With a reported free release in hand, former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill vaults near the top of potential “free agents” available for major college football consumption.

It’s rare that you find an extremely talented signal-caller on the market, and it’s even rarer for that QB to have had the type of success Hill found in his one season (ish) as starter for the Aggies.

But that’s exactly what you get with the 6’1″, 215-pound Southlake, TX., native. You also potentially get a wanna-be celebrity who is more concerned with his popularity opposed to putting his head down, accomplishing his goals and letting the rest fall into place.

His 23-touchdown, eight-interception showing, in a truncated season, was mired in controversy from everything surrounding his god-awful nickname (Kenny Trill), to a two-game suspension for violation of team rules and athletic department policy.

And when true freshman, and No. 1-ranked recruit, Kyle Allen showed he was worthy of his top billing, rumors began to swirl that Hill wasn’t long for College Station.

Which leads us here.

Although Hill must sit for one year under NCAA transfer rules, unless he drops down a classification, his presence at numerous schools could have national title implications; let’s examine which schools would be an ideal fit.

University of Michigan

Football’s preeminent quarterback whisperer has taken a job with one of the, if not the, most prestigious college programs in existence.

When former University of Stanford and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh decided to take over at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, you could almost feel the seismic shockwaves being sent through the college football landscape.

After all, nobody has displayed a better feel for offensive personnel, in the form of QBs, than the once Pro-Bowl NFL QB.

He’s directly tied to two of the NFL’s most exciting QBs in Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts) and Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers). While Luck was undoubtedly a once-in-a-generation can’t-miss prospect, Kaepernick was viewed as a raw project when Harbaugh hand-picked him in the second round of the NFL draft in 2011.

But I wholeheartedly believe it was the revival of the previously labeled bust Alex Smith that showed Harbaugh was a cut above just about anyone else. He’s shown that he can have success with “game managers” or flashy playmaker types.

ExoticQBRunGame

Hill has the skills to be both. I can certainly imagine Hill navigating the exotic-QB run game that Harbaugh often deployed Kaepernick on (as seen above).

Harbaugh runs a super modernized version of the West Coast offense complete with a ton of move-the-pocket, bootleg and designed QB run packages. His offense will always be run-oriented which takes the pressure off his signal-callers and allows for favorable matchups and coverages.

CrazyRunGame

Case in point: Playing out of this type of rushing scheme makes it hard for the defense to focus on just the passing attack.

While Michigan probably won’t be elite next season, once Harbaugh gets a full recruiting cycle under his belt the team will begin to improve dramatically, which coincides with Hill’s eligibility.

Hill is extremely accurate in the short-to-intermediate game and throws on the run very well. Although he’s naturally a pocket-passer, he has the prerequisite athleticism to perform a lot of the duties Kaepernick was charged with.

He’s also shown the ability to be able to understand offensive and defensive concepts, and he’s pretty good at assimilating information at the line of scrimmage. Harbaugh also loves to make use of tight ends, sometimes going with “13 personnel” at Stanford. In fact, he had three NFL tight ends on the roster when he left: Zach Ertz, Coby Fleener and Levine Toilolo.

Those type of targets make for a quick transition for any QB; Hill would be a star under Harbaugh and would completely bolster his draft stock.

Quick Notes On Michigan:

  • Style: Multiplicative West Coast
  • Notable QB Comp: Some J.A.G. named Shane Morris
  • Outlook: Harbaugh will have Michigan contending in the next three to four seasons

University of Oklahoma 

There’s nothing like continuity in football. In fact, it’s perhaps the most common overlooked factor in personnel development.

With the reported hiring of East Carolina offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, the University of Oklahoma now has, yet, another disciple of the famed Hal Mumme/Mike Leach coaching tree.

Ironically, Leach himself once coordinated an offense for Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops when the coach was just beginning his tenure in Norman in 1999. Moreover, and most importantly, the most successful coach to make use of the Mumme-Leach “Air raid” scheme just so happens to be Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Boom!

Hill could transfer to Oklahoma and, granted Riley doesn’t accept a head coaching job if he’s a success in first season with Stoops, could step right in with little-to-no learning curve.

As much as people hate to admit, especially those in our beloved Southeastern Conference, Stoops is one of the five best coaches in football and has a long track record of success with QBs — most notably with former Heisman Trophy winner Jason White, and with former No. 1-overall pick Sam Bradford.

Riley did a masterful job with QBs Dominique Davis and Shane Carden — the latter of which was a two-time conference player of the year at East Carolina.

CatchAndAdvance

Running a Shotgun-based, hurry-up, no-huddle offensive attack is in Hill’s blood. Stoops could have complete trust that Hill could navigate the true essence of the scheme, which incorporates short, timely throws designed at dictating to the defense.

Quick Notes On Oklahoma:

  • Style: Air Raid
  • Notable QB Comp: Trevor Knight (The sophomore had a disappointing sophomore season and will officially be on notice is he doesn’t improve: 14 TDs, 12 INTs, 56.6 completion percentage).

Louisiana State University

If I had it my way, potential Ohio State University free agent Braxton Miller would transfer to Louisiana State University for this season with Hill following him for the season after (click here to read my breakdown of his fit with LSU).

LSU may be the most talented team in the nation, but it also has, perhaps, the worst QB play as well. Sophomore QB Anthony Jennings has shown a propensity for mistakes, and his lack of accuracy in the quick game which completely stifled LSU’s offense despite the presence of about 10 NFL-caliber skill players.

Highly touted true freshman Brandon Harris was deemed the program’s savior until he actually played against viable competition and looked like he sipped from the same fountain as Jennings. And the fact that Harris wasn’t able to unseat Jennings — even with a few weeks of competition for the bowl game — has to be unnerving for fans of this great program.

That’s not to say either player can’t improve, but do you really want to take a chance and waste a couple of years where you have the most talent in the conference?

For Hill, a chance to operate an offense designed by former NFL head coach Cam Cameron would be worth its weight in gold. Cameron runs a pro-style attack but is as versatile as it gets as he’s sprinkled in quite a bit of college-based concepts: read-option, sprint-option and “pistol” formations.

Hill could expect to learn three-, five- and seven-step drops designed at executing a pure stretch-vertical scheme — the same one we saw Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco thrive under for years.

JenningsPlayAction

Also expect plenty of play-action centered on a run game piloted by super freak Leonard Fournette. Hill would also get top-flight talents Malachi Dupre, John Diarse, Trey Quinn and Tyron Johnson at receiver.

Cameron can lay claim to helping Drew Brees shed his bust label as the OC for the San Diego Chargers. But his work with former University of Georgia transfer Zach Mettenberger officially re-put him back on the map at LSU.

Having Hill lead LSU to a title will put him back on someone’s sideline as a head coach.

Quick Notes On LSU:

  • Style: Adaptive Vertical-stretch (Pro-style)
  • Notable QB Comp: Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris

Other Notable Programs

Texas Christian would be a perfect landing spot as well, which may be the route Hill ultimately chooses. TCU’s offense experienced a surge under former Leach protégé Sonny Cumbie; Hill would be a scheme-specific fit for an ultra-talented TCU squad.

If the University of Florida is unable to develop a solid option this year for new coaches Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier (OC), Hill could step right in and very well change the plight of the entire program for the pro-style based Gators.

Finally, Arkansas HC Bret Bielema knows how to make it work with talented transfers as he helped Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson thrive at the University of Wisconsin after he left North Carolina State. He could very well replicate that success with Hill behind his powerful pro-style offensive attack.

Hill has a skill set very similar to Wilson’s and would look good operating behind what will continue to be the best offensive line and run game combination in the SEC.

It’s all on you, Kenny.