Head Coach Nick Hill

Under Nick Hill's leadership Saluki Football ranks among the elite programs in FCS Football. In 2022, he signed a contract extension through the 2026 season.

A native son of Southern Illinois and one of Saluki Football's all-time great quarterbacks, Nick 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. The Salukis were one of only five programs at the FCS level to advance to the round of 16 of the FCS Playoffs in both the COVID 2020-21 and 2021 seasons (North Dakota State, Sam Houston, James Madison, South Dakota State are the others).

In the last three seasons, SIU has a record of 10-6 against ranked teams, with wins over the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 15, No. 17, No. 19, No. 20, No. 22 and No. 25-ranked programs.

The Salukis were nationally ranked for 30-consecutive weeks, the program's longest streak since 2010, and ranked as high as No. 3, its highest ranking since 2009. The program recorded three-consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2007-09, and it won two-road playoff games (at Weber State, at South Dakota), having previously won one just one playoff road game in school history.

SIU's historic 2021 calendar year, which featured two, full seasons and 23 games due a worldwide pandemic, was filled with starts, stops and re-starts.
There was a blizzard that froze the stadium turf a week before the February opener. There were injuries to the top two quarterbacks. There were opponents who threw in the towel, rather than play out the season.

Hill led a relentless charge to reverse the fortunes of a program that hadn't been to the playoffs since 2009. He molded a group of young warriors into a team that simply wouldn't give in or give up, a worldwide pandemic notwithstanding.

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 DuQuoin 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.

Nick Hill was selected to attend the American Football Coaches Association's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.

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.

In his first season at SIU, Saluki quarterbacks broke a school record for single-season touchdown passes with 29. The following year in 2015, Southern’s offense averaged 498 yards per game -- the second most in conference history. Quarterback Mark Iannotti led the nation in total offense per game.

In 2016, the Salukis set program records for passing completions, attempts and yards while only throwing seven interceptions. Southern Illinois ranked in the top-10 nationally for passing offense, total offense and scoring offense for nearly the entire year.

The offense was on its way to surpassing those marks in 2017 before starting quarterback Sam Straub was injured early in the eighth game and missed the remainder of the season.

In 2018, the offense ranked third in the MVFC in total offense, first downs and time of possession, and ranked in the top half of the league in several more offensive categories. In 2019, the Saluki offense produced a pair of 1,000-yard rushers and ranked 12th in the nation in rushing.

“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.

2021 Calendar Year Accomplishments

Back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances (first playoff appearance since 2009)
Two road playoff wins
FCS Playoffs Round of 8 in the spring and Round of 16 in the fall (only five FCS programs accomplished this feat).
Twenty-four consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 25 and as high as No. 3.
Finished spring season ranked No. 8 — highest since 2009
Posted 8-5 record against ranked teams.
Beat the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams
Second time in school history beat the No. 1 ranked team
Set the school record for passing yards in a game (460 at SEMO)
Three-straight winning seasons for first time since 2007-09
First nationally televised game (ESPN2) since 2007 and the third in school history
Led the conference in Total Offense, Passing %, First Downs, 3rd Down %
Program produced five active NFL players, including Jeremy Chinn, runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2020