Former Iowa starting quarterback Deacon Hill commits to Utah Tech
Former Hawkeye starting quarterback Deacon Hill has found a new home. On Saturday night, Hill announced on social media that he has committed to Utah Tech. The Trailblazers are located in St. George, Utah, which is closer to Hill’s home state of California.
IOWA CITY, Iowa– Former Hawkeye starting quarterback Deacon Hill has found a new home. On Saturday night, Hill announced on social media that he has committed to Utah Tech. The Trailblazers are located in St. George, Utah, which is closer to Hill’s home state of California.
Hill, who transferred to Iowa last offseason from Wisconsin after originally committing to Fordham, completed 122-of-251 passes for 1,152 yards, five touchdowns, and eight interceptions in place of Cade McNamara, who went down with a season-ending injury at the start of the year.
“The biggest thing is him just trying to take in what he needs to take in,” Kirk Ferentz said of Hill in October of 2023. “Each week it’s a different challenge, different preparation. … He’s done a great job. He’s attentive. He’s a smart guy. That’s probably the key element for everything. I think he’s hearing the right things. It’s just a matter of every repetition is going to help him, and certainly game reps will help him too now.”
“He certainly has improved dramatically,” Ferentz said in November. “I think it’s just a credit to him sticking with it, just kept on going. Certainly, his ball security has gotten better too. That’s the other part about it which is important. His awareness. I thought, the last two weeks, he has made some really nice throws, some clutch plays.”
Hill stayed through spring football and got most of the reps with the starters. Shortly following Iowa’s spring game, Hill announced that he would be departing from the program via the Transfer Portal. With McNamara still going through rehab for his knee injury, Hill and redshirt freshman Marco Lainez were the only two quarterbacks getting reps.
“I think his feet have gotten better. I always give my quarterbacks multiple options when it comes to full works because I think there’s a lot of ways to do it. I’ve done it multiple ways as a quarterback in my career,” new Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester said in spring. “So he’s kind of honed in on a certain way of dropping that I think makes him more comfortable. I think it’s allowed him to get through reads better. Still needs to be more accurate with the ball. I still think he has a long way to go, but when I got here that was something I noticed with him, that his balance — when his balance was off, the ball was all over the place.”
Once Hill departed, Iowa pursued a couple of different quarterbacks in the transfer portal. They ended up receiving a commitment from former Northwestern quarterback Brendan Sullivan, who potentially could have been the starting quarterback for the Wildcats.