J.R. Tidwell/FCT Jason Hill, the new head football coach at Phil Campbell High School, talks to Brady Whitten and other members of the Bobcats’ football team Friday afternoon at PCHS.

Jason Hill, the new head football coach at Phil Campbell, was asked in an interview Friday about himself and his expectations for the Bobcats.

When did you find out about the open coaching spot here?

“It was within the last week of school, in the teens in May. It was two weeks before I got out of school that I applied for the job.”

Where did you coach before coming here?

“I was at Chelsea High for six years; it was going on seven. I was the defensive coordinator there for four years, offensive line coach and the strength and conditioning coordinator for four years as well.

I’m hoping that that experience and the things that I’ve learned from all the places I’ve been, and I’ve been at some great places, that I can take all that and mesh that into a philosophy that’s going to work here at Phil Campbell.”

Is this your first job as a head coach?

“It is my first head coaching spot. I’m hoping to be a coach that can grow my players academically, spiritually, morally, and then athletically.

I really do believe that football and athletics as a whole are some of the last men-builders that our society has left where young men can actually learn things like discipline, work ethic and being selfless, selling out for something that’s bigger than themselves.

The way that I would like to measure my success is, I love winning but I hate losing on Friday night, but my scoreboard is 10 or 15 years down the road when one of my former players comes back to me and I see what kind of man, what kind of daddy, what kind of productive member of society that they are, because that’s what I’m trying to build.

I’m trying to build men at Phil Campbell High School.”

What brought you here to Phil Campbell?

“One of my colleagues at Chelsea emailed the posting to me and said, ‘Hey, have you seen this?’

I’ve never seen a head coaching position that was advertised in general science, and that’s my certification.

I was very excited to say the least. I had a chance to interview for a few head jobs here and there, but there’s never been one for general science, which is what I like to do in the classroom. For the last 13 years I’ve been a Chemistry teacher.

I’ve taught Chemistry, Physical Science, and Physics. For the past five years I’ve been an AP Chemistry teacher.

I feel like I can impact kids both on the field and in the classroom, and that’s what’s great about being a coach.”

What will your coaching style be like?

“On the field we are going to be fundamentally sound. We’re going to block people on offense, and we’re going to tackle people on defense. We’re going to get off blocks on defense.

All of the time we’re going to work on those things, and we’re going to be fundamentally sound.

Our style will be simple, but we’re going to be very good at what we do on both sides of the ball.”

Do you feel like there’s any pressure on you to come in and turn things around immediately with Phil Campbell supporting athletics like it does?

“Pressure? No. Desire? Yes. That’s my want; that’s my desire. I don’t feel like there’s pressure to do that right out of the gate.

There hasn’t been a winning season here in 10 years, and I’m looking forward to getting a chance to break that streak. Will it be next year?

I hope so, but I don’t feel like there’s a pressure coming from above to make sure that that’s done this year.

That’s one of the things that excited me about this opportunity. We’ve been down, but we have a chance to come out of the dark into the light. There’s nowhere to go but up.”