While others were still learning to swim, Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill was learning to score. 

Hill, 4 years old and growing up in Santa Barbara, California, wasn’t on the football field, but rather in the local swimming pool playing in his first water polo game. With three older sisters who participated in the sport, the choice was a natural one for Hill, who said he learned to swim at age 2. That decision paid off in the future. 

For Hill, his days playing water polo helped him develop what many call a “cannon” for a right arm. 

“The thing is with water polo, if you throw the ball hard enough, you shouldn’t be able to block it,” he said. 

This throwing capability is what turned coaches’ heads before Hill was even a starter at Santa Barbara High School. 

Recognized by most for his arm strength and 6-foot-3, 258-pound frame, Hill’s athleticism jumps off the page. 

While he may not look like a prototypical quarterback, Hill’s love for the position set him on a track from the beaches of California to the plains of the Midwest, where he is now the starting quarterback for Iowa football with only 35 passing attempts under his belt. Along the way, Hill was guided by many, and the quarterback has become a confident leader who trusts others. 

Surrounded by athletes 

The Hill household isn’t lacking in athletic talent. 

Hill’s father, Pe’a, was a standout offensive lineman at Fresno City College before playing on BYU-Hawaii’s basketball team and eventually representing the Polynesian national men’s basketball team. The quarterback’s mother, Cindy, earned all-conference and All-American honors her senior season as a basketball player at BYU, averaging 22.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. 

Those genes were passed down to Hill’s elder sisters, Sami, Kodi, and Abbi, each of whom went to UCLA for water polo and represented Team USA. The oldest, Sami, even played goalie at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, winning gold for the United States. 

Set on traveling south to go support his sister, Hill’s parents didn’t let him go because of the prevalence of the Zika virus at the time. 

“I was very mad and upset, but it was great to watch on TV, I just wish I could’ve been there,” Hill said. 

Such sibling support goes both ways. Hill explained how growing up in this environment provided him with plenty of advice that he could emulate in his own life and athletic career. 

“This definitely helps me now [at Iowa], because now I can piece together what everybody in the building says and see what will help me and what I can take and put into my own game,” he said. 

Hill’s first experience playing tackle football started in fourth grade, but that trek was quickly cut short. Since the league Hill competed in divided players based on height and weight instead of age, Hill found himself lining up against players two or three years his senior.  

“My parents ended up pulling me halfway through the year, because there were some teams with some ginormous dudes, and [my parents were] like, ‘You’re going to get killed,’” Hill remembered. 

After resorting to flag football for the rest of the year, Hill joined his age group in pads the following season. The sophomore said he was often teased about playing quarterback at his size, but his determination to start under center never wavered. Such was apparent to J.T. Stone, the then-varsity coach at Santa Barbara who first started working with Hill in fourth grade. 

“My first impression of him was, ‘Who’s this big kid trying to play quarterback?’ Stone told The Daily Iowan. “So that threw me off, but he was an attractive kid in regards to his size … I first thought of [former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback] Ben Roethlisberger. The kid wanted to play quarterback, he had a work ethic, and we got after it.”

One of Stone’s early critiques of Hill was his throwing motion being too akin to a water polo throw.  According to Hill, the difference between the respective mechanics is found in the wrist. In water polo, the wrist directs where the ball is thrown, whereas in football the wrist needs to just flick forward.

While crediting water polo for keeping Hill in shape, Stone described how Hill’s release point on his throw was too high. By his sophomore year of high school, Hill had given up his “first love” and concentrated his efforts on football. 

Power of loyalty 

Hill made his debut for the Dons’ junior varsity team in 2017, tossing 38 touchdowns in just 10 games.  The following season, the quarterback was promoted to the varsity squad, but, similar to Iowa teammate Cade McNamara, didn’t earn the starting job right away. 

Slotted in front of Hill was senior Frankie Gamberdella, who had held the job for the past two seasons. While Deacon did get in a few reps early in the season, his time to start came when Gamberdella suffered a season-ending collarbone injury. 

With Hill at the helm, the Dons advanced to playoffs, clinching their spot in the postseason with a victory over crosstown rival Dos Pueblos. In that game, Hill completed 70 percent of his passes for 199 yards and three scores. 

“Deacon was calm, cool, and collected; it was just another game,” Stone said. “That’s what I loved about him. He made my life easy.”

That summer, Sam Fisher, who was training Hill as a private QB coach at his Throw to Win Program in Los Angeles, got in contact with then-Wisconsin quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr, who would eventually join Iowa’s coaching staff at the start of last season. Hill went on an official visit to Madison, and on June 25, 2019, committed to the Badgers before becoming the full-time starter in high school. 

“That was surreal,” Hill said of the experience. “I guess [Budmayr] saw something in me when I was young. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wouldn’t trade our relationship for the world, we’re very tight.” 

From an area that Stone referred to as the “black hole” for Division I football players, Hill was an exception. United with Budmayr in Wisconsin, the quarterback redshirted in 2021 but found himself on the bench behind Badger starter Graham Mertz the following year. 

Wearing the headset in 2022, Hill appeared in just one game but did not throw a pass. Even though he did not see the field much during his time in Madison, Hill still found the experience valuable. 

“I think the biggest thing was I matured as a person,” Hill explained. “Learning to deal with ups and downs within my career and not trying to let that affect my life outside of football. I think there’s a genuine balance between life and football … If football’s not going that well you can find peace in life and on the alternative side, if things aren’t going great in life, you can find peace in football.” 

When longtime Badger head coach Paul Chryst was fired on Oct. 2, 2022, Hill entered the transfer portal just a week later. After a few months in the portal, Hill committed to Fordham, an FCS school in New York. According to Hill, just five days after he announced his intention to play for the Rams, he got a phone call from Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. 

After discussing the matter with his parents and family, Hill decommitted from Fordham and signed on with the Hawkeyes on Dec. 25, 2022, citing the close-knit relationship with Budmayr as a main factor. 

“Loyalty is a big thing for me. I was very loyal to him and wanted to play for him,” Hill said of Budmayr, who gave the quarterback his first collegiate offer. “Him having that belief in me was the biggest thing in the world to me.”

Swapping out the dairy farms of Wisconsin for the cornfields of Iowa, Hill found more people who believed in him, and the quarterback made sure to return such conviction. 

Impressing at Iowa 

Similar to the reactions he received as a youth, Hill’s arrival in Iowa City brought along plenty of dubious questions from his teammates, such as Hawkeye kicker Drew Stevens. 

“I’m not going to lie, my first impression was, like, ‘Gosh, is this a lineman, or is this a quarterback?’” Stevens recalled. “But when I saw him throw, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d have that guy as my quarterback.” 

Indeed, Hill’s arm strength has stood out on the practice field. According to the quarterback, he can throw up to 73 yards in the air, but Iowa running back Leshon Williams has a more simple way of putting it. 

“I don’t think a receiver can outrun Deacon’s arm,” Williams said.

Hill’s athletic ability isn’t limited to the gridiron, as the prep basketball player is also an avid surfer. Last summer, Hill flew from Wisconsin to Texas to California. At 5:30 a.m. the following morning, he traded the runway for the beaching, hitting the waves in Malibu with his best friend. 

Stevens said no one on the Hawkeye team can outdrive Hill on the golf course. The quarterback tends to slice the ball, but the kicker said he places ‘banana-shaped’ drives on the fairway every time. 

Hill’s skills on the links aren’t restricted to just driving, as he’s also known for his impressive short game. Iowa safety Quinn Schulte said the quarterback can “dot” any ball on the green and has nailed putts from over 20 feet. 

For Hill, working with fellow quarterback Cade McNamara, as well as former Hawkeye quarterback Spencer Petras and Hawkeye analyst Keller Chryst, a former graduate assistant coach at Wisconsin, has been “an absolute blessing.” When McNamara missed two weeks of fall camp with a quad injury, Hill got to take reps with the first team in practice. 

Hill explained how those two weeks were critical for him to build chemistry with center Logan Jones as well as wideouts Nico Ragaini and Diante Vines. After only throwing eighth passes in mop-up duty, Hill’s preseason experience was put to the test just five weeks into the season, when McNamara was injured in the first quarter in the Hawkeyes’ game against Michigan State. 

Just like back in high school, Hill’s opportunity for Iowa arrived in the event of a season-ending injury to the starter. While admitting that it’s never ideal for McNamara to be out for the season, he is embracing his chance. All it took was a little contact for him to get comfortable. 

On Hill’s first play from scrimmage following McNamara’s exit, the Hawkeyes resorted to a play Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz was waiting all season to implement — the QB sneak. 

“He’s going to be a challenge to tackle, it’s going to take more than just sticking your hand out there,” Ferentz said. 

Stone said Hill has been practicing the play since he was young, taking each rep with the goal of reaching back the line of scrimmage, which is what the quarterback did in his first snap against the Spartans. 

Yet on occasion, the line of scrimmage is just the beginning of a longer, majestic run for Hill, who led Santa Barbara to the state championship game his senior season. During the contest, Hill kept the ball on a counter run and dashed 60 yards to the end zone for the go-ahead score. 

From his days at Santa Barbara, Hill was taught how to always approach preparing for each game as if he’s the starter. Now that once was a possibility is a reality, Hill has only stepped up his duties. Hill said he is throwing 30 to 40 balls to Vines after each practice the week heading into his first official start against Purdue. 

Just as he has conviction in Budmayr and the rest of the Hawkeye coaching staff, Hill also has “100 percent trust” in his receivers, despite them dropping six passes against Michigan State. 

“I think in basketball when a shooter is missing, you don’t tell him to stop shooting, you tell him to keep shooting,” Hill said. “That doesn’t affect how we are going to do things … I’m going to keep throwing them the ball no matter what because they’re my guys. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

For Stone, Hill has belief in himself, but not one that is egotistical. Instead, the quarterback is confident in his improvement, knowing he is always a “student of the game” and can never stop learning. After the Hawkeyes’ victory over the Spartans, Hill and Stone texted each other and discussed lessons taken away from Michigan State’s defensive concepts. 

After McNamara left the game due to injury, Jones told Hill that he and everyone on the team believed in what he could do, and Hill took those words to heart. According to Jones, Hill had a simple message for his teammates in the huddle — “‘Let’s get this done.’”

Against Michigan State, Hill completed forty percent of his passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. In his first-career collegiate start against Purdue the following week, the quarterback’s completion percentage dipped to 29 percent and his total quarterback rating (QBR) dropped 20 points. 

After the game against the Boilermakers, Hill said he was a bit “jittery” at the outset, tossing multiple overthrows. Ferentz affirmed he would remain the starter, adding that any change would be “silly.” 

Ferentz did admit, however, that Hill is “pressing a little bit,” due to being a “prideful guy.” Even still, the head coach maintained Hill is still on his “maiden voyage” of collegiate football, having not started a game under center since his days at Santa Barbara. 

Hill said it was frustrating to watch the film from his first start, but said he is focused on growth, specifically with improving his footwork and being calm with his throws. 

Heading into a pivotal matchup against Wisconsin this week, one would think Hill would be looking for revenge, or to at least make a statement that the ‘Deac Show’ has finally arrived. Yet for the quarterback thrust into the spotlight, Hill doesn’t let it consume him. 

“I’m not too worried with what I want,” Hill said. “I’m just concerned with what the team needs and what the coaches need from me.”