Small Steps: Tough Task Ahead For New Royal Oak Football Coach

Winning football games isn’t easy. No one knows that better than the football program. It hasn’t won a single game since 2007. 

The Ravens have had three straight 0-9 seasons. Only four times in those 27 games has their opponent’s margin of victory been fewer than 20 points.

Jeff Hill was named Royal Oak’s new head coach back in January. The former Royal Oak Dondero High School graduate takes over the team after coaching Milford to a 15-12 record in three seasons.

Hill is throwing out all that recent history at his new school. It won’t be quick and it won’t be easy, but Hill is trying to turn the page and move the team forward.

Just days before his debut on the sideline for the Ravens he talked to Royal Oak Patch about the first few weeks of practice, the changes he’s making and his expectations for the program. 

Patch: How have these first few weeks of practice been going for you?

Jeff Hill: Things have been going real good. We have a lot of kids coming back to the program and giving us some good numbers. We’re at around 105 kids (for freshman, JV and varsity). Up a little bit, not exactly where we want to be, but a good first step. Kids are very enthusiastic about stuff, very upbeat.

We have a lot of stuff installed offensively, defensively and on special teams. Kids are now at the point were it’s becoming muscle memory.

Patch: Are you changing the offense system from what coach Dave Potter had the Ravens running last season?

JH: We are going to be a spread, Wing-T team. Last year, they were in the (shot) gun a lot. We will probably not be in the gun at all this year. We are trying to focus on ball control and teach fundamentals on the offensive side. 

Patch: And defensively?

JH: We are going to be a 4-4 defense. Bring a little bit of pressure once in awhile. We are trying to get our kids to run fast and get 11 hats to the ball. We’re not trying to dig deep into schemes and stuff. Just trying to have our kids play hard and get to the ball.

Patch: With a new offense and defense, how much did you rely on watching game film from last season to familiarize yourself with your roster?

JH: They were a 4-3 defense and shotgun offense. We didn’t spend a lot of time watching film of last year just because we were going to switch anyways. We spent most of the summer in our seven-on-sevens and couple of our camps, trying to figure out where kids fit into our stuff.

Patch: So you really started from scratch …

JH: We told every kid every position is open regardless of how many years you started here before. Truth be told, once we got into pads and making contact we really started moving kids around the field.

Patch: How did the quarterback situation shake out?

JH: Brandon Fredrikson played most of the season as the starting quarterback last season. He’s back with us this year as the starter.

Patch: What about the skill positions and offensive line?

JH: Nolan Jones and Robert Gibson are both going to be playing running back. They’ll also play at linebacker. David McPherson and three other lineman are back on the offensive line. It’s a new system so it’s all new terminology and practice tempo for them. We’ve been very pleased with how they have played.

Patch: Moving away from the X’s and O’s a little bit, it’s no secret you’re inheriting a program that has really struggled. How much of a battle has it been to overcome the negativity that’s been associated with Royal Oak football?

JH: Oh, it’s the biggest battle. We are trying to sell the kids on hopes, dreams and the possibilities of things. For teenagers that’s a little bit of a difficult thing. Hey, you do these following things and down the road you’re going to get some sort of reward for it. That’s where we are struggling right now.

With any program, from the professional level down, that’s struggled getting wins – it’s changing the mindset, changing the culture. We talk about it all the time, we want consistency in everything we do.

We can’t get to the point where we want to win games until we get consistent showing up to practice, giving good effort in practice and having maximum effort with every rep. Once we start getting those things, the wins will come for us.

Patch: It’s not an easy road in the Oakland Activities Association Red division with teams like Clarkston and Lake Orion. Wins aren’t necessarily going to come quickly here. If you lose your first four or five games, do you worry that negative attitude will pop back up?

JH: If you’re are selling a kid on wins and losses, some years you have good moral, some years you don’t. We are trying to sell the kids on our program and what it can do for them. The real world is going to ask you do work, it’s going to ask you to pay attention, be consistent in your effort. We try to tie in big messages and how it relates to football.

At the end of the day only eight teams are going to win a state title every year, the other 600 programs aren’t failures as programs. Regardless of how many wins and losses you have, the goal for us is to make this experience a memorable one.

Patch: Coach, I really appreciate you taking the time. Good luck on Thursday.

JH: No problem, thank you.