After an early win in the season, Hill football remains in positive spirits despite several subsequent losses and setbacks.
With a 1-6 start, Hill football remains poised to yet another losing season that would continue astreak dating back to 2010. After dominant seasons in the late 2000s, Hill football has found themselves in a slump, posting a record of 22-89 since 2011.
“Honestly, not good,” quarterback Charles Hewitt ’25 said after being asked about the reputationof Hill football both around campus and the area. “Right now, I think we aren’t doing the right things to bring in the right guys or do the right things to win.”
It is no secret that Hill football has not had a winning reputation among Hill’s campus. Many students look at the Hill football program with frustration, leading to some morale issues inside the locker room.
“It does put a toll on us. It does bring us down a little bit,” receiver Nick Cobb ’26 said. “We know to just block the negative perspectives and just keep pushing.”
Blocking negative perspectives is extremely hard for any team of any sort. However, it is evident that these perspectives have made their way into Hill’s locker room over these past couple years and has provided a sense of urgency to change the narrative. This attempt at change began in 2022 with the hiring of new head coach, Mike Boyer.
Boyer joined the Hill, following his departure from Albright college where he spent 13 seasons. “I am truly grateful for the opportunity to carry on the well-established tradition of this historic football program, and now lead the young men who represent it,” Boyer said. While his firstseason may not have been a success according to Hill’s 1-7 record, it is clear to his team that his arrival on campus has propelled Hill football into the right direction.
“I think it’s going well,” Hewitt said. “It’s obviously difficult as a first–year head coach to bring inthe guys, especially when they hire you late in the recruiting cycle. Second year he has definitely brought in some guys.”
Praise for Boyer has extended far beyond his starting quarterback. “I can see that Hill football is on the come up and they’re making the efforts to improve their program,” Anderson Brndjar ’25, head of Blue Crew, said.
It is evident to both the team and the community that Hill football is well on its way to turning this whole thing around and getting back to the winning seasons and championships they had
throughout the 2000s. The coaching change of Boyer has brought new life into the locker room and has started to bring revival to what many saw as a depleted culture in the program.
“From my perspective, I definitely see us as a hardworking team,” Cobb said. “I feel there is a lot behind the scenes that we do. We do watch a lot of film. We do put the hours in.”
As players start to buy in the way Cobb has, the turnaround of this program will take more and more steps forward. Despite some extremely close losses early on in the season, with a 40-43 loss to The Pennington School and 43-45 loss to Peddie School, improvement is apparent. The culture Cobb is talking about has shown up on the field coming back from large deficits in multiple games.
While Boyer has been busy working on the culture of the team, he has simultaneously built an exciting young core. Cobb, Nate Govan ’26, Rojan Tiagi ’27, and Chase Mccusker ’27 were the four players mentioned by Hewitt as the leaders of the future. All current starters this year, these four are players with the potential that can help to lead successful Hill teams in the future.
After a 1-6 start to the 2024 season, it is unlikely that Hill will come back for a winning season to end its 13–year slump. However, the progress made leaves the program and community hopeful for Hill to turn this thing around in the coming years.
“We’re gonna come back,” said Cobb. “We’re gonna win more games. We’re gonna really put the work and effort in. From now on, there’s gonna be a big change in Hill football.”