Chris Hill

WEIRTON — Chris Hill is no stranger to coaching football in the Ohio Valley, especially on the West Virginia side of the river.

This coming season, the longtime assistant coach will continue to do so. But, this time, it’ll finally be as a head coach.

Hill, a Weir High graduate whose coaching stops over the last two decades as an assistant have included Weir High, Oak Glen and Brooke, was hired as the new head coach of the Red Riders last month.

“It’s one of those experiences that I dreamed about and wasn’t sure that was ever going to happen, but it has, and I’m grateful,” Hill said of taking over his alma mater. “The kids are excited. I’m excited. And, we’ve hit the ground running, started weightlifting, interviewing coaches to come on staff. It’s been a whirlwind.”

Hill was last on the Red Riders staff in the 2024 season, serving on Frank Sisinni’s staff for three seasons from 2022-24. He was on the staff at Oak Glen from 2015-21. The three seasons prior to that, he coached at Brooke, and was at Oak Glen from 2009-12. His coaching career, though, started where it has now come full circle — at Weir High from 2006-09.

“I’ve been fortunate to be able to coach some really good team, state semifinal teams and some really fun teams to be around,” Hill said. “I’ve coached with some really good coaches. It’s all come full circle and I’m really excited.

“I played here, I started my coaching career and educational career here, so it is really is a full circle moment for me.”

For the last 10 years of his coaching career, Hill has been coaching on the defensive side of the ball, including the Oak Glen state semifinal teams that racked up 120 turnovers in three seasons.

Taking over the Red Riders coming off an 0-10 campaign will be a challenge. However, that team had a lot of youth on the field that gained experience, something Hill hopes can help aid in turning the corner.

“Being here two years ago, you know, we started a lot of sophomores and a lot of freshmen,” Hill said. “So the very first thing in talking with the kids is we have experience now, most of them are two-year lettermen, two-year starters, a lot of three-year lettermen and three-year starters are on this team now. Going into next year, the seniors will be three-year starters.

“The last two years are over. We’ve learned from those experiences. We’ve grown. We know where we need to improve. We know the commitment level that we need. And the kids are excited and seem up for that challenge.”

Hill’s focus now is getting back to some of the things that have made Weir High football what it has been for more than a century.

“We’re going to get back to what Weir High football was built on,” he said. “We’ve been in the weight room, actively talking to our kids in the hallway that maybe are only one or two sport athletes and inviting them into the weight room to see what we’re doing, really honing in on that.

“We’re looking at getting out in the community and getting our faces seen, maybe at the elementary school. We’ve reached out to the Weirton Baseball Association to see if they need any help in doing things. And then getting involved in our youth programs. Coming through the program when I was here, if you were a Weirton Steeler, you got to wear your jersey and go down to old Jimmy Carey and get in for free and get to run around the field and stuff. Those are things that we want to bring back that energized Weir High football for years.”