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Photo by Adam Heyman / Daily Staff San Jose State University sophomore linebacker Demetrius Jones (left) and junior defensive tackle Larnell Ransom listen as head coach Fitz Hill announces his resignation at the Simpkins Athletic Administration [Click to enlarge]

Photo by Adam Heyman / Daily Staff A member of the football team hugs head coach Fitz Hill after a press conference in the Simpkins Athletic Building where Hill announced his resignation. [Click to enlarge]

Fitz Hill, who joined San Jose State University's Division I-A team in 2000, has accepted a "visiting scholar" position at the University of Central Florida's DeVos Sports Business Management Program.

Hill announced his departure Monday at a press conference and reflected on his time at SJSU.

"There's been a lot of struggle and a lot of progress," he said. "I'm very proud of both. I wouldn't trade anything else in the world for the opportunity to come here for four years."

Hill said he was looking forward to the next chapter in his life.

"I'm very proud of what we've accomplished here, but one thing I wish was that we could have produced more wins," he said.

Hill's record at SJSU is 14-32 prior to Saturday's game against Fresno State University - the final match of the season and Hill's final game with the Spartans.

Hill said the idea of leaving had been swimming around in his head after having "talks" with people at the university discussing his possible exit.

"My deal was, what's best for these young men to get the support they need?" he said. "It's not about me. I wanted it to be about them. And me staying on and making people not want me here, was going to be about me ... With that being the case, you know, it's kind of saying 'It's time to go.' "

However, Hill said pressure from alumni calling for his departure did not affect his decision to leave.

"I would have left a long time ago if that were a factor," he said. "I wasn't running for governor. I was here to take care of these young men."

Hill hinted at the recent resignation of Athletics Director Chuck Bell as a reason for his own.

"When the (athletics director) goes, it's kind of like corporate America," he said. "... (The new athletics director) has the right to hire his own guy."

Hill described the ordeals he went through with Bell.

"When I first came here ... I think the vision of the goals and objectives of the program were not aligned together. Chuck was given an order to balance the budget, and to schedule the team and not give them an opportunity to win," said Hill, referring to the common practice of higher-ranked schools paying up to millions of dollars to play lower- ranked schools' football teams to ensure wins.

"There are two different strategies here," he said. "You want to balance the budget or you want a winning football program? You can choose which one you want. You can decide how you want to go about that. Chuck did what he was told to do."

Hill said while building the football program he learned that scheduling was very important.

"Unless you're trying to schedule to try and balance the budget," he said. "... That's the way this business works. If you go back and look at Boise State's schedule and look at who they play and why they're really good, they're scheduled for success."

Hill said he tried to give opportunities to allow his young football team to win games.

"Chuck allowed me to make changes in the schedule and that's why you see a change in the schedule," he said.

Hill's resignation also comes at the heels of the announcement that the Read-2-Lead Classic, Hill's creation, would be discontinued.

The literacy event, originally called the Literacy Classic, is just one contribution Hill will leave at SJSU.

"I want to inspire these young men to get their education and to behave accordingly ... and to be a role model for them and to go back and nurture their community and be positive role models for their youth," he said.

Hill said he was proud of the fact that he stressed academics to his student players.

"When I came here, I think the overall GPA here was 1.96," he said. "We got it as high as nearly 2.5."

Interim Athletics Director John Glass said Hill, in addition to being an extremely successful fund-raiser, did an awful lot to build a foundation for the football program.

Glass added that because of what Hill has done with the program, the next head coach will be in a better position than when Hill came in.

Hill will leave his players, most of whom he personally recruited and believed in his image for the team.

"Because you know, when a (player) comes to San Jose State, they're not coming because of people in the stands," he said. "They are coming because they believe in what you're trying to build and they bought into the vision of the coaching staff."

Hill said he did not want to stand in the way of the vision or of any support the players may get.

"My goal was to step aside and allow those who feel that the program can move forward, to do that," he said.

Hill said he asked young men to come and build the SJSU football program, when many of them had chances to play elsewhere.

"I just challenged them to come and leave a path," he said. "Being the first African American football coach here was a trailblazing path within itself. I asked them to leave a trail so they could create more opportunities for people of color."

Hill, one of five African American Division I-A head coaches, said he was not worried about losing out on his opportunity to coach Division I-A again.

"I never thought I'd get this (chance), to be honest with you," he said. "It's definitely something you consider. If I'm supposed to get another one, I'll get it."

Hill said he would not rule out coming back to coaching after his "sabbatical."

"I just want to try and see if I can do something else," he said. "Since 1997, I haven't missed a two-a-day (practice), starting in August. I want to see what it's going to be like this August. In the summer of 2006, I'll see how I feel, see if I want to coach."

In the meantime, Hill will be working remotely from his native Arkansas for Richard Lapchick, director for the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

Lapchick, who visited SJSU for the Literacy Classic, has known Hill for about a decade and said they have remained in constant contact with each other.

"I've admired him from up close and afar for quite a while now, and when I understood there was a possibility he might leave the coaching ranks, we began to talk about joining forces at the University of Central Florida," he said.

Hill said he would be working on a book from home into next spring.

"I can do a lot of research from home," he said. "As a research associate for Dr. Lapchick, that was the No. 1 agreement that I had with him, to help me with the book and I would come down and teach some classes and share some practical experiences with his institution."

The search for a new football head coach will begin once the athletics director is chosen, according to Glass.

Hill just has one last wish for his players, some of whom will know Hill as the only college football coach they ever had.

"I was telling the team yesterday, all I want for Saturday is a victory and a dunk in cold water after of the game," he said.

"I told them they can dunk me."

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