is a big part of it. You know, can you be happy with where you’re at and the level of football you’re coaching at? I think is an enormous part of it. You know, others will be different. But I would say that’s probably the main thing for me. Then the other thing is, are you changing lives? Do you have an opportunity to offer to somebody the opportunity to better their life? Through education, through the football experience, those are really what have always been most important to me. And if I can accomplish those things, then that’s probably what I’m looking for in a job.”

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s BYU football coverage on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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