by Liv O’Hara ’25
October 2, 2024
There are many things USN students do not know about Coach Derrick Hill.
Coach Hill was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He lived with his mother and father as an only child. His father worked as a track coach and his mom worked as a caregiver. Growing up he was interested in fitness and idolized both his father and the TSU track coach, Ed Temple.
“I also grew up with Coach Ed Temple at Tennessee State who was the one who started the Tennessee State Tiger Belles,” Hill said.
Coach Temple coached the TSU women’s track team, the Tiger Belles, for 44 years and produced 40 Olympic athletes who won 23 medals, including Wilma Rudolph, one of the greatest runners in history. Temple led the Tiger Belles to 34 national titles, 16 indoor titles, and 13 outdoor titles and is enshrined in the Olympic Hall of Fame.
“I knew [Temple] growing up because my mom used to work with him at TSU. Just being around that athletic excellence kind of inspired me a little bit. I have always been around athletes,” Hill said.
Hill attended McGavock High School where he ran track and played football. His favorite running memory occurred in eleventh grade at McGavock.
“I ran a 5 minute mile and did not realize I could run a 5 minute mile,” he shared excitedly.
Hill went to the University of Tennessee for undergraduate. He walked on to the track team at UT; however, due to a difficult course load and rigorous workouts he was unable to maintain the grades necessary to stay on the team. After graduating, he took ten years off before attending graduate school at Middle Tennessee State University.
During this time he worked as an assistant manager at Foot Locker, a salesman at H.H. Gregg, and he worked in medical records at Vanderbilt. Ultimately, he decided that he no longer wanted to be an accountant, the job he wanted as a high schooler, and instead was going to study to be a personal trainer.
“I knew I needed a masters degree to make it more valuable so I went back to grad school and received a masters degree from MTSU in exercise science and decided to do personal training,” he said.
Hill applied to work at USN on the advice of USN Health Staff member Amy Harkness, whom he was a personal trainer for at the time. He has now worked at USN for eight years. Since 2015, Coach Hill and Coach William Scott ‘09 have developed USN’s impactful strength program. The strength training program is available to all students, regardless of whether they compete in athletics.
USN’s sports teams often have practice in the Fitness Center, following workouts led by Coach Hill or Coach Scott. The two have been excited to see how the strength training program has benefitted the school’s sports teams. With the help of the strength training program, USN’s sports teams have grown stronger and have had numerous successes.
Coach Hill’s support is appreciated throughout USN. Students like Sydney Fast ‘25 enjoy having him as a coach and the support he provides.
“Even though I was injured for Coach Hill’s first season as a USN track coach; he has made my experience very favorable. He never stopped checking up on me and my progress in physical therapy. He is very kind and wants to be a good support to his athletes. I could see that he was showing up for me in all aspects of my athletic career even through injury so the USN track team is very lucky to have him as a coach” Fast said.
“I appreciate the joy he brings to practice. He can be funny while also being serious about training. It is a great balance that keeps the athletes laughing while we are running or lifting,” she added.
Amaan Anderson ‘25 has a similar appreciation for Hill.
“Coach Hill pushed me every day in track. He didn’t let me slack off, he helped me perfect my form and helped me focus. I appreciate his humor and his ability to keep me focused,” Anderson said.
Coach Hill enjoys listening to hip-hop and soulful house music. He has two favorite songs; “It’s Yours” by T La Rock and “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy, which is also his hype up song. He shares his love for this genre by playing it in the Fitness Center.
