Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). His career spanned six decades. He played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

from 1935 to 1937, coached two national championship teams in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, and went on to become the first person to both play for and coach Rose Bowl champions.

Early life and collegiate athletic career

Hill was born in Yates, Missouri and moved with his family to

Corona, California Corona ( Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and no ...

as a boy, attending

Corona High School Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 dis ...

and

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

. After transferring to USC, he earned

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alpha ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, track, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. He played as a fullback for the 1928 USC football team, which won a national championship, and was a senior on the 1929 team that won the 1930 Rose Bowl, leading the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...

with an average of 8.2 yards per carry. As a junior, he won the national title in the

broad jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

at the IC4A meet on June 1, 1929 at

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for American football, foo ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, with a jump of 25 feet 7/8 inch, breaking the intercollegiate record by 2½ inches. He also won a baseball conference

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

championship with a .389 average as a senior in 1930. He was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity.

Career as a professional athlete

After graduation, Hill signed a baseball contract with the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

, and hit a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against the crosstown

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in his first professional

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. His contract was sold to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

in January 1932, and he reached the major leagues as a

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering sys ...

in , batting .293 in 107 games. On September 22 of his rookie year, he barely lost to Ben Chapman in a 75-yard promotional race held before a game with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. In January 1936 he was traded to the Washington Senators, and he hit .305 in a reserve role. After beginning with a .217 average in 33 games, and switching to

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

, he was sent to the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

, and hit .293 over the rest of the year. Afterwards he was sent to the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: * Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...

of the PCL, where he played two more years. Over his major league career, Hill batted .289 with 6 home runs, 175 runs, 108

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

, 277

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

and 43

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

Coaching career

Hill began his coaching career at California high schools and colleges during baseball offseasons. He joined the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

during World War II, and was discharged in 1946 as a lieutenant commander; during the war he worked with USC athletic director

Willis O. Hunter Willis Omenn Hunter (June 8, 1892 – November 8, 1968) was an American college athletics administrator. Hunter was born in 1892 in Mount Pleasant, Utah. He attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he played college football as a fullback. A ...

in the Navy's V-5 (aviation cadet) program, and Hunter hired him in 1946 to coach freshman football and track. Hill was an assistant coach on USC's 1947 Rose Bowl team. Hill became USC's head track coach in 1949 and 1950, succeeding Dean Cromwell, and won national titles in both years. He returned for one season as track coach in 1962 after the sudden death of Jess Mortensen. He served as USC's head football coach from 1951 to 1956, with his teams posting a record of 45–17–1, including Rose Bowl appearances after the 1952 and 1954 seasons. His 1952 squad finished the year ranked fifth in the nation with a 10–1 record, outscoring their opponents 254-47 and leading the nation in scoring defense at 4.7 points per game; the only loss was a 9–0 contest at Notre Dame which ended the regular season. In the Rose Bowl, USC defeated

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

9–0; it was the only time between 1947 and 1959 that the

champion beat the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

champion. Hill's 1954 team lost the Rose Bowl to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, 20–7. During his tenure, Hill's players included

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

, Rudy Bukich, Jim Sears and Jon Arnett. For the 1956 season opener at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, Hill made the decision to change hotels after discovering that USC's integrated team could not stay at the segregated

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

hotel that had been booked; USC went on to win the game, 44–20, as fullback C. R. Roberts, an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, ran for a school-record 251 yards. USC ended the year with wins over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and Notre Dame, the only time in his six years that they won both games.

Athletic director

Hill stepped down from his football post to become USC's athletic director from 1957 to 1972, during which period the university won 29 team national championships: eight

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

titles (1958, 1962–64, 1966–69) under coach George Toley; six

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

titles (1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970–71) under coach

Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is widely recognized as among the greatest records of any coach in the sport's amateur history. Dedeaux was the head bas ...

; six track titles (1958, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967–68) under coaches Jess Mortensen and

Vern Wolfe Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian ...

; five

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

titles (1960, 1963–66) under coach

Peter Daland Peter Daland (April 12, 1921 – October 20, 2014) was a swimming coach from the United States. He was born in New York City. His coaching career spanned over 40 years. Daland attended Harvard University before enlisting in the United States Arm ...

; two football titles (1962, 1967) under coach John McKay; one

indoor track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

title (1967) under coach Vern Wolfe; and one

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

title (1962) under coach Jack Beckner. Hill then became commissioner of the

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

, retiring in 1978. Hill died at age 86 in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

, of complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

and buried at the Sunnyslope Cemetery in Corona. He had one daughter and one son, and grandchildren. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in its second class in 1995.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

USC profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Jess 1907 births 1993 deaths American football fullbacks American male long jumpers American men's basketball players American track and field coaches Major League Baseball outfielders New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players Riverside City Tigers baseball players Riverside City Tigers football coaches Riverside City Tigers football players Riverside City Tigers men's basketball players Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football coaches Sportspeople from Corona, California USC Trojans athletic directors USC Trojans baseball players USC Trojans football coaches USC Trojans football players USC Trojans track and field coaches Washington Senators (1901–1960) players High school football coaches in California United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers People from Randolph County, Missouri Players of American football from California Baseball players from California Track and field athletes from California Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Burials in Riverside County, California Forest City Owls players Military personnel from California