Merle "Skip" Hall (born February 18, 1944) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

for six seasons, from 1987 to 1992, compiling a record of 42–28. He replaced

Lyle Setencich Lyle Setencich (born June 4, 1945) is an American former college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Boise State University from 1983 to 1986 and California Polytechnic State University from 1987 to 1993, compiling ...

following the 1986 season, Boise State's first losing season in four decades. Hall was previously an assistant coach at

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

under Don James, and later was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

under Bob Stull.

Coaching career

In Hall's second season, he led the Broncos back to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, their first appearance since 1981. Hall's best season was in 1990, when Boise State advanced to the national semifinals, falling in a high scoring game against Big Sky rival

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, the conference champion whom the Broncos had defeated a month earlier in

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

. Hall gave Jim Zorn his first coaching job, as quarterbacks coach at Boise State in 1988. Former

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

head coach Jim Mora is a former player of Hall's, as are

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and Gary Pinkel of

Business career

After 27 years of coaching college football, Hall transferred to the business arena with

Aflac Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company) is an American insurance company and is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. It was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia. In the U.S., it ...

, recruiting, coaching, and building teams. He was a regional manager with Aflac for ten years, and was then appointed Associate Managing Director of Individual Sales for the

Principal Financial Group Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) is an American global financial investment management and insurance company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History PFG was first founded under the name Bankers Life Insurance Company. Ba ...

in Boise. Hall also travels throughout the United States addressing business leaders on the subjects of communication, leadership, motivation and accountability.

Head coaching record

References

1944 births Living people Boise State Broncos football coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches {{1980s-collegefootball-coach-stub