TCU OC blames Texas A&M for Kenny Hill's problems
TCU hasn't had an issue with Kenny Hill since he transferred from Texas A&M, and that leads Hill's new offensive coordinator to blame the quarterback's old stomping grounds for his problems with the Aggies.
"It's kind of unfair," Doug Meachem said to Sports On Earth's David Ubben. "You're a young kid, you roll into a school where the Heisman Trophy winner is a guy that misses meetings and does whatever he wants to, and in your mind, you think, 'Well, that's just how you're supposed to do it.' So, I don’t think that helped him a whole lot."
Hill spent 2013, his true freshman season, under the wing of Johnny Manziel. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy a year before but had already proved to be more than a handful to deal with off the field.
Hill became the Aggies' starter in 2014 after Manziel went to the NFL, and after a record-setting performance in the season opener versus South Carolina, struggled en route to his eventual benching.
Like his predecessor, Hill, too, ran into his share of off-field controversies while an Aggie. He was arrested in the spring of 2014 for public intoxication, and was suspended during the season for a violation of team rules. Hill eventually requested his release and wound up transferring to TCU.
"My initial thought was I'm all for it because I watched the South Carolina game," Meacham said of TCU's decision to welcome Hill into the program. "(Co-offensive coordinator) Sonny (Cumbie) did a very thorough investigation of his background and what took place and his side of it.
"Talked to teachers, parents, coaches on his behalf to assess what we thought in terms of some of the issues he had, and in his case, moving away was probably the best thing that ever happened to him."
Hill, who has already been voted the Big 12's preseason newcomer of the year by the media, is set to battle Foster Sawyer for the Horned Frogs' starting quarterback position in training camp. Whoever wins the job will have the task of replacing Trevone Boykin, last year's star pivot.