Instant impact: Belleville West grad Brian Hill breaking records and turning heads at Wyoming

No one realized it at the time, but the Little Devils and Little Knights youth football programs in Belleville were sitting on one heck of a lot of talent not that long ago.

Playing with and against each other on the same field in the same season were USC star receiver-defensive back Adoree’ Jackson, Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert, Wyoming running back Brian Hill, Central Florida defensive back Mike Rogers and North Dakota State cornerback Dominic Davis

All have found success at the Division I level, but Hill is more than holding his own with the talented group of Belleville youth football alumni.

“I was that kid walking around dreaming about the NFL,” Hill said. “I was still that normal kid a few years ago, I was just a regular high school student. I was pretty good, but still didn’t have all the offers that everybody else had.

“You only need one chance — and Wyoming was basically that chance for me.”

When Hill left Belleville West for Wyoming, he realized things might be a bit different. Snow-capped mountains and a much colder winter were only part of the equation.

“My roommate and I used to joke that our names were ‘freshman’ and our jersey number,” Hill said. “I used to joke that my name was Freshman, No. 8.”

In two short years, the former Belleville West star has turned that No. 8 into one of the most popular in recent Wyoming Cowboys history.

Hill set a single-season rushing record this season as a sophomore, rolling up 1,631 yards. He’s the only major Division I running back with four games of more than 200 yards rushing this season, including a 232-yard explosion in the Nov. 28 regular-season finale against UNLV that included a 72-yard touchdown run.

After only two seasons the 6-foot-1, 211-pound sophomore stands fifth on Wyoming’s all-time rushing list with 2,427 yards.

He’s been the National Offensive Player of the Week, the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week and an all-conference selection. Hill, 20, seems to be thriving as the focal point of Wyoming’s ground game.

“Our strength coach will tell you he’s the hardest working guy in the weight room,” Wyoming running backs coach Mike Bath said. “If we didn’t struggle up front this year he’s probably pushing 2,000 yards.”

When he broke loose for 18 yards on his first collegiate carry against Montana in the 2014 season opener, Hill opened everyone’s eyes.

“You saw something different,” Bath said. “Violence, a burst, it was something completely different than what we had seen before.”

Hill recalled the run, but knew he needed to show a lot more.

“I was a freshman,” he said. “It takes more than one good run to get the coaching staff’s trust completely in you. That’s one thing I had to learn in college.”

Hill’s record-setting performances this season helped him become one of 11 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation’s top running back. Hill was the only one on the list that wasn’t from one of the top five conferences.

“It is impressive he was on there, especially as a true sophomore,” Bath said. “It’s everything else he brings to the table. He’s a running back, he’s got toughness. He wants the football but he’s grown so much in (pass) protection.

“He wants to be the best and when you find a coachable kid like that, you have somebody’s that’s really special.”

Leaving an impact

Hill entered the final game this season against UNLV needing 57 yards to break the school’s single-season rushing record. He broke the record not on a 3-yard dive play, but a jaw-dropping 72-yard run that saw Hill blow up a linebacker before cutting to the outside on his way to the end zone with his familiar long dreadlocks trailing behind him.

“I don’t know when it was that I’ve seen a run like that,” Bath said. “He completely just unloaded on a linebacker and destroyed him in a hole, then he broke it outside and ran it for 72 yards.

“He could be an all-conference outside (line)backer, he really could be. But he’s a pretty special running back.”

Despite playing on a 2-10 team, Hill also had 200 or more yards this season against Eastern Michigan (242), Appalachian State (208) and Utah State (201).

Bath said Hill’s next stop may be the NFL.

“He’s such a strong kid and a physical kid who can take the punishment,” said Bath, who compared him to former teammate and ex-NCAA all-time scoring leader Travis Prentice, a Cleveland Browns draft pick from Miami (Ohio). “He was 6-2, 230 and was a legit 4.5-flat (40-yard dash) guy. Knowing what Travis Prentice was and being around Brian Hill, Brian Hill is better.

“He’s got a burst and his physical side is awesome; his football IQ is so high. His ‘want to’ is off the charts.”

Hill has always dreamed of meeting former NFL running backs Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson. Could he see himself playing in the league they once did?

“That’s the dream,” he said. “That’s the goal. I’m not there yet, but that’s definitely where I want to be. That’s what I’ve been thinking about since I started playing football as a little kid.”

Wyoming, by way of North Dakota

Despite a standout career at Belleville West where he starred on offense and defense, major Division I programs weren’t chasing Hill.

Purdue did come in late with an offer, but the only other major offers were from Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Georgia State.

“At Belleville West my love was defense,” Hill said. “The only thing I cared about was tackling people.”

Hill’s cousin, former West standout Pierre Gee-Tucker, was at North Dakota State and Hill got an offer from there as well.

Current Wyoming coach Craig Bohl was still the coach at North Dakota State at the time and he and his staff made an offer for Hill. When Bohl left to take the job at Wyoming, that left Hill with a tough decision.

“I got the call saying they wanted to honor the scholarship that they gave me at North Dakota State,” Hill said. “They wanted me to come to Wyoming with them. The No.1 thing that was on my mind is that’s a long way away from home, meaning it was a long way away from my family.”

Hill took a visit to Wyoming and made his decision to become a Cowboy.

“Taking my visit, seeing how beautiful it was here and knowing that I didn’t want to play I-AA,” Hill said. “I felt I was good enough to play (major Division I) and that was a big factor in the decision- making process.”

Hill said he also spoke with recruiters from Illinois and Missouri as a senior.

“They came and visited me and talked with me a little bit, but they never gave me the offer,” Hill said. “I’m happier this way and I’m just excited to be a part of things here. Looking back on it I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Record breaker

While Hill impressed the Wyoming coaching staff early on as a freshman, it still took a lot to get him into the backfield on a regular basis.

Two running backs ahead of him on the depth chart each were injured, leading to an opportunity. Hill responded with 121 yards against Colorado State, then burst onto the national scene with a record-breaking game that had to be seen to be believed.

Making his first collegiate start against Fresno State, Hill began running and didn’t stop until he set school records for rushing (281 yards on 23 carries) and a Mountain West record for all-purpose yards (387).

The performance led to Hill being named National Offensive Player of the Week.

“That’s always going to be with me,” Hill said.

“We’re sitting there at Fresno State watching him play and you just saw that there was really something special about the kid,” Bath said. “Every since about then he’s been on an upward trend.”

Hill’s recent 232-yard outing Nov. 28 against UNLV pushed him past former Wyoming star Ryan Christopherson’s single-season rushing record of 1,455 yards in 1994.

Before Hill, no Wyoming running back had ever run for more than 1,500 yards in a season. Now he’s surpassed the 1,600-yard mark.

The list of Doak Walker Award finalists includes LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Stanford back Christian McCaffrey.

“Those are guys that I was watching in high school with all the four-star and five-star ratings on them,” Hill said. “It gives me a little comfort knowing that I can compete with them.”

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Instant impact: Belleville West grad Brian Hill breaking records and turning heads at Wyoming."