The Hills Come Home: Family, Football and a New Chapter at Marshall Academy

Article submitted by Sarah Taylor

There are football seasons that begin with a new coach, a new roster and a new set of goals. And then there are seasons that feel like coming home. For Marshall Academy, the 2026 football season is one of those seasons.

When the Patriots take the field this year, they will be led by Head Coach Jake Hill—a coach with an impressive résumé, a deep connection to Mississippi high school football and, perhaps most significantly, a family history that stretches all the way back to the very beginning of Patriot football.

For Hill, Marshall Academy isn’t simply another stop in a long coaching career. It’s home.

Hill is a graduate of Tupelo High School, where he played quarterback before continuing his playing career at the University of Mississippi. His coaching career has taken him throughout Mississippi and Arkansas, with stops at Northeast Mississippi Community College, Oxford High School, Louisville High School, New Albany High School, Manila High School in Arkansas, Lake Cormorant, Amory and West Point.

Along the way, he has coached in three MHSAA Class 5A State Championship games, most recently helping lead West Point High School to the 2024 Class 5A State Championship.

Now, he returns to Marshall Academy with a chance to build something of his own—but also to continue something that began generations before him.

Jake Hill’s connection to Marshall Academy begins with his father, Coach Johnny Hill.

Johnny was a member of Marshall Academy’s very first football team. As a junior and senior from 1969 to 1971, he played quarterback, free safety, kicker and punter. He also holds a unique place in Patriot history as the player who scored the first passing and rushing touchdowns in Marshall Academy football history. That first Patriot team also won the school’s first football game.

Johnny was a standout athlete in football, basketball, baseball and track. He was named Most Versatile, Most Athletic and Class Favorite as a junior and was named Mr. Marshall Academy as a senior.

After graduating, he received a football scholarship to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and went on to build one of Mississippi’s most distinguished careers in coaching and athletic administration.

Johnny Hill is a Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame coach and a former Statewide Athletic Director of the Year. He has served as president of the Mississippi Athletic Directors Association, the Mississippi Association of Coaches and the Mississippi High School Activities Association. He currently serves as Secretary of the MHSAA.

But the Hill family’s connection to Marshall Academy goes back even further.

Johnny’s father, George Hill, was one of the school’s founding fathers and served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors. Following his tragic death in 1971, the George Hill Memorial Award was established in his honor. The award remains one of Marshall Academy’s highest honors for excellence in academics and athletics.

Johnny’s wife, Linda Owens Hill, was also part of Marshall Academy’s earliest history as a member of the school’s first graduating class.

In 1980, Johnny returned to Marshall Academy as a teacher and coach, coaching football, basketball, track and tennis.

More than four decades later, he is back on the Patriot sideline once again—this time coaching alongside his son. The significance of that connection isn’t lost on Jake’s son, Zane Hill, who joins the Patriots this year as a senior quarterback.

Zane is stepping onto the same field at the school where his grandfather helped establish Patriot football and where his father is now beginning a new chapter as head coach.

For a quarterback, following in the footsteps of a quarterback can carry its own kind of pressure. But for Zane, the opportunity is something much more meaningful.

“It’s pretty special knowing that my dad played quarterback, my grandfather played quarterback here, and now I get the opportunity to play quarterback at Marshall Academy as a senior,” Zane said. “There’s a lot of history behind that, and I’m proud to be a part of it. But at the same time, I want to make my own memories here and help make this season something special.”

For Jake, coaching his son during his senior year adds another layer to an already meaningful return.

Football has been part of the Hill family for generations. Now, three generations of Hills are connected to Marshall Academy football in a way few families can claim.

And Zane isn’t the only player who sees something different in the man leading the Patriots.

Brennan Smith, a current Marshall Academy middle linebacker, said one of the things that stands out about Coach Hill is the way he approaches his players.

“Coach Hill brings a lot of experience, but he doesn’t act like he’s above anybody,” Smith said. “He expects a lot from us, but he also believes in us. You can tell that he genuinely wants to make us better—not just as football players, but as people.”

That combination of experience and investment is something Hill brings with him to Marshall Academy. But he won’t be building this program alone.

Another familiar name is returning to the Patriot sideline: Coach Keith Owens. A 1978 Marshall Academy graduate, Owens played both football and baseball for the Patriots and was a Golden Glove winner during his senior year. He began his coaching career at Marshall Academy in 1983, assisting his brother-in-law, Johnny Hill.

His love for Patriot football continued beyond his own playing and coaching career. Along with his brother Eddie and Hank Thomas Sr., Owens helped establish Marshall Academy’s pee wee football program. In 2004, he took over as coach of the junior high football team, a position he held for 11 seasons.

Now, after years away from the Patriot sideline, Owens returns for his 17th season of coaching. And this time, his role is especially unique. He will once again coach alongside his brother-in-law, Johnny Hill, while also assisting his nephew, Jake Hill.

Owens and his wife of 40 years, Christy, are both Marshall Academy graduates. Their three children—Bailey, Anna and Hank—are also Patriot graduates.

For Owens, returning to the sideline isn’t simply a return to coaching. It is a return to family.

The coaching staff also includes Coach Wesley Harris, a Marshall Academy graduate and former Patriot football player who played under legendary coach Keith Wicker. Harris now serves as Marshall Academy’s high school principal.

Joining the staff this season is Coach Yancy Odom, an MAIS graduate who brings his own experience, energy and commitment to the Patriot football program.

Together, the coaches represent several generations of Marshall Academy. They represent players who once wore the Patriot uniform, coaches who built programs, families who helped establish the school and educators who have continued its traditions.

And perhaps that’s what makes the 2026 season feel different. This isn’t simply a new coaching staff. It is a continuation of a story that began more than half a century ago.

The first Patriot football team took the field with Johnny Hill at quarterback. His father, George, helped lay the foundation for Marshall Academy itself. Johnny later returned to coach at the school. Now Jake Hill has returned to lead the Patriots, with his father beside him and his own son wearing the uniform.

Three generations. One school. One football program. And a whole lot of Patriot history. The Hills are home.

And as the Patriots begin another season, they aren’t simply looking backward at what has been built before them. They are looking forward—with the experience of the past, the energy of the present and the hope of what might come next.

For Marshall Academy, the 2026 football season is a new chapter. But in many ways, it is also the continuation of a story that has been waiting to come full circle.