ASHLAND — Brian Hill is living a dream — he gets paid to drive to different states along the Pacific Coast to watch football.
The Ashland High School graduate is the son of Steve Hill, a longtime defensive assistant coach at Ashland, Madison and Ontario. Brian was born into the sport, as a ballboy with his father’s teams and has grown to love the game.
“It was my one passion. I wanted to do that. So, I started to get into the draft,” he said.
Growing up, Hill said he loved playing football videogames, but the way he played was different than how most would play.
“The personnel side of it fascinated me,” he said. “I played NCAA Football and Madden. I simulated the seasons. I was just interested in the recruiting. I liked the drafting. I just liked the personnel moves and how to build a team.
“I always wanted to be like a general manager, and have my own team. I had my mindset on it; I was a season ticket holder of the Browns growing up, sitting in the Dawg Pound.”
Now Hill gets his thrills as a college scout for the Los Angeles Rams. With the NFL season beginning last week, Hill said he will be busy from now until Thanksgiving.
His job is evaluating college athletes, but he doesn’t look at ability as much as he looks into a player’s character and attitude.
“To me, my biggest value to the team is the character and background of the player. Anyone can watch the film. My cousin can watch the film and our GM and head coach are going to watch the film and ultimately make the decision on who they want,” he said. “I will try and tell them who the players are and basic talent level, but at the end of the day they are going to pick who they want to pick.
“It’s fun. I really do the grunt work. Driving to the school and I’m like a private investigator,” He said. “I really research who they are, what they are like as a person. I try to talk to as many people as possible. Usually the head coach is available, position coaches. Talk to the athletic trainer, strength coach; if you catch the janitor, front desk (worker) — any one you can. Really it’s about the comfort level, having good sources at the school.
“It’s a fine line. You try to extract information, but you don’t want act like your grilling them and digging for dirt.”
Hill said it’s a fine art — asking about players and checking for a player’s scandalous behavior while maintaining friendly relationships.
“I like to bring bagels or donuts, football coaching staffs love that stuff,” he said. “For me last year, was tough. I was a new face. This year, they’ve seen me, they know who I am.”
To get to what he considers a dream job, Hill’s gumption and a little luck played a huge role.
“I went to Baldwin Wallace University (in Berea), and wrote a letter to the head coach asking if I could help with anything. I came in right away and was their video guy, which helped me out a lot because my sophomore year of college, the Browns needed somebody to do video, so I helped out with that.”
Hill’s resume kept building from there. During his internship with the Browns, he bounced around in the organization typing scouting reports and helping with team operations. In 2011, he graduated from B-W, but found NFL employment difficult to obtain.
Hill took an unpaid internship with the Kansas City Chiefs, but they couldn’t hire him. He went back and worked for the Browns again, in advanced scouting.
“After that I had nothing,” Hill said. “There were crickets. My friend, Zac Boscian — he’s west coast scout for the Browns and told me to go to the combine and hand out my resume and talk to anyone you can.”
Hill did just that. In 2012, he went to Indianapolis, memorizing faces of those to deliver his pitch.
“I was at the combine all day in my suit and tie. It (was hard) because you are asking for a job, and cold calling.”
Eventually, the Tennessee Titans called and interviewed him. Unable to secure a position with them, the Rams — who had just fired three scouts — hired Hill. From 2013 to 2014, Hill served as a scouting assistant before becoming the west coast scout in 2015.
“It’s really just about being in the right place at the right time.”
Hill noted his position is tough because scouting is a bit of a gamble. Those who miss out on star players can often lose their jobs.
Thus far, Hill has come up mostly aces. Two of his scouted athletes are projected starters for 2016.
Hill studied Cory Littleton while he played for Washington, an outside linebacker who the Rams picked up as an undrafted free agent. He had six tackles in three preseason games.
“I take a lot of pride in that because that’s finding a diamond in the rough.”
Hill also contributed reports for the Rams to draft Jared Goff, first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Goff was well-known, but others aren’t.
“That’s the best part of the job. Finding a guy who’s under-the-radar and no one else knows about or maybe doesn’t like, and you have a conviction about a player and he comes in and succeeds. That is fulfilling. That’s what drives you.
“The way you win in this league is finding the back half of the roster. The guys you are not going to spend a lot of draft capital or money on in the draft that become really good players. That’s what the (Seattle) Seahawks have done, the (Green Bay) Packers, the (Pittsburgh) Steelers and the (New England) Patriots.”
