MarcHill

Marc Hill recently completed his 25^th year at the University of Kentucky and after 9 years as an Exec. Assoc AD, he is in his fourth year as Mitch Barnhart’s right-hand man as Deputy Director of Athletics.

Hill, who spent 12 years working as the director of strength and conditioning for all of UK’s 22 sports, also spent two seasons as the sport administrator for the nationally ranked baseball program, with the team mounting one of its most successful years in the 100+year history of the program in 2012.

After the 2012 baseball season, Hill transitioned to sport administrator for the UK football program, playing a vital role in the successful hire of now twelfth year head coach Mark Stoops and the programs return to post season play in Bowl Games in 2016 – 2023. As the primary administrator for the men’s basketball program and football program, Hill manages day-to-day operations, coordinates budgetary responsibilities, assists the coaching and support staffs, and functions as the liaison between the programs and the rest of the UK athletics department.

In addition, since 2010, Hill has overseen various aspects of the department, including: all of the internal operations of the UK athletics department, business and accounting, human resources, event and facility operations, capital projects, sports turf, sport equipment operations and strength and conditioning departments. With these internal operations responsibilities has come the oversight and funding efforts of the UK Soccer/Softball Stadium Projects at $19 million, the UK Golf House construction project at $2 million, the $130 million Football Stadium Renovation and the Football Training Center construction at $50 million.   Hill’s latest venture has been the global oversight of the project development and funding for a $49 million baseball stadium and a $20 million Indoor Track and Field complex.  This work has included “fund, and friend raising” to make these projects a reality.

During his tenure as a strength coach, Hill oversaw the strength program for all 22 UK teams in addition to his direct supervision of football. Hill helped UK advance to the 1999 Music City Bowl in his first season with the Wildcats and was an integral part of UK’s win over Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl and Florida State in the 2007 Music City Bowl, as well as East Carolina in the 2008 Liberty Bowl. In Hill’s final eight seasons working as the director of strength and conditioning, a Kentucky player was named to the All-America Strength Team by the National Strength Coaches Association every year.

Hill came to UK from the University of Arizona, where he worked from 1995-99 as the strength coach for the men’s basketball and baseball teams and assistant strength coach for the football team. He was a graduate assistant coach in the 1994-95 school year.

During Hill’s five years in Tucson, Arizona went to three bowl games. As strength coach for the men’s basketball team, Hill worked with the 1997 national championship team that defeated Kentucky in the title game. Hill is a native of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and was an all-state honoree as a football linebacker and a baseball outfielder at Mt. Pleasant HS. He stayed in Mt. Pleasant being recruited to play linebacker at Iowa Wesleyan College. Hill was a four-year starter at IWC from 1990-93, team captain as a senior, and went to the NAIA national playoffs in 1991.

After graduating, he began his career at Arizona where he received a master’s degree in exercise science/sport administration in 1997. Hill earned credentials of Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He also served on the Gatorade Sports Sciences Institute Advisory Board from 2005 – 2009. Because of his dedication to the student-athlete and commitment to UK, CSCCa named him Master Strength and Conditioning Coach in 2008, the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning profession.

Marc and his wife, Jenny, have sons Dalton Mikel (26) and Cogan Dean (22), and a daughter, Brookelyn Marie (24).  Dalton was a student athlete for the Utah Valley University baseball team, Brooke enjoyed a softball career at BYU and Cogan participated as a freshman golfer at Southern Virginia University.  Jenny, a former athlete at the University of Arizona, was named the 1996 player of the year in college softball and was a member of the 2010 USA Women’s National Baseball Team. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for USA Baseball and has been a vital part of ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Softball Tournament since 2012.