When Georgia Southern restarted football in 1982 it marked the start of one of the most successful runs in college football history.

Now a full-fledged FBS team as a member of the Sun Belt Conference the Eagles were an FCS power, i.e. Division I-AA, as they won six national championships. Those championship teams were often built on the backs of walk-ons who came just wanting to get the opportunity to play college football. Many went on to become All-Americans.

In today’s FBS world the walk-on is more of an anomaly than an every day scholarship player.

Tracy Hill, Jr., is a throwback in that he, too, came to Georgia Southern as a walk-on and earned a scholarship after two years. Now a fifth-year starting defensive back Hill no doubt gives some of those old Eagles a reason to smile.

Hill, who played high school football at Clarke Central in Athens, started his Georgia Southern career like so many of his predecessors. He played scout team while being redshirted. The following year he played in 13 games primarily on special teams.

The breakthrough and the scholarship came after his redshirt sophomore season when he played in 13 games, starting 10. That led Coach Clay Helton making a phone call that led to making Hill’s life a lot easier.

“It was amazing,” Hill said. “Coach Helton called me on Christmas break. I was just sitting at home by myself. It was one of the best calls I ever had.

“I called my mom (Inga) right away. She was at a basketball game. I can’t imagine any play I’ve made here that could top that phone call.”

Hill’s mother attended Georgia Southern. He has three sisters. His father, Tracy, Sr., passed away when he was nine years old so going on scholarship was also huge financially.

In today’s world of players moving in and out after only a season or two Hill is an Eagle through and through. He graduated in the fall of 2025 and is currently in graduate school. As an undergraduate he made the Sun Belt Conference Academic Commissioners List the last two years for maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

When Hill came to Georgia Southern, he said he did not have any real expectations other than becoming the best player he could possibly be and hopefully earn a scholarship.

Going into Thursday night’s game at Old Dominion the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Hill had obviously checked off most of the boxes. He’s played in 45 games during the course of his career, starting 27.

While he’s put in the time and effort, Hill also has a deep sense of gratitude to the coaches he has had at Georgia Southern, especially Helton.

“When I came here, I just wanted grow my craft and continue to get better each and every day and eventually get a scholarship,” Hill said. “I thank Coach Helton for that.

“Coach Helton has helped me in every corner of my life, just not as a football player but growing as a Christian man, with stuff outside of football. He helped me get into the master’s program here. He’s done an amazing job for me in helping me grow as a person since high school.

“The coaches I’ve had here all saw my potential and worked with me, even on Sundays. They all continued to believe in me. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

As a veteran player and one who has been in the program for five years Hill has also helped play an important role in helping evaluate players transferring in from the portal.

“When players come in for their visit, even before their commitment, the coaches invite us to meet with them to see what kind of guy they are,” Hill said. “We want to know what kind of character they have, if they have the right character for our football team.

“Everyone has different quality and character traits,” Hill said. “We look at how they carry themselves, what they like to do outside of football, how they’re going to fit into life in Statesboro.

“A lot of it goes into their families, too. When they come with their families, we get a gist of how they’ve been raised, what kind of people have brought them up, brought them into the world. It’s been not only good players that have come in to our program, but good families, too.

“There’s been a lot of good people come in here and a lot of them are not football players. I’ve made a lot of friends I’ll have for the rest of my life.”