Hill new head coach at Marshall Academy

Jake Hill’s roots run deep in Holly Springs, and he said he looks at his new job at Marshall Academy as coming home.

The coaching veteran is taking over leadership of both the Patriot football and boys’ basketball programs.

“This job means a lot to me with all the family ties and the community ties,” he said. “I am excited to get this opportunity.”

His parents, Holly Springs natives Johnny and Linda Owens Hill, are both Marshall graduates, and the first school he ever attended was MA.

“This is really, really special – a tremendous honor for me,” Hill said. “I am looking forward to winning and building football and basketball programs at Marshall Academy that are successful.”

He is a former head football coach at New Albany High School and Manila, Ark. Assistant jobs have included Oxford, Northeast Mississippi Community College, Louisville, Lake Cormorant, Amory and West Point. He has also coached Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball. He played football, basketball and baseball in high school and football at Ole Miss.

“Growing up, I just left one sport and went to the other,” Hill said.

Hill’s mentor is a coaching legend in Mississippi, his father. He played for his dad at both Oxford High School and Tupelo and later was an assistant coach for him at Oxford. Johnny Hill retired as the head football coach and athletic director at Oxford in 2015 and was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 2017. His dad will be assisting him with football at Marshall.

“He coached with me at New Albany my third year there, and it was awesome,” Hill said. “It’s going to be fun having him by my side again at Marshall. I will be building a team the way I’ve seen my dad do it, and I am confident in that. I do exactly what he taught me to do.”

Hill’s son, Zane, and daughter, Farris, both high school student-athletes, will be joining him at Marshall Academy.

Jason Taylor, headmaster at MA, said, “Coach Hill brings passion, leadership, and a commitment to excellence both on and off the field and court. We are thrilled to have him join the Patriot family and cannot wait to see the impact he will make on our student athletes and school community.”

Hill will also be assisted in football by Wesley Harris, Wyle McMillen and his uncle, Keith Owens. He will be assisted in basketball by his cousin, Bryan Miller.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “This all happened quickly for me, but I’m very blessed and thankful. We’re looking forward to the community’s support. I’ve always looked at Holly Springs as home, and we can’t wait to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and building excitement around the football and basketball programs.”