Justin Hill has had better years statistically.
Winton Woods High School football coach Chad Murphy admits the 2025 Alabama football four-star commit has not been as dominant as his 2023 campaign where he had 16 tackles-for-loss and 13 sacks, per 247Sports.
But Hill’s been the same player he’s always been, Murphy said, one who draws double teams, one who creates plays for the 10 players around him on defense.
“This year,” Murphy said, “it’s kind of been wherever he’s at, let’s go the other way.”
In his senior season at Winton Woods in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hill has played “really, really well,” Murphy said. Hill has remained healthy while continuing to be a great teammate and leader before he enrolls at Alabama in January.
Alabama knows exactly what it’s going to do with a player like Hill. All the Crimson Tide has to do is turn on the film of players like Dallas Turner and Qua Russaw.
Hill will play Wolf linebacker, a “dynamic position,” per Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, that asks a lot of that particular player, from rushing the passer off the edge in five- or nine-technique sets, to playing man and zone coverage against running backs and tight ends, to filling run fits as a middle linebacker.
In a way, it’s the role Hill fills at Winton Woods as a “hybrid” defensive end and outside linebacker.
It’s the package Hill was made for. It was the package that differentiated Alabama from the rest of the pack, including in-state power Ohio State.
“They’ve already had packages, used guys in packages like that,” Murphy said. “(They) have told him they’re going to continue to do so. And Ohio State kind of continued to talk about the package, but hadn’t really implemented it and ran it a whole bunch. So I know that was big for Justin, and I think that’s probably why they like him because of his versatility.”
Hill is the No. 52 player in the 2025 class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. He is one of four linebackers committed in Alabama’s 2025 class along with four-star Darrell Johnson, four-star Dawson Merritt and four-star Luke Metz.
And despite Alabama’s losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, Hill, Murphy said, is “solid” in his commitment to the Crimson Tide.
“Everything’s as planned,” Murphy said.
Hill is ready for the transition, Murphy said. He’s a “mature kid,” one that will “fit right into” the Alabama outside linebackers room.
It’s what Murphy said he will miss about Hill, someone who will leave a legacy as a good player, but a better human being and teammate at Winton Woods.
“We’ve been blessed around here,” Murphy said. “We’ve got kids at Ohio State and Utah. We’ve got them all over the country. He’s just continuing on the kind of young men that played here in a really good football program in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continued to be a great teammate and make the people around him better.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him atcgay@gannett.com or follow him@_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
