New Berlin football coach resigns after five seasons for family reasons
NEW BERLIN — Seth Hill said he likes to imbue his teams with a family culture.
Maybe his own words struck a chord.
Hill said on Friday he resigned as the New Berlin football coach to spend more time with his family.
Hill went 16-26 over five seasons with the Pretzels. That included 4-5 in 2019 and 3-3 in the shortened 2021 spring season. He also assisted the 2017 season under Trevor Compardo before taking the reins.
“I've got a 10-year-old daughter that's getting into sports and getting into things in her life that I really want to be a part of and as a head coach, you have to put parts of your life on hold and I don't want to miss those,” Hill said.
“I don't want to look back in 10 years and miss the opportunities I had to be a part of her life growing up and be a part of her sports adventure and where she's going to go.”
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New Berlin athletic director Blake Lucas said the school district will go through the whole hiring process.
“We’re extremely thankful for Seth’s commitment and dedication to the football program over the last five years, but we’re also excited to see what the future holds,” Lucas said.
Hill, a Jacksonville graduate, previously served as a head coach for one season at Litchfield after starting out as an assistant coach at his alma mater and Rushville-Industry.
Hill said he is open to the idea of remaining in the football realm as an assistant.
He also acknowledged all of the support for the co-op program that also includes Franklin and Waverly.
“It was a great place for me to really be able to coach and help the kids, and I think there's a rejuvenation here of our town and their support of the school and the sports,” said Hill, who lives in Franklin and will remain as the transportation director with the New Berlin school district. “I think they're going to continue to build and grow and hopefully be very successful, and I would love nothing more than to get to watch that and to get to know that hopefully I built part of the foundation that they're going to build.
“I think that any coach that's out there looking, I hope that they understand this is a great place to come and a great place to coach at. We've got great kids, great parents, great administration, great school. It's just right now I'd like to put part of that time into my own family.”
Contact Bill Welt: (217) 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Seth Hill resigns at New Berlin
