Pat Hill

Pat Hill (born December 17, 1951) is a former American football player and current offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons. He served as the head football coach at Fresno State from 1997 until his dismissal following the 2011 season. In 15 seasons as head coach as Fresno State, he led the Bulldogs to a record of 112–80, 11 bowl game appearances, and a share of the 1999 Western Athletic Conference title.

Early positions
Pat Hill attended Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California, graduating in 1970. A 1973 graduate of, and an offensive lineman for the University of California, Riverside, Hill was the offensive line coach at Los Angeles Valley College from 1974 to 1976. In 1977, he became the offensive line coach at the University of Utah, where he would stay through 1980. This was followed by short stints at UNLV in 1981 and 1982, and a one-year stay in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders in 1983. After an assistant coaching job at Fresno State, Hill went on to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona from 1990 to 1991. He then went to coach in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns (under Bill Belichick) and the Baltimore Ravens, where he served as the tight ends and offensive line coach for both teams.

Fresno State
Hill took on the head coaching job at Fresno State in 1997, where he had previously served as the offensive line coach from 1984 to 1989. Coming into the 2005 season, Hill had compiled a 64-38 win-loss record, including a 44-19 Western Athletic Conference mark, one WAC title, and a 10-8 record against BCS teams, the most by any non-BCS conference team. Under Hill Fresno State has routinely scheduled highly ranked opponents from power conferences, part of Hill's insistence that the Bulldogs must "play the best and beat the best to be considered the best."

Also under Hill's leadership, Fresno State has greatly improved the academic performance of its football players. During Hill's tenure the team has produced (as of 2005) 65 Academic All-WAC players, compared to a total of nine in the entire history of the program before Hill's arrival. In 1999, senior cornerback Payton Williams became the first Fresno State football player to achieve Academic All-American status. In each of the last two years, the Bulldog football program has produced two of the most decorated students on the Fresno State campus. In 2006, lineman Kevin Cooper was awarded the President's Medal as the top graduating student at Fresno State. Last spring, Bulldog kicker Clint Stitser was a finalist for the President's Medal after winning the Dean's Medal for the Craig School of Business as its top graduate. Both young men graduated with 4.0 GPAs. Under Pat Hill, Fresno State's football program has been a model of consistency.

From reaching a bowl game in eight of the last nine seasons to being on national television as much as any team this decade, the Bulldog program is regularly recognized for its success. Under his leadership, Fresno State has climbed to national high ranking of No. 8 while annually taking on one of the most aggressive non-conference schedules of any program in the nation.

That success transcends to the classroom, where once again the Fresno State team has posted a very strong Academic Progress Rate score. Fresno State's APR score ranks fourth in the western United States among public institutions, and second among California public schools. Hill said the APR scores are just one example of how the Academic Gameplan program that Associate Head Coach John Baxter instituted continues to work.

"We want to continue to have strong APR scores," said Hill. "We want to continue to produce players who will be great representative of Bulldog football and Fresno State. We are very proud of those who have come through our program."

Pat Hill currently has 17 wins over BCS automatic qualifying conference teams, which is tied for the most wins for any non-automatic qualifier with Utah.

On December 4, 2011, Hill was fired by Fresno State. During his tenure, he coached a number of current NFL players including, Patriots Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins, Cardinals safety James Sanders, and guard Andrew Jackson, as well as Chargers running back Ryan Mathews.

Atlanta Falcons
On Jan. 28, 2012, Pat Hill agreed to be Falcons Offensive Line coach.