Huntington Expression Prep has built a national powerhouse in basketball, but it is now starting to build one in football as well.
Huntington Expression Prep head coach Adam Hill is hitting the pavement running with an ambitious plan to turn this program into a destination for athletes who want to reach the next level. Hill, who had been the head coach for Huntington St Joe, stated that he saw Huntington Expression Prep as a more natural fit for his talents.
“I don’t care about state championships or any of that,” said Hill. “I want to build a program where kids can develop and get the kind of exposure that we can give them as part of a prep program because there’s not really anything like that around here. It’s kind of a natural fit for me to be a part of this environment. It gives me a long project, because it will take me two or three years to phase in all four teams that we want to have.”
Hill’s professional football experience includes jobs with the Arena Football League’s Tampa Bay Storm, the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers and front office positions with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For the upcoming season, Huntington Expression Prep will have a middle school football. The school has a six game schedule, all on the road. Then the team will have football in the spring and begin to implement its high school program with the possibility of adding a post-graduate team next year as well. Once Huntington Expression Prep builds up those programs, the goal is to launch a National team to compete against the best programs in the country.
“I think this is going to give our kids in the tri-state area and beyond a little bit more exposure nationally,” Hill explained. “It will show that they can compete at the national level and take away those questions.”
For now, Hill is excited about his middle school program. And while there are challenges getting people excited about an upstart program, he feels excited about challenging his team with some great opponents.
“I want to challenge our kids,” Hill explained. “You only get better by playing good teams.”
Hill hopes that his program will be a great partner with the community while also giving a place for student-athletes to pursue higher goals.
“With us being part of the church and being a part of Expression Church, we want to affect the entire region,” he stated. “We are unapologetically athletic at Expression Prep with the 14-year history of Huntington Prep basketball. My goal as a football coach is to build the best staff that I can build and encourage kids who are serious about football and going to the next level. Those are the kind of kids we want to attract, as well as the kids who want a good high school experience. Everyone in the WVSSAC is in pursuit of a state championship, and that’s the way it should be. But there’s more out there. We want kids who see football as a way to get an education and a way to make a living.”
Huntington Expression Prep already has a track record of building a successful national program in basketball, and Hill is looking to follow that approach to bring a top notch football program to Huntington as well. While it will be quite the task, Hill has the drive to get the job done.
It’s going to be fun to watch this program rise.
