You might not find Tim Hiller of Orrville High School on the so called
"A" list of quarterback prospects right now, but he certainly has the
credentials to be among them. Hiller was very busy this summer attending camps
to hone his skills and get his name in circulation even more than it already
was.
"We went to a lot of one-day camps to have them evaluate me and try to
get my name out there, making the rounds, and all the camps went well,"
Hiller said. "A lot of these camps wanted to see you throw in person, see
you throw live. Quarterback is a position where you only take one a year
usually, and you can’t make a mistake, and they want to make sure they’re
getting the right guy.
"So I got a lot of positive feedback as far as my mechanics and being
accurate and things like that. So I feel pretty good about where I am right
now."
In addition to the Nike camp at Ohio State, Hiller attended camps at West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Miami of Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, Pittsburgh,
Wisconsin, Purdue, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State.
"In May, 23 different schools came to Orrville High School to talk to
Coach (Bill) McMillan and almost every single one of them said, ‘We like your
film and we want you to come to our camp,’ " Hiller said. "Well
there’s no way you could go to all of them and so we judged it based on how
much interest we felt we had in them and how much interest they had in me. And
so we (family and McMillan) based it on that and we looked at schools we felt
that I can play at on this level."
Of course, his camp experience at Ohio State was as good as any of them.
Hiller, along with guys like Rob Schoenhoft and Jason Forcier, attended the
Sunday senior advance camp there.
"We’ve been to Ohio State several times now and I did the week long
camp there last year," he said. "Everybody in Ohio grows up a Buckeye
fan for the most part. It definitely was a great experience and there were a lot
of top (QBs) there, and I love that type of competition. I can really get after
it with these guys and see where I stand because these guys are getting
recruited by everyone across the country. So it was a lot of fun. I thought I
had a pretty good day there. I threw pretty well and I tested okay, and I
thought it went it well."
Hiller was not only motivated to perform alongside those other top signal
callers, but he was confident that he could hold his own as well.
"A quarterback has to be confident, and I’m confident in my
abilities," he said. "I feel that I make good decisions, and I’m
every bit as accurate as a lot of them. I’m not being as highly recruited as
they are on a national scale, but I’m confident in what I can do, and I feel
that I can play with the best of them."
Although his aspirations are as high as those QB’s he competed with, Hiller
is happy with the way his own recruitment is going.
"I’m comfortable with how this process is going. We have to be a
little bit more patient," he said. "But the process is really starting
to pick up now. I have some favorites, but I’m not going to say right now. I
don’t even feel I can make a top five (list) at this time."
And his time frame for making his final decision is unknown to him as well
right now.
"It would be nice to make the decision before the season, but I know
that I’m not going to let this recruiting process intertwine with Orrville’s
season in any way," Hiller said. "It’s my senior year, my biggest
season yet, and we’re going to have a good year this year. We have a lot of
guys back, and the season takes precedence over this recruiting process. So I
don’t really know when the decision will come. It’s got to be the right fit,
and we will see how it goes. As long as we find the best place for me, that’s
first and foremost."
The camps in general that he has attended have proven to be an overall aid,
in his mind, in the recruiting process.
"I think the camps were good for exposure and they were good for seeing
where I stand with those particular schools," Hiller said. "And they
were good just to get a lot of reps in and work on getting better while also
being evaluated. So I thought they went very well."
And Ohio State’s camp in particular, Hiller thought he left them with a
favorable impression of himself with them whether or not he moved up in their QB
pecking order.
"I talked to Joe Daniels afterwards and he was very impressed,"
said Hiller who was rated the 65th best prospect in the state in the spring by
Ohio High. "Since the last time I had seen him, I gained about 10 pounds
and gotten stronger, and he felt that I was throwing the ball a lot better than
when he previously seen me. He doesn’t have a time frame right now for this.
They have an offer out to Schoenhoft and (Mark) Sanchez as far as I know, and
they may take two this year with losing (Joe) Bauserman to baseball. So a lot of
us other quarterbacks are kind of waiting to see what those two do and then the
chips will start to fall in place."
At 6-4, 215 pounds, Hiller fits the description of being a pocket passer in
the Red Riders wide-open offense. He’s already got two years of varsity
experience under center going into his senior campaign. Last season, Hiller
threw for 2,820 yards with 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
"We’re a spread team, and we throw the ball a lot. I think that
schools are seeing that I make good decisions, I have good vision and, when
necessary, I can tuck it and run," said Hiller who was timed at 4.69
seconds in the 40-yard dash and recorded a 4.18 second shuttle at the Nike camp.
"I was able to run for six touchdowns last year, and if necessary I can
pull it down and run. Our running game will be better this year, which will help
me in the passing game."
Ultimately Hiller would like to lead Orrville to another state title like in
the 1998 season when Justin Zwick led the Red Riders to the championship before
he transferred to Massillon in his junior season.
"His family still lives in town and we consider ourselves friends with
their family," Hiller said. "I was the ball boy growing up, and Justin’s
a good kid as are his parents and brother and sister. We got to talk to him
after the Scarlet and Gray game. We talked to him and his family and I had a few
words with him. It was good to see him.
"When I was younger, him and his brother Jared (played QB for Jim Tressel at YSU) were the two quarterbacks that I tried to emulate. Being from
Orrville, we always followed them and I definitely have respect for Justin, not
only as a player but as a person."
Like Zwick, Hiller would love to play in the Big Ten, be it Ohio State or
anywhere else, or the ACC, but he could be happy in the MAC if that’s in the
cards.
"We’re pretty wide open," he said. "I feel that I can play
in the Big Ten or the ACC, that top level, but at the same time you look at guys
like Josh Harris and Ben Roethlisberger from the MAC schools, and they play as
good a brand of football as anyone and they throw the ball around.
"So we’ll see what plays out over these next couple of months as far
as recruiting, but I feel that I can play at that high a level. I’m confident
in what I can do, and at these camps I performed well enough that people can see
that I can play at this level, and I’m excited for what’s coming up."
Hiller, who averages 18 points a game in basketball and was the conference
player of the year, has a 4.0 GPA (all A’s) with a 27 on the ACT and 1,160
SAT.