Zak Hill Q&A

For years now the Boise State offense has been innovative if not unorthodox and the catalyst for the program's success and seemingly Top-25 residency in the polls season after season. Zak Hill’s arrival from the Broncos is aimed at rejuvenating a Sun Devil offense returning one of the best signal callers in the conference.

In our interview with Hill we delve into his football background and the experiences that shaped his football philosophy, his thoughts on ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels and how he plans to implement his vision on the Arizona State offense.

**Some answers have been edited for clarity and length**

DevilsDigest: During the bowl practices, it looked like you had a notebook and were jotting things down. What were you writing?

Zak Hill: “Just operational notes. Some of it was personnel-type stuff or just making notes on some of the guys. Some of it was practice structure -- what the offense was doing, where the coaches were at. Just kind of looking at how things are operating and comparing the Boise practices to these. And then making notes on what went well and what I thought could be worked on.”

DevilsDigest: Do you still look at that stuff?

Zak Hill: “Yeah I still have it”

Hill reaches across his desk and fetches a small, yellow notebook with some things jotted down.

“Yeah, I always go back to that stuff and look at notes. In meetings, I use more iPad stuff.”

DevilsDigest: Is it tough balancing act to evaluate your players on film from years prior and waiting to draw conclusions until you see them for yourself?

Zak Hill: There’s a little bit of both. Getting input from coaches but then also trying not to be jaded with anything of that and forming your own opinions. But, yeah, it’s tough at times to see what this new personnel is and get a feel for those new players, even through a practice or two.

“Then you’re trying to guide, does the offense you’re trying to run fit this group of guys. And who are the playmakers? Really, that’s a big part of spring ball is finding out who the playmakers are and what fits those guys.”

DevilsDigest: You’ve said before that at Boise State, you went in and learned an offense. At ASU, you’re bringing in an offense? What’s the difference between the two?

Zak Hill: “Well, it’s a big difference. Going into that Boise State job initially, I was one of the kids. I’m one of the guys trying to learn it, but I'm trying to teach it to those guys. It’s tough. It’s a battle for sure. And then, when you’re implementing an offense you’re used to, you have a lot of confidence going forward with the scheme and you’re able to have a better grasp of everything going in?

DevilsDigest: Did you know going into the Boise State gig that you would have to run their offense?

Zak Hill: “It was. I knew going in that I would be running their offense. And it’s a Boise State mesh of things -- of Dirk Koetter and (Chris) Peterson and some of (Bryan) Harsin’s stuff. But stuff they’ve been running for a long time.”

DevilsDigest: How much of every place you’ve been incorporated into the offense you’re bringing to Tempe?

Zak Hill: “I think a lot of it is Boise State’s stuff that I’m used to from the last couple of years. I went back and looked through the Eastern Washington stuff and tried to selectively find a few things that we feel good about. But, again, it’s kind of going to be a work in progress to figure out who are guys are going to be, what fits this team, what fits Jayden and mesh it a little more around who we’ve got, not just what I’ve done in the past?

DevilsDigest: After your playing days, you were a student assistant at Eastern Washington, what about that job made you want to continue coaching?

Zak Hill: “My dad was a head coach so I had always been around the coaching aspect of things, but I think the main thing I learned coming from being a player to going into the true coaching world was that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. There’s that humbling effect of, ‘Alright, I was a successful starter, All-American, all that stuff.’ And then, it’s like you’re a freshman again. You’re back into that trying to figure out, learn it. And a lot of the times, as a player, you don’t truly understand what the coaches have to prepare and go through to put together practices and day-to-day stuff. It was a humbling experience. Being an assistant, filming practices, doing some of that stuff where you’re not the guy anymore.”

DevilsDigest: What did you expect coaching to be?

Zak Hill: “I expected it to be similar, but you think you know the in’s and out’s of certain plays. But when you actually have to teach it to a group, what words are you using, how do you tell them what their reads are. It’s much more detailed. A lot of the times you don’t think about that as a player. You just go out and play.”

DevilsDigest: How did you end up going from a student assistant at Eastern Washington to an assistant at Hillsboro High School?

Zak Hill: “My wife and I were getting married at the time. As I was a student assistant there at Eastern, she was getting into a dental hygiene program down in Vancouver (Washington), where I was from. We decided to move down there so she could go to school. I found a high school job and really, the baseball coach who was at Hillsboro was my high school coach when I was in high school. That was the connection. He said there was a teaching job attached. I got hired there and coaches there for three years, taught there.

“I did football, baseball for one year, girl’s golf for one year. I taught health, anatomy, sports med. So for three years, I was doing the high school thing. I actually got the head coaching job after my second year there, so I was able to be the head coach and see it from a different lens there as well. You’re dealing with parents, all the support staff because you don’t have a bunch of help. You’re doing the equipment, you’re doing the fundraising, you’re going all the areas the high school football program has to deal with. That was a big eye-opener for me and made me appreciate being an assistant coach a whole lot more.”

DevilsDigest: Can you assess Zak Hill, the Hillsboro women’s golf coach?

Zak Hill: “Oh yeah. It was JV girl’s golf. I was the assistant to the head coach. It was awesome because you got free range balls and got to go play for free. Tuesdays and Thursdays were matches, so you got to get out of school and go to the girl’s matches … Greatest high school job ever. It was unbelievable. I had kids at that time but it helped my game for sure.”

DevilsDigest: Did you go to school for teaching?

Zak Hill: “Yeah, that’s what I went to school for. I got my degree in health and fitness education … It was kind of a fallback plan. I always wanted to coach college and so when we went that route, I was always hoping to jump back into college if I had the opportunity. But my dad was a teacher, my mom was a teacher, so I knew that that would be a good backup plan.”

DevilsDigest: You say you always wanted to coach in college. Was there a fear that when you went from Central to high school, that you would never get back?

Zak Hill: “Yeah. I thought chances are I might not get back into it. But I wanted to see what the high school level was like and see if it was a good fit. But when I got the opportunity back at Eastern Washington, I jumped on it. I was actually making less than my teaching job -- and working more hours. It’s just a different lifestyle for the college coach, you’re not having to teach classes so it’s all football all the time. I liked that part of things.”

DevilsDigest: What do you remember about Beau Baldwin’s offense that you ran as a quarterback then coached at Eastern Washington?

Zak Hill: “There wasn’t as much shift and motions. There was a lot more just lining up and going -- just playing fast. There are advantages to that offense, there are advantages for the quarterback but there’s also advantages to using heavier sets and tights that are shifting and motioning.” You’re always trying to find the best ways to make it tough for the defense. And right now, in this day and age, it’s tougher for defensive coordinators to deal with heavier sets -- tight ends and movement and stuff. We’re getting more and more used to the fast, no-huddle, just play, play, play. I think it’s tougher for the defensive coordinators to have to deal with run fits.”

DevilsDigest: So, do you mainly just want to run more 12- and 22-personnel sets because no one else does, thus defensive coordinators don’t prepare for it as much?

Zak Hill: “Yeah, they’re not used to it. The in-vogue thing is now like the 10-, 11-personnel. Spread it out and play fast. Not a lot of teams are doing the whole heavy sets anymore.”

DevilsDigest: So, could you ever see a day where other coaches start using heavier sets and then you go to more of a spread?

Zak Hill: “Definitely, yeah. You’re always adapting, modifying and critiquing what you do and how it’s affecting the defense.”

DevilsDigest: Are you surprised more teams around college football aren’t using as many shifts and motions, considering how much it can trip up a defense?

Zak Hill: “No, because you see like the Oklahoma’s of the world. They’re not a big shift and motion team but they’re killing people because they do what they do well. There’s a lot of different ways to do it -- it’s just getting really good at what you do.”

DevilsDigest: Herm made it a big point to mention that you’re a quarterback. When you speak with Jayden Daniels, is there almost a quarterback language you can speak?

Zak Hill: “Definitely. And we’re working on that, too. What do I call things? What does he call things? Terminology is a big thing, feeling each other out and trying to get on the same page with what I’m saying and what he’s saying. I’ve always felt like teaching the quarterbacks, you’ve got to have some of that in-game knowledge. Like, it’s not all black and white. There’s a lot of grey areas to playing quarterback. In certain situations, it’s like, ‘Yeah, go do that.’”

DevilsDigest: How often do you draw off your experience as a quarterback when you’re coaching quarterbacks?

Zak Hill: “All the time. I try to keep doing that and think, ‘Ok, what if I was in the game? What if I was playing here, what would I be thinking?’ I try to relay some of that stuff to him or anyone I’m coaching.”

DevilsDigest: Can it be frustrating, though, if you’re thinking about what you would have done and they keep doing things wrong?

Zak Hill: “Haha, yeah. But I’ve always had a teaching background so I just take more of the cool, calm, collected approach like, ‘Hey, this is just a teaching moment.’ Now, sometimes in practice, I’ll get frustrated because it’s like, ‘Dude, we talked about this five times, now I need to see it happen.’”

DevilsDigest: What do you remember about your first conversation with Jayden Daniels?

Zak Hill: “It was actually (during my) interview. We were watching some of the film of Boise State, we were talking through some of the schemes and what we were thinking offensively and progression reads. Just kind of talking and getting an idea for what he kind of liked. And he would ask me questions about certain things.”

DevilsDigest: So, who’s in the room for that?

Zak Hill: “It’s coach Edwards and some other guys in on the interview. And he just kind of popped in and said hi. We were already going through film. He was in the building. He was just in the building and we were already going through film. So coach Edwards was like, ‘Come on in.’ So we were just talking some ball on what we had done offensively at Boise State.”

DevilsDigest: Do you think Herm was evaluating how you interacted with Jayden at that moment?

Zak Hill: “Definitely. That’s the guy. Showing that we’re going to connect and relate on that same quarterback wavelength is big.”

DevilsDigest: Is there pressure in coming to this place with a heralded quarterback and everyone expecting you to maximize his potential?

Zak Hill: “I love it. I love that. You want a guy that has the ability to make all the plays and do all that stuff. That’s my job, to maximize his potential. Ultimately, you have to win games -- and if you have a good quarterback, you’re going to have a chance.”

DevilsDigest: How important is it to mold an offense around the quarterback?

Zak Hill: “It’s very important. He's got to feel comfortable on what we're running for it to be good, for it to work out. And a lot of that stuff comes with reps. Once he gets reps on plays and understands the philosophy behind it, then it becomes easier and he likes it more. And then game day when we're talking like planning through a game week, then once we get to that end of the week, now, I think that's heavy on the, 'Alright, what do you feel good with? What do you not feel good with? Alright, let's take that out. Take that out. Take that out.'”

DevilsDigest: When you went back and watched Jayden’s film from last year when was he at his best and when did he struggle?

Zak Hill: “I think he's at his best when he can get in rhythm and has time to be able to see the field. He's good when he can be on the run a little bit and make plays with his feet. I think he's naturally accurate with the, you know, the crossers and the seams and the deep ball -- he's really good at the deep ball. He throws really nice, deep ball. You know, it's always tough when you're getting pressured and hit and things like that. That's when it's at its most difficult.”

DevilsDigest: Do your two freshmen running backs, DeaMonte Trayanum and Daniyel Ngata, in a sort of tandem?

Zak Hill: “Oh definitely. I think in this day and age, you’ve got to utilize multiple running backs. I think that’s important, especially through a season. That’s a lot of carries and a lot of hits. Those two guys are very different in their styles, so they complement each other and I think we’re going to be able to use both of them in a lot of different ways. If you’ve got the back that can be the every-down back and can take all those carries, great. But I just don’t anticipate that on a yearly basis.”

DevilsDigest: ASU signed a quartet of four-star receivers on top of the handful of returners. Are you already sensing the challenge of getting all of those guys the ball?

Zak Hill: “I think that’s always a challenge. You always have guys that want the football -- and that’s part of the position. So, we’re going to challenge them in the spring like, ‘Alright, this is your guy’s time to show what you’ve got. We’re going to be able to evaluate you and we’re going to figure out who the playmakers are and then we’re going to get those guys the ball.’”

DevilsDigest: At the signing day press conference, Herm called you a “Mad scientist” and noted that you two share a vision. In what ways, do your visions align?

Zak Hill: “I think he likes the fact that it’s a physical offense. It’s run-first. We’re heavy set. It’s some under center pro stuff. Taking shots. I think those types of things fit what he’s looking for in an offense. Not just the open-set, play fast (scheme). Using the shifts and motions -- and have the ability to slow down the game a little bit, too. We can play at different tempos but just be that versatile offense and not one dimensional.”

DevilsDigest: Almost combining the old-school, run-heavy offenses that Herm loves with some of the newer passing concepts?

Zak Hill: “Yeah. Being under center a little bit, not just in shotgun 100 percent of the time. I’ve watched some film on what ASU did (last year) but I’m not basing all my stuff off of that. It’s like ‘What do we do well here?’”

DevilsDigest: You’ve said you always looked at ASU as a dream job. Why did you feel that way?

Zak Hill: “I loved the area. I don’t know, for some reason growing up like Jake Plummer, I remember watching some of his games. Yeah, I don’t know, it was always kind of like, ‘Ah, that would be a cool place to work and live.’ Especially offensively, I feel like this place could be a really dynamic place to recruit. Like you could get guys here. You could get studs here to come play.”

DevilsDigest: You tweeted out a graphic of a lot of former ASU quarterbacks, is it important for you to embrace the history?

Zak Hill: “I think it’s very important. I mean, Danny White was in my office the other day. I’ve talked to Rudy (Carpenter), I’ve talked to Jake Plummer, I’ve talked to multiple guys from the past who have either come in and said hi or have given me a call. Those connections are great.”

DevilsDigest: For all the reasons you mentioned as to why you thought ASU was a dream job, people think it has always been a sleeping giant. Being in the building, do you see why people would say that?

Zak Hill: “I mean, I’m not big on that term. I just think the program and the vision that coach Edwards has, I think we’re on an upward trajectory to big things. You can feel it. The coaching staff believes in what’s going on. There’s a great vibe. That creates a lot of winning in the long run -- if guys believe in what they’re doing. And getting recruits into the chemistry that’s here, they can feel that.”

DevilsDigest: This being your first Power 5 job, did you notice that made a difference while out recruiting?

Zak Hill: “I think there’s a big portion of that playing with the recruits and having that Power 5 label makes it a whole lot easier. I feel like you can recruit against anybody. At Boise, that was the big thing. Because there were good facilities there, it was a great area, we won a lot of games, all that stuff. But, a lot of times, with some of those recruits it came down to, ‘Well, it’s not Power 5.’”

DevilsDigest: Is it surprising to you that, last year, ASU started two freshmen offensive linemen?

Zak Hill: “That’s amazing. And that’s not an easy thing at the O-line position because, usually, you want those O-linemen to develop for a couple of years and develop that strength and knowledge -- that's not an easy position. Having two freshmen starting for a Pac-12 school is kind of shocking.”

DevilsDigest: Do you think that makes your life a bit easier knowing that there's experience, depth and a future there?

Zak Hill: “Oh, definitely. We’re young all the way through with those young guys who are developing now. And it’s exciting for the future. There are not too many seniors on this team. The young guys know they have opportunities to get on the field and prove themselves. In the next year or so, there’s going to be a lot of experience with those young guys.”

DevilsDigest: At the signing day presser, Herm made it a point to go check out the left tackle. Have you seen the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Texas A&M transfer, Kellen Diesch, yet?

Zak Hill: “Oh yeah, he’s a big dude. And once we get (Stanford transfer) Henry Hattis here, he’s a monster too -- so that will help big time on the left side.”

DevilsDigest: What are the goals of things you want to achieve during spring ball?

Zak Hill: “The main thing would be hitting all of our situations through a spring camp. Where we’re in third down, red zone, clutch, four-minute -- you know, we’ve hit all the situational stuff. I think that’s where we can come the furthest, just understanding the game of football and just becoming good situational football players.”

DevilsDigest: Will that allow you to tweak things before the season, too?

Zak Hill: “Oh, for sure. Yeah, you’re in those, ‘What are we good at? What went well? What didn’t go well? Alright, let’s get rid of this. We need to get better at this certain situation.’ It’s more than just the X’s and O’s, it’s the understanding of the different situations within a game.”

DevilsDigest: You mention that you’ll do some professional development by visiting other coaches and teams, will you go to any NFL Training camps?

Zak Hill: “OTAs (organized team activities). Or some it can be phone stuff but we’ll try and go to some practices or some things. Sometimes, it’s even going to a college -- if you’re not playing a certain college in the next however many years. You know, you can go on and see some spring ball practices. Since (our spring practice ends) so early, we might be able to go see a few spring practices somewhere else.”

DevilsDigest: What do you try to learn while picking the brain of other coaches?

Zak Hill: “I think it’s all specific to what you’re trying to get out of it. A lot of it is organizational stuff. It could be practice drills. It could be scheme stuff you’re looking to get into. The majority of stuff I look at is the organizational stuff like, whether it’s the template stuff they use or how do they structure their weeks, or how do they structure their meetings? How can we get better at the organizational stuff?”

DevilsDigest: Do you remember a time when a coach showed you something that really stuck?

Zak Hill: “Yeah, actually. A coach who was here, (former ASU offensive coordinator) Billy Napier. I visited him when he was at Colorado State and he gave me a ton of organizational stuff. I thought he was a really smart, really sharp guy. Like how he broke down his staff through a workweek, things that they were doing for self-scout. It was pretty impressive.”

DevilsDigest: Did you take a lot of that stuff?

Zak Hill: “Yeah. I still have some of that stuff in my files.”

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