Former Jackson State football coach Bob Hill dies

JACKSON, Mississippi -- The roll call of Jackson State players who played for Robert "Bob" Hill is quite extraordinary.

There's Walter Payton, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile just to name a few. They were all Tigers legends in their own right.

And they were developed under Hill, who died Tuesday morning, according to a Jackson State spokesperson. The cause of his death wasn't immediately known.

"I think in our lifetime, the measure of a man is if at the end you could say you made a difference in one person's life, then your life wasn't in vain," said JSU golf coach Eddie Payton, who also played for Hill. "Bob Hill made a difference in hundreds of young men's (lives). Hopefully he'll never be forgotten. I know he'll never be forgotten in the Payton family and shouldn't be here at Jackson State, which was his second family."

Hill, 81, served as JSU's coach from 1971-76 and won 44 of his 60 games as head coach. His 74 percent winning percentage is the best of any coach in program history.

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