Football
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- salukifootball@siu.edu
- Phone:
- 618-453-3331
- Alma Mater:
- Southern Illinois, 2007
Entering his 10th season as head coach in 2025, Nick Hill has elevated his alma mater into one of the elite programs in FCS Football.
A native son of Southern Illinois and one of Saluki Football's all-time great quarterbacks, Hill made it his mission to restore the program to its place among the nation's best. By any standard, he has achieved that goal.
Playing in the toughest conference at the FCS level, the Salukis have advanced to the playoffs three times in the last five seasons.
SIU was one of only two FCS teams in the nation to beat FBS opponents in both 2022 (Northwestern) and 2023 (Northern Illinois), joining Sacramento State, which beat Colorado State (2022) and Stanford (2023).
In its history, Saluki Football has won six games against FBS-level teams, and Hill has been a part of five of those wins (two as starting quarterback, three as head coach).
The Salukis have dominated in-state competition under Hill, winning eight of their last nine games against in-state schools (Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Illinois State twice, Western Illinois four times).
Southern has beaten 12 ranked FCS teams in the last five seasons, including wins over the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4-ranked opponents.
Since 2020, the Salukis have been nationally ranked for 49 weeks, including 20 weeks in the top 10 and as high as No. 3.
SIU has won three playoff games in the last five seasons, winning at Weber State (2020), at South Dakota (2021) and versus Nicholls State (2023), in the first home playoff game in Saluki Stadium history.
The program has produced multiple NFL players during Hill's tenure, including safeties Jeremy Chinn and Ryan Neal, cornerbacks Craig James and Madre Harper, plus tight end MyCole Pruitt. Chinn was a second-round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers and the 64th player chosen overall in 2020.
A leader on and off the field, Hill won the 2023 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Grant Teaff Coach of the Year Award, sponsored by the AFCA.
Hill’s journey to the top job at SIU started just 20 miles north of campus, where he was a football and basketball icon at DuQuoin High School. During his senior year of high school in 2002-03, Hill was the area’s Player of the Year in both sports and guided the Indians to the Illinois High School Association 3A state championship football game.
The legend continued on the hardwood where Hill averaged 23 points as a senior at Du Quoin and chose Western Kentucky from a host of Division I offers. A broken hand prematurely ended his freshman season at Western but ultimately led him home.
In the spring of 2004, Hill transferred to SIU to switch sports and play football under head coach Jerry Kill, just as the program was beginning its rapid rise to the top of the league standings.
Hill initially sat behind league Player of the Year Joel Sambursky, before taking over the starting job in 2006. In two seasons as the starter, he went 21-6 and set the school record for passing yards in 2007. He still holds the best completion percentage (68.3) in school history.
Highlights of Hill’s playing career include guiding Southern to a win at Indiana in 2006, in which he passed for four touchdowns as SIU became the league’s first team to defeat a Big Ten opponent. Hill capped off his career in 2007 by leading the team to the Final Four of the playoffs, where the Salukis ultimately lost a 20-17 heartbreaker to Joe Flacco and Delaware. He was also a finalist for the Peyton Award in ‘07.
Hill played six seasons of professional football, mostly in the Arena Football League, where he played for head coach Jay Gruden, who went on to coach NFL’s Washington Redskins from 2014-2019. Hill also had brief free-agent stints with the Chicago Bears in 2008 and Green Bay Packers in 2012.
Playing for Gruden, one of the game’s top offensive minds, helped shape Hill’s offensive philosophy. First as Southern’s offensive coordinator and now as head coach, Hill has refined his own unique style of offense that combines elements of Air Raid, spread and up-tempo.
“Coaching my alma mater is a dream come true,” Hill said. “I love everything about this region and what it stands for, that blue-collar mentality. This is not my team. This is our team. Our program is going to invest in the community and make us proud on and off the field.”
Hill and wife, Alicia, a former volleyball player at SIU, reside in Carbondale and have three daughters. His brother, former Saluki quarterback A.J. Hill, coaches football at Rochester (Ill.) High School.
Hill signed a five-year contract extension prior to the 2022 season. His base salary began at $250,000 in 2022 and increases by $15,000 each season thereafter.
| Season | Position | Overall | MVFC | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Quarterbacks | 6-6 | 3-5 (7th) | None |
| 2015 | co-Offensive Coordinator/QBs | 3-8 | 2-6 (9th) | None |
| 2016 | Head Coach | 4-7 | 2-6 (t-8th) | None |
| 2017 | Head Coach | 4-7 | 2-6 (t-8th) | None |
| 2018 | Head Coach | 2-9 | 1-7 (10th) | None |
| 2019 | Head Coach | 7-5 | 5-3 (t-3rd) | None |
| 2020 | Head Coach | 6-4 | 3-3 (5th) | Round of 8 |
| 2021 | Head Coach | 8-5 | 5-3 (3rd) | Round of 16 |
| 2022 | Head Coach | 5-6 | 4-4 (6th) | None |
| 2023 | Head Coach | 8-5 | 4-4 (7th) | Round of 16 |
| 2024 | Head Coach | 4-8 | 2-6 (8th) | None |
| Head Coach | 48-56 | 28-42 |
