When Ike Hilliard was pulling down 10 touchdown receptions and 900 receiving yards as a junior on Florida’s 1996 National Championship football team, the former All-American never thought he would one day be coaching.
But now, after retiring from the NFL in early 2009, Hilliard finds himself doing just that.
After serving as a volunteer coach for the United Football League’s Florida Tuskers during their inaugural season last year, Hilliard was hired last week as the team’s new wide receivers coach under first-year head coach Jay Gruden.
It wasn’t until his fourth year in the NFL that Hilliard realized he wanted to one day coach.
During the 2000 season, while Hilliard was starting for the New York Giants, his offensive coordinator was current New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. Under Payton’s scheme, the Giants made it to Super Bowl XXXV.
“Just his attention to detail and the way we attacked defenses on a weekly basis drew me closer and closer to wanting to become a coach,” Hilliard said.
Payton may have prompted Hilliard’s interest in the world of coaching, but he was hardly the only one to influence his ultimate career path.
Four years after Payton’s offensive genius sparked Hilliard’s interest, the former UF wide receiver found himself playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was coached by Jon Gruden, who Hilliard described as a “great motivator” and “unbelievable teacher.”
“(Getting into coaching) was a no-brainer for me after trying to do my best to soak up all that knowledge and experience from those two,” Hilliard said.
While Hilliard points to Payton and Jon as the catalysts for his desire to coach, he credits nearly every coach he’s come across in his football career for influencing him.
And though he had no aspirations of becoming a coach during his three seasons playing for the Gators – during which he amassed 2,214 receiving yards and 29 touchdown receptions – Hilliard said he was fortunate to play for a great position coach in current Ohio Bobcats wide receivers coach Dwayne Dixon, who he said doesn’t get enough credit for the work he does with young receivers.
“That’s where it all really started,” Hilliard said. “It’s a shame I was so young that I didn’t soak up enough to really, fully understand and grasp everything he was teaching me.”
During the 2008 NFL season, Hilliard was knocked unconscious in a Sunday Night Football game that effectively ended his playing career. Even though he had hopes of being able to return to the game he loves, neck injuries prevented him from doing so.
A relationship he built with Jay during his time with the Buccaneers cleared a path for Hilliard’s career in the coaching ranks.
After he placed a call to Jay to ask him and former Tuskers head coach Jim Haslett if he could “stick his head around” practice, the two asked Hilliard to become a volunteer coach last season.
When Jay was recently promoted after Haslett was named the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, he offered Hilliard the position of wide receivers coach.
The Tuskers roster isn’t completely filled yet, but Hilliard is looking forward to August 16, when the team gets to begin training camp, and he gets to officially begin his first season among the coaching ranks.
“I don’t want to disrespect the craft,” Hilliard said. “I’ve been studying my butt off, trying to learn as much as I can about the game of football from the other side, because being a player and being a coach are two completely different animals.”