Photo courtesy of MSU athletics
After weeks of speculation and second-guessing, Mississippi State tailback Kylin Hill made it official, he is opting out of the 2020 campaign and will begin his preparation for the NFL Draft.
Hill later added his family had been hit hard by the COVID-19 virus, along with some other off the field issues that had taken his focus away from football.
My family was hit with Covid bad and my brother recently had brain surgery & also got Covid including my mom .. Want to Thank Coach Leach for giving me time to myself and understanding my situation & how stressed out I was about it which he never rushed me 🖤 thanks for helping
— Kylin Hill (@H_Kylin) November 3, 2020
For his career, Hill will leave Mississippi State as the university’s 9th all-time leading rushers. He piled up 2535 yards with 22 combined touchdowns in his career. Hill was named first-team all-SEC by the Associated Press in 2019, and won the CSpire Conerly Trophy as the best football player in Mississippi following his junior campaign. His senior season started out with great promise, as he racked up over 190 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in State’s season-opening victory over then #6 LSU, but the two games that followed were marred by injury and ineffectiveness, as the Bulldog offense ground to a sudden halt. Hill did not play against Texas A&M or Alabama, being cited as “unavailable” by head coach Mike Leach.
The last 11 months have been eventful for Hill, who declared for the draft following the 2019 season only to return after Leach was named head coach. During the summer, as the debate surrounding the state flag of Mississippi raged, Hill moved to the forefront, tweeting he would not play for Mississippi State in 2020 if the flag were to remain unchanged.
Either change the flag or I won’t be representing this State anymore 💯 & I meant that .. I’m tired https://t.co/IzizpWLoIg
— Kylin Hill (@H_Kylin) June 22, 2020
Hill’s tweet provided a final push over the line for the hot button issue, as within days the state legislature ruled to removed the flag and proceed with a process to create a new one. Hill’s national image saw him become one of the faces of college football in the next few weeks, as the debate on whether or not the season would actually happen heated up. Now, his career in Starkville is over with this decision.
