Football coach has faced uphill battle at San Jose
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
The next time life serves you uncooked low-fat Spam, count to 10 and think of San Jose State football coach Fitz Hill.
The Spartans did not play a home game until Oct. 13, disappointing the league-low 3,000 season ticket holders. Of their 12 games, eight are on the road, including five of eight Western Athletic Conference games.
The schedule is filled with so-called "money games" against opponents searching for homecoming themes. The Spartans exchanged a conference home game against Hawai'i — the game now will be played Saturday at Aloha Stadium — for a $450,000 appearance fee to play at Arizona State.
As a cost-cutting measure spun as an act of team unity, the Spartans traveled eight hours by bus for the season-opening game against Southern California.
California is home
Yet Hill, in his first season as the Spartans' head coach, has never complained, often saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
Of the SJSU athletic department budget of under $10 million, one of the WAC's smallest, he said, "That doesn't concern me. As long as I get what I need, everything is good. So far, I'm getting what I need."
On the money games, he said, "Is it a money game if you win?"
The Spartans, he said, had a chance to win at Southern California and Arizona State. "I'm not planning to get my butt beat," he said. "I'll play those games as long as I have a legitimate chance to win."
As for the number of road games, he said, "You have to play in the areas you recruit. We recruit in California. I'll play all road games in California. To me, any game in California is a home game."
Two wins after five losses
Hill remained optimistic, even through the 0-5 start.
"You have to have long-term goals to overcome short-term failures," he said. The 0-5 start "wasn't fatal because we never quit. We kept pressing on, and things started happening."
The Spartans have won their past two games to improve to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in the WAC. Against Tulsa last week, they gained a school-record 746 yards in offense. Their average of 11.3 yards per rush was a WAC record.
Hill, whose first name was taken from John F. Kennedy's middle name, always has been a profile in courage.
In 1983, when he was 19, his father died. Six weeks later, his mother suffered a stroke. To supplement his college football scholarship, he joined the Army ROTC. Hill, who was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1987, served in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
He said there were no showers or restrooms. "A lot of days were very hot and a lot of nights were very cold," he said. "It was a great experience. You have to do whatever you can to find a way to do the job."
Since then, he founded a company, "Hill to the Third Power," which operates a laundromat and develops property, and earned a doctorate degree.
'Extension of my ministry'
Last year, Hill, then Arkansas' defensive coordinator, was asked to succeed Dave Baldwin as the Spartans' head coach.
"God opened this door," said Hill, whose children are named Destiny, Faith and Justice. "When God called, I answered."
Hill is one of five African-American NCAA Division I-A head coaches. While he accepts "the responsibility to help others become successful," he said, "I'm not a people-pleaser. I'm not running a popularity contest. My coaching is an extension of my ministry."
For now, he is working on rebuilding a program that has had one winning season in the last eight years. He said his efforts to recruit exclusively in California will be helped by next month's opening of a 10,000-square-foot weight room.
He also hopes to improve the fan support. "The bottom line is winning," he said. "People like to follow winners."
