South Georgia - In The Game High School Sports Magazine

The old saying goes, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” For Lowndes High School defensive coordinator, a more apt description might be “Always an assistant, never a head coach.” Hill became a football coach in 1974. He started out as an assistant, and he’s always been one. And it’s not because he hasn’t had opportunities — he has. Quite simply, Coach Hill doesn’t want to be a head coach. “The head coach has to deal with a lot of things I don’t want to deal with. I love being around the kids and I love coaching football. I get to do that without as many distractions as an assistant,” he says.

He holds one of the most prestigious coaching jobs — assistant or otherwise — in the state. He’s the defensive coordinator at what has arguably been the best high school football program in Georgia since 2004.  That year, the Vikings won the AAAAA state championship. They followed the next year with another title. After missing the playoffs with a 6-4 record in 2006, Lowndes won another state championship in 2007. The Vikings made a deep run in the playoffs last year and appear poised to be another title contender this season. At the time this story was written, the Vikings were 3-0, including a 51-17 win over state runner-up Peachtree Ridge.

Coach Hill played high school football in Trion, Georgia, where he was a quarterback and safety. He describes himself as “an average football player,” and didn’t play in college. He attended Georgia Southern College for three years before he was drafted into the Army. Prior to being drafted, he was a member of the golf team. After a two-year stint in the service, which included one year in Vietnam, he returned to Statesboro and finished his education.

In 1974, he joined Bob Griffith’s staff at Appling County High School. He remained in Baxley until 1979, when he became an assistant at Worth County High School under Milt Miller. In 1992, Coach Miller went from Worth to Lowndes High School, and nearly the entire Worth staff followed him. When Coach Miller left Worth, Coach Hill was offered the head coaching position. He declined the offer, instead opting to go to Lowndes with Miller.

During Coach Miller’s tenure at Lowndes is when the Valdosta-Lowndes County football power began shifting from the Valdosta Wildcats to their cross-town rivals. But at first, it didn’t look like Miller or any of his assistants made the right decision to leave Worth. “After the first three years, I thought we were going to get fired. But we had a good coach, good assistants and good players. We finally started making the playoffs and won the state title in 1999. Then Coach [Randy] McPherson came in with more good coaching,” says Coach Hill.

That state title in 1999 wasn’t Coach Hill’s first. He had won a state championship in Worth County in 1987 and had coached for four others while he was there. At Lowndes, his teams have played for four state titles and won all four. As one might expect, winning state championships never gets old. “Our goal every year is to get back there. I’ve been blessed to work with good coaches and good players,” says Coach Hill.

Over the years, much has been made about how Lowndes has upended Valdosta from the Georgia High School football throne. Coach Hill has been with the Vikings since that shift took place. He says he didn’t see it coming — not by a long shot. “When we came over, we were competing against the number-one high school team in the country. It was very challenging. We didn’t beat them until 1997. Since then, we’ve been pretty successful against them but they’re still a great football team. They have great coaches and players, and when you face them, you’ve really got to play your best,” he says.

Coach Hill’s philosophy is simple. He picked it up from Lou Holtz, and it’s been his guiding principle for a long time: Do right, do your best and treat others the way you would like to be treated. It’s a philosophy that has served him well, and one that defines his approach to coaching.

Coaching is always difficult at best. These days, it seems as though it might be harder than ever. Coach Hill says his biggest challenge is keeping his players focused both in the classroom and on the football field. To help them keep everything in perspective, Coach McPherson has adopted an interesting practice. Every day, the coaches do a character lesson with the players. Every Viking has a notebook, and before weights begin, the coaches have them write down two things they are thankful for and then they make a priority list for the day. “That’s the first thing we do: two gratitudes and priorities. We talk about them — we call on players to discuss what they wrote down. It takes about five or 10 minutes, and it’s really helped us keep them focused on the right things,” says Coach Hill.

On game day, Coach McPherson keeps the team together. The Vikings stay with their coaches, they eat together, do their walk-through and then remain with each other until it’s time to hit the field. “Coach McPherson does a good job with that. He really works to keep them focused,” says Coach Hill.

The Lowndes tradition also does a great deal to motivate the players. They seem to understand that they are a part of something special, and they don’t want to be the team that breaks the cycle of success. “We’ve got a target on our back, for sure. Everyone wants to beat Lowndes. But that’s a good problem to have. Our kids work hard and want to play football. Our tradition helps with that,” he says.

Coach Hill has been around football all his life. He’s in his 35th year and he has five state championships to show for his efforts. And yet he has no desire to retire. He only works half a day — third and fourth block — but he spends much more than just half a day on the job. In 2007, he was named Georgia Athletic Coaches Association’s Assistant Coach of the Year. To say the least, Randy Hill has had a rewarding career. He hopes it lasts for much, much longer. “I still enjoy coaching, being around the kids and being in the weight room. I’ll coach as long as they’ll have me. I have no plans to retire,” he says.

Coach Hill’s wife, Margie, is a retired Physical Education teacher who enjoys playing golf and bridge. In his spare time, Coach Hill also plays a lot of golf. He and Margie have two children, Kristi and Brian. Kristi is married to Jeff Littleton, the defensive coordinator at Cairo High School, the 2008 Class AAA state champion. Brian is also an assistant at Cairo. “They call me sometimes and ask a little advice. But there’s more than one way to do things right,” laughs Coach Hill. •