Jordan Hill made like a bear last winter, eating whatever he could find to gain weight.
Only Hill's delicacy of choice wasn't honey, it was protein shakes. He would down one as soon as he got up, a few more throughout the day, and most importantly, another right before he went to bed. Met-Rx was his drink brand, but ASU's sophomore defensive tackle would still drink "anything I could get my hands on." And of course, there was room for a number of feasts throughout the day.
"I obviously did all the abnormal things that people would do," Hill said. "Coaches told me, 'Don't worry about your weight anymore, just eat whatever you need and put on as much weight as you can."
By the time spring football came around in April, Hill had bulked up to his current weight of 275 pounds, a 25-pound addition. He would need every ounce of it to compete in the middle of the Sun Devils' defensive line.
During his first two seasons in Tempe, Hill assumed the position of middle linebacker. After redshirting in 2002 and totaling 19 tackles last season while starting just two games, Hill made his way into defensive coordinator Brent Guy's office to see if there was a way he could see more playing time in the future.
With both ASU's defensive tackles from 2003, Brian Montesanto and Shane Jones, out of eligibility, the Sun Devils faced an alarming depth issue along its front four, giving Hill an opportunity to change positions.
While he wasn't expected to compete for a starting job in the preseason, Hill amazed coaches with his athleticism from the beginning of Camp Tontozona. Now, Hill has started all 10 of ASU's games and leads defensive linemen with 37 tackles, including 5.5 sacks.
"To be honest, he's made the transition better even than we had hoped," head coach Dirk Koetter said. "We were hoping he could just add depth for us at D-tackle, but he surpassed our expectations because of his ability to make plays. He's not a textbook defensive tackle, but he doesn't stay blocked, and he plays with relentless effort. His ability to get to the quarterback and disrupt plays has been huge."
Despite having minimal experience as a defensive lineman, Hill felt it was his time at the linebacker position that helped him shed 300-pound offensive linemen this season.
"As a linebacker, when you're blitzing, you want to play on the offensive lineman's edge," he said. "That is one thing that has helped me out a lot, is to try and make it so I'm not getting blocked."
But Hill's experiences stretch far beyond the football field, and changing positions is not the only transition through which he's gone.
Although he is a third-year sophomore by class standing, Hill is one of the oldest players on the Sun Devils at age 23. Following his days competing at Highland High School in Pocatello, Idaho, Hill went on a two-year Mormon mission in Sydney, Australia -- an experience he said he "wouldn't trade for anything in the world."
In the Land Down Under, however, Hill did not have a 16,000-square-foot weight room at his disposal as he does at ASU. In fact, his only means of strength training were sit-ups, push-ups and "a couple of dumbbells." Then there were long hours of playing basketball and rugby with his roommates.
Within a matter of weeks after returning from his mission in the summer of 2002, Hill hit the road again, as he left with the Sun Devils to Camp Tontozona. He wasn't exactly in football shape.
"When I got back here, I could tell my conditioning wasn't where it needed to be to compete at this level," he said. "It was also weird heading right to camp and being thrown back into football with a bunch of guys I didn't know.
"There were a few times where I was like, 'Man, is it really worth it?' But all those things build character and give you confidence."
Hill decided to add one more unique experience for a person of his age when he married his girlfriend, Megan Durdy, in the summer of 2003. Durdy is the cousin of former ASU All-American gymnast Maggie Germaine, and the niece of former Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine, who played against the Sun Devils in the 1997 Rose Bowl.
However, Hill's connections to ASU run even deeper -- he actually attended the same high school as Koetter and was coached by Koetter's brother in Idaho.
Hill said his relationship with the Koetter family was a primary reason he decided to attend ASU instead of Brigham Young University.
"I knew what I was getting into with coach Koetter," Hill said. "I really enjoyed his philosophies and style of coaching, and I liked how he was family-oriented."
With so many learning experiences on his resume, it is hard to believe Hill has two more seasons left to play in the maroon and gold. But it appears he has many experiences in front of him as well.
"Jordan is a mature guy, and when guys are more mature, they can accept some of the things that happen to them in college football," Koetter said. "The fact that he still has two more years to play is a real bonus and is a credit to Jordan for what he has done."
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
