WASHINGTON (July 13, 2023) – Rodney Hill was a four-year letterwinner for the Howard University football team, starting three years as a defensive lineman.
 
In 2013, he earned his bachelor's degree in human performance with a concentration in sports medicine.
 
After graduating from The Mecca, he was an assistant defensive line coach at Kutztown University before becoming a strength and conditioning intern at Penn State University (2014). The following year, he was a strength and conditioning graduate at Mercer University while adding a master's degree in higher educational leadership from Mercer in 2016.
 
During the 2016 season, Hill returned to his alma mater as the director of strength and conditioning. During his tenure with the Bison, he established and maintained a strength and conditioning program for all sports with the objectives of increasing athletic performance, reducing athletic injuries and teaching fitness and movement skills.
 
Hill made his first stop in the National Football League (NFL) during the 2017 season when he spent one year as a seasonal intern with the New York Giants.
 
For the 2018 season, Hill was on staff at the University of Central Florida as an assistant director of football sports performance and director of football sports nutrition and internship coordinator. While there, he helped design and implement the strength training and conditioning programs as well as oversee the implementation of weight room and field programming with a focus on the offensive and defensive line position groups. The Knights claimed the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Football Championship that season and finished with an impressive 12-1 mark, including an appearance in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
 
Hill returned to the NFL, working as an assistant strength and performance coach with the Detroit Lions (2019) and a seasonal intern of strength and conditioning with the Buffalo Bills (2020).
 
Hill came back to the collegiate level as an assistant strength and conditioning for football at Louisiana State University (LSU). While in Baton Rouge, he oversaw the Tigers' lifting, running and mobility training programs, specifically for the offensive line and tight ends groups. He also used velocity-based training systems (perch), global positioning systems and heart rate monitor (polar) technologies to collect, monitor, and report findings in athlete training and help monitor the athlete's physiological and mechanical outputs.
 
Hill joined Duke's athletic staff in January 2022, and served as an assistant director of sports performance, working primarily with the football program. While at Duke, Hill helped the Blue Devils triple their win total from the previous year.
 
Currently, Hill works as an assistant strength coach - Sports Science for the University of Arkansas football program where he oversees the operation of all of the technology utilized by the strength and conditioning department along with his coaching duties.
 
Hill holds several certifications, including level 1 sports performance coach through USA weightlifting and a strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He is also a corrective exercise specialist, a certified USA boxing coach, precision nutrition level 1 certified, velocity-based training certified and vertimax certified.
 
He is also a nationally recognized speaker on various topics in the Strength and Conditioning field, including Performance Technology.
 
A native of Philadelphia, Hill is married to the former Kim Mazzapica of Boston, Mass.
 
About Where Are They Now?
 
The weekly series of "Where Are They Now?" appears on Thursdays throughout the year.
 
The series will feature former student-athletes from all sports and eras, highlighting their careers as athletes at the University and what they are presently doing.
 
All interested former athletes and their coaches should submit a short bio, a recent head shot and contact information on how they can be reached via email to Jade Spurlock (jade.spurlock@bison.howard.edu) and Derek W. Bryant (derek.bryant@howard.edu).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.