Fitz Hill

Omon Fitzgerald Hill (born March 28, 1964) is a former American football player and coach and college administrator.

In 1983, while a college freshman, Hill's father died of stomach cancer.

Six weeks later, Hill's mother had an aneurysm and later a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak.

He continued to play football and was a NAIA All-American in 1985 and 1986.

Hill also founded a coin-op laundromat in 1986 and would manage it until 1996.

He graduated in 1987 with a double major B.A. in communications and physical education.

After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University, Hill returned to Arkadelphia High School in 1987 as an assistant football coach.

He received a master's degree in Student Personnel Services from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he served as a graduate assistant football coach during the 1988 football season.

During the early years of his coaching career, Hill's career was briefly interrupted by military service during the Gulf War, where he was a transportation officer.

He coordinated the transportation of rations and supplies to American troops participating in Desert Shield and Desert Storm; during this time he was promoted to first lieutenant and received the Bronze Star and Commendation Medal.

In 1988, Hill enrolled at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana and was a graduate assistant on the Northwestern State Demons football team.

Hill transferred to the University of Arkansas in 1989 and became a graduate assistant for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

In the spring of 1990, Hill returned to Northwestern State University and served as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for that term.

While completing his master's degree at Northwestern State, Hill continued to be a volunteer assistant coach for Arkansas in 1990 and 1991.

Hill graduated from Northwestern State with a Master of Arts degree in student personnel services in 1991.

In the spring of 1992, Hill served as wide receivers coach for Utah State University.

He later returned to the University of Arkansas as wide receivers coach for the 1992 regular season.

Immediately after losing the season opener to Division I-AA The Citadel, Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles fired head coach Jack Crowe.

Hill remained on the staff of interim head coach Joe Kines and was retained by permanent head coach Danny Ford in 1993.

During Hill's time at Arkansas as wide receivers coach, Arkansas made the AP Top 25 poll in 1995, 1998, and 1999, with the #16 spot in the 1998 final AP poll and #17 in the 1999 final AP poll.

In 1997, Hill received his Ed.D. from Arkansas; his doctoral thesis examined the "barriers restricting employment opportunities" for black coaches.

In 1998, under new head coach Houston Nutt, Hill added recruiting coordinator to his duties.

Hill continued to be wide receivers coach until 2000.

In 2000, Hill became assistant head coach as well.

Arkansas won the 2000 Cotton Bowl Classic following its 1999 season and appeared in the December 1995 Carquest Bowl, 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl (after the 1998 season), and 2000 Las Vegas Bowl.

In December 2000, Hill was hired as the head coach for the San Jose State University Spartans football team.

Hill served as the head football coach at San Jose State University from 2001 to 2004, compiling a record of 14–33.

He was the president of Arkansas Baptist College from 2006 to 2016.

The youngest of three brothers, Fitz Hill was born and raised in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

His father James routinely worked 14-hour days as a production manager at Arkadelphia Beverage Company in the daytime and janitor in the nighttime.

His mother Mary was a high school registrar and volunteered with local children and college students at her church.

As a student, Hill was elected class president of Arkadelphia High School.

Hill earned an athletic scholarship to Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe), then a Division I-AA school, playing wide receiver on the Northeast Louisiana Indians football team.

Hill left Northeastern Louisiana and returned to Arkadelphia to help take care of his mother, who died in 2009.

Hill transferred to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

To pay for school, Hill managed a shoe repair store and joined the Army ROTC.

When Hill was hired, the San Jose State athletic department was in financial trouble and ranked 106th out of 114 Division I-A schools in football home game attendance, with an average attendance of about 12,000.

The financial issues forced San Jose State to schedule numerous road games against schools in BCS Automatic Qualifier conferences during Hill's tenure, including USC, Florida, and Ohio State.

Fellow assistant coach Houston Nutt reflected on that time in the season: "The thing that was so tough that year was the uncertainty you felt every single day. As an assistant, you're thinking, 'Am I going to be here after this season? Am I going to have to get another job?'" In 2012, Hill said that Broyles "felt a change was necessary not so much for the team, but for public perception" after the loss to The Citadel.

Hill became the 17th black coach in Division I-A football and one of the few I-A coaches with a doctorate.