Kenny Hill still wants to play. But has TCU’s prized student coach caught coaching bug?

Kenny Hill isn’t ready to give up his dreams of playing professionally yet.

He went through a Combine-esque workout for the Alliance of American Football recently, and hopes to play in the startup league beginning in February.

In the meantime, the former TCU and Southlake Carroll standout is working as a student coach with the Frogs as he finishes his psychology degree this fall.

So far, so good on the coaching front. It’s been a natural fit with Hill for one of his mentors, TCU offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, and helping out his replacement at quarterback, Shawn Robinson.

“He’s been a steady hand to help Sonny and just talk to Shawn,” coach Gary Patterson said. “I’ve noticed since he’s gotten back, both [Shawn and backup Michael Collins], have become a lot more calm. You’ve got another guy in their ear just saying, ‘It’s going to be all right. I went through this too.’”

Hill has embraced the coaching aspect, too. He brings a different perspective after spending time with the Oakland Raiders and Montreal Alouettes this offseason after going undrafted.

A typical day consists of Hill partaking in the coaching meetings, breaking down film, putting in the quarterback notes and doing whatever else is necessary.

“It’s been fun, definitely been different being on this side of it,” Hill said. “We’ve got a great group of guys and they make it easy.”

Hill, 23, capped off a solid college career by starting for the Frogs the past two seasons. He had a memorable senior season, leading the Frogs to an 11-3 record and Alamo Bowl victory. He set a TCU bowl record with 401 yards of total offense (314 passing, 60 rushing and 27 receiving) in the win. It highlighted the end of what had been a college career with plenty of highs and lows.

Hill started his college career at Texas A&M, replacing Johnny Manziel, and earned the starting nod in 2014. He got off to a fast start and became a sensation as “Kenny Trill” – a name his family trademarked.

Things unraveled quickly, though, and Hill opted to transfer to TCU and sit out the 2015 season. But Hill has no regrets with how his college career unfolded.

“I had a great time. Looking back on it, you go through the ups and downs and you learn a lot,” Hill said. “But I think it’s helped me for now and if I try to continue with this coaching thing, I think it’ll help me be able to talk to players going forward.”

Hill mentioned the Alamo Bowl being among his highlights, as well as early road wins at Arkansas and Oklahoma State last season.

Oh, and beating Texas twice was nice.

“That’s different, though,” Hill said, laughing. “Anytime you beat Texas … I mean you grow up watching Texas and of course you want to win those games.”

As stated, Hill is trying to continue his playing career. He enjoyed his brief stints in the NFL and CFL.

As he said about being with the Raiders and coach Jon Gruden, “That was sick. It was a cool experience for sure.”

Now he’s focused on trying to land a spot in the AAF. Hill, who was a standout baseball player in high school and is the son of former MLB pitcher Ken Hill, said he has no interest in pursuing professional baseball.

He’s all football for now. If that doesn’t work out, he may have caught the coaching bug in his short time on Patterson’s staff.

“I would love to coach,” Hill said. “It is crazy. My whole life I was like, ‘Man, I don’t think I can coach. I don’t want to do it.’ Then I got out and last year for the most part I would coach Shawn. I would teach him everything I knew. I’ve done lessons with quarterbacks in the past, so I was like ‘this could be fun.’

“I called up coach Cumbie, said I was trying to come back to school and asked, ‘Do you think I can come over there and coach?’ He was like, ‘Man, absolutely. Talk to coach P.’

“So it’s been fun.”

Hill and Patterson developed a good relationship during Hill’s playing days, and now he is showing value as a coaching assistant. And Hill knows the difference between “Coach P” and “Gary.”

“He’s a good guy … just don’t do anything wrong on the field,” Hill said, smiling. “Gary is more of a laid back guy. He plays the guitar, he can sing, he’s really just a normal guy. He’s cool.

“On the field, Coach P, is just intense. He gets after it. He pushes everybody for perfection. He coaches hard, but that’s what you want.”

Time will tell whether Hill develops a coaching persona one day.