A few weeks ago, Northern Virginia basketball fans were stunned to hear T.C. Williams had dismissed head coach Bryan Hill just a week or so before tryouts were slated to begin. Hill, who was about to enter his third year at the helm of the Titans program, said he was told he lost his job because he gave a player a ride home and held a Sunday practice. Other people said it was the work of Alexandria School Board member Bill Campbell, who has two sons in the T.C. program and for whatever reason was upset at Hill. Campbell says Hill often used excessive profanity and was approached by other parents in the past seeking his removal.
If you’re familiar with high school/AAU programs around the region or have coached, you know that good individuals can often be fired because of a few angry parents or for political reasons beyond the control of the coach. Sometimes coaches also make honest mistakes where there is no choice but to remove them.
Without getting too much into the politics at T.C. Williams, whatever they may be, it sure seems like Hill was a well-liked man who had the respect of the players and their families. The basketball team wrote a letter to Athletic Director Steve Colantouni asking for his re-instatement. The players’ parents have put pressure on the school and the Alexandria School Board to reinstate him. Legendary local coach Red Jenkins, who Hill played for at Woodson, wrote a Letter to the Editor to The Washington Post in defense of Hill. Not only that, the program has had problems with grades in the immediate past, and Hill seemed to have helped that problem immensely.
Even with all that, it appears T.C. Williams is not about to reverse course and admit they were wrong and take back Hill. And hey, we don’t know, maybe they weren’t wrong in getting rid of him in the first place. What actually has been going on behind the scenes with the program we have no idea. It does sure seem like there’s a possible railroad job here, though.
But Hill will carry on, regardless. What no doubt he and many others are most concerned about are the kids of T.C. Williams. Clearly a great many of them loved or at least respected Coach Hill, and they were no doubt very excited to enter the new season with him at the helm. Obviously it’s a difficult thing to change coaches so soon before the season and have success–no matter how good a coach new coach Walt Coleman may be–so you feel bad for the kids from that angle as well. Especially if Hill was indeed a great role model for a group of young kids. Kids anywhere can always use one of those.
Coach Coleman certainly has his work cut out for him replacing Hill. Parents and fans will no doubt have him under the microscope with everything he does. That’s a tough situation for him, to be sure. But we’ll be rooting for him and the kids of T.C. Kids around the Northern Region often give everything they have for their basketball program and work so hard to try and achieve success on the court. Here’s to hoping Coach Coleman and the Titans can achieve a bit of that this season and overcome the difficult situation they’ve all been put in.
–Chris Jollay