Kylin Hill is headed back home, and this time he’s doing it from the sideline.
New Hope announced Friday that the Columbus native has been hired as the Trojans’ running backs coach, bringing the former Columbus High and Mississippi State standout into the local coaching ranks. Hill, who won the 2019 Conerly Trophy and had a brief NFL stint, now joins a New Hope staff that head coach Allen Glenn said had been on his radar for a while.
Glenn said he had known about Hill’s talent as a runner for years, but only recently learned Hill wanted to get into coaching. That came through members of the Trojans’ staff who had gone to school with Hill. Once New Hope had an opening at running backs coach, Glenn said reaching out was an easy decision.
“He’s a very bright guy,” Glenn said. “The time that we have been around each other I’ve seen that.
He’s very the standpoint of being able to relate to kids. Our kids have already just gravitated toward him, and then just having that youth on our staff that is not completely too far removed from where our kids are today, it gives our kids also the ability to see somebody local who did it at a high level come back and give back to the area here in a coaching situation.
He’s going to be really good for us, and we’re fired up to have him and for him to join our program.”
Hill said the move into coaching feels natural.
“I feel like I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s a different path for me, a great path for me to still be around the game of football.
Everybody has seen me play around here and I’m very excited for everybody to see me coach. … It’s been something I’ve always wanted to do; it was all about the timing with it.
I feel like where my mind is spaced at right now it is a great time for it, especially with my youth. I’m still young, so a lot of people can relate to me.”
Hill starred at Columbus during his high school days, rushing for 1,530 yards and 25 touchdowns in his senior year. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft but had his career cut short by a season-ending injury.
He made an impact at Mississippi State as well, along with other MSU and Ole Miss players and coaches along with an NCAA ban on championships in the state helped turn the tide in the flag debate.
Now he’s bringing that experience to New Hope’s running back room, along with former long-time St. Stan’s head coach Chase Nicholson as its wide receivers coach earlier this year. Glenn said the staff additions have helped the Trojans overall.
“The goal for me, maybe not for everybody, is to hire people smarter than I am to be able to give us the best opportunity to win and to grow young men,” Glenn said. “Being able to hire Chase and Kylin, we feel like we were home-run hires, especially Chase having coaching experience and did it at a very, very successful rate at Stary.
He’s the winningest coach in school history there, and for us to be able to get him was a steal. So having Chase and Kylin added to the staff we have already, we feel really good about the people we have in that building.”
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What Mississippi State's SEC Media Days Trio Says About 2026
Mississippi States presence at SEC Media Days this summer will be built around a familiar kind of message: the Bulldogs are leaning on a young core that already has some production behind it. Head coach Jeff Lebby will be joined by Kamario Taylor, Anthony Evans III and Kelley Jones, a trio that gives the program a little bit of everything heading into 2026, from the most important position on the field to a proven pass catcher and a defensive back who has become one of the rosters most important pieces.
Taylors role is the one that will draw the most attention, with the quarterback set to take on the offense after flashes of action last season and a spring that suggested he is moving forward. Evans gives Mississippi State a receiver who already led the team in catches, while Jones anchors the secondary as the Bulldogs try to build a more complete roster around them. The next real checkpoint comes Sept. 5 against Louisiana-Monroe, when the conversation shifts from offseason optimism to the kind of proof SEC teams eventually have to deliver. [Read more 🡒]