Dude Of The Year: Former HS Football Coach Leads Team To Texas State BBQ Championship
Joel Villanueva. Getty Images.ESPN -- Sean Hill grew up following his heart like so many Texans, dreaming of coaching a high school football team to a state championship. But a few years ago, with a decade of coaching experience in Rockwall, just outside of Dallas, he opted instead to follow his nose, giving it all up for the slow-and-low world of competitive barbecue.
"The practices smell better," said Hill, "and at the end of it, you get to eat what you work on all day."
Just three years after his change of careers, Hill coached a team to his elusive first state championship. His 205 Pitmasters Team Smoke, representing Rockwall Independent School District's Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy, was named grand champion out of 92 teams at the 2023 Texas High School BBQ State Championship on May 6.
High school sports are the heart and soul of this country. You've got a group of kids who have spent their entire lives growing up together. Best friends through kindergarten until the day they graduate. They started playing sports together since before they could even tie their own shoes. And then one day maybe you're lucky enough to get a chance to win a high school state championship for your community. Something that will bond you all together for the rest of eternity. Something to always bring up even as the year of the reunions continue to grow. There's really nothing like that bond. Without high school sports, this country would be nothing.
That all gets ramped up when you're in a hot bed. Maybe it's high school baseball in California. Maybe it's high school hockey in Minnesota, maybe it's high school lacrosse in Baltimore or Philly or Long Island. Maybe it's high school football in Texas. The intensity is just at another level. And when we're talking about hotbeds for barbecue, it doesn't get much hotter than Texas. You win a state championship for BBQ in Texas and you know you're the best in the country.
Coach Hill. What an absolute Dude. Formal Dude, capital 'D'. A Dude who spent 10 years coaching high school football in Texas. He had probably seen all that high school football in America could possibly offer at that point. So instead of chasing after state in football, he decided he'd make the jump over to competitive barbecue. You want to talk about the heat of preseason training camps? You want to talk about two-a-days? Try smoking 15 briskets and 30 racks of ribs on a 275° offset smoker while it's 100 degrees outside. That's damn near 24 hours straight of sweating your ass off, grinding on that fire, all to dial in your technique to win it all.
Coach Hill just gets it. I couldn't be happier for the man. A champion for life.