Kenny Hill's efforts to reboot his career at TCU are off to a commendable start, according to his new head coach.
The Texas A&M quarterback transfer enrolled on June 1, and TCU coach Gary Patterson told ESPN.com he’s made a good impression in his first three weeks on campus.
"He’s been awesome. Had a great spring coming over for practices and has been working really hard in the offseason and going to class," Patterson said. "I haven’t heard one bad thing. He’s been doing awesome."
After Hill’s rather unceremonious exit from A&M -- he was benched for Kyle Allen and then suspended two games for a rules violation -- Patterson said he and his staff did their homework before agreeing to bring the junior onto the team.
"We did our research, obviously," Patterson said. "Him and I talked, and this conversation happened all the way back in January. We have a plan. Good kid, good family."
Hill will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after sitting out this season. In the meantime, he’ll focus on learning the Frogs’ familiar Air Raid offense while serving as a scout-team quarterback behind senior Heisman Trophy candidate Trevone Boykin.
"As I told Kenny: This season won’t be about Kenny," Patterson said. "He’ll be the best scout team quarterback down on our end that we’ve ever had. He’ll learn the system and redshirt and then compete in the spring."
Though TCU fans are understandably excited about the possibility of Hill taking over the offense in 2016, first he’ll have to catch up to backups Bram Kohlhausen, Foster Sawyer and Grayson Muehlstein. His eight games as an SEC starter make that competition and quarterback room better, but Hill won’t be handed the job next spring.
In fact, Patterson would prefer to keep the attention on Hill to a minimum this season. While the transfer is quietly paying his dues on scout team, the Horned Frogs will be busy chasing much bigger things.
"Right now, for us, it’s got to be about winning. It’s not about Trevone winning the Heisman. It’s not about Kenny Hill. It’s about TCU," Patterson said. "Right now it’s about us starting off with Minnesota, doing it one game at a time and seeing how it turns out. That’s kind of where we are.
"If you want to win a championship, that’s the way you have to approach it. Nobody can reach their individual goals and do the things they want to do unless we do it as a team. That’s always been our philosophy, and it won’t change much."