By: Jake Spitz - Media Relations Student Assistant

When spring and summer break rolls around, most Maryland students head home or to a tropical island to get away from the stress of school. However, Maryland senior quarterback Perry Hills took advantage of his rare time off and went to work on his craft with a former NFL quarterback.

Hills joined his fellow Pennsylvanian Gus Frerotte back home in preparation for the 2016 season.

“Gus and I started working together during winter break,” Hills explained. “Everything we were working on had a direct influence on what I would work on when I got back to school.”

The two met after Hills bumped into an old coach of his while at Panera Bread during winter break. Frerotte was coaching quarterbacks at Hills' high school alma mater, and by the next day Hills was ready to get to work.

The cold Pennsylvania winter meant the duo had to practice indoors at a baseball facility Hills' cousins own.

“We would meet in there every day during the winter and I saw the results right away,” Hills said.

Hills and Frerotte made a lot of progress that winter, which made him even more inclined to work with the former-NFL journeyman again in the spring and summer.

“It was great to be able to get outside when I went back home in the spring,” Hills said. “I started to visualize things when we got out onto the field and we were really able to make progress.”

With Maryland's spread-style offense under new offensive coordinator Walt Bell, Hills will be asked to be active with the ball, which is something he's very comfortable with. Frerotte showed Hills various drills that would allow him to work on getting the ball out of his hands quicker and throwing while moving in the pocket to adapt to the new style of offense.

“With our new offense I have to get the ball out quicker than before,” Hills explained. “Gus and I worked on getting the ball straight up to my ear to avoid extra time and movement.”

Hills is known for his ability to get out of the pocket and run with the ball. He set the single-game Maryland quarterback record for yards rushed in a game with 170 at No. 1 Ohio State last season.

“A lot of our running schemes for quarterbacks in the new offense are similar to the past in that the concepts are the same, but it's a little different footwork.”

The two focused on footwork more than anything else due to the new offensive attack.

“We did a lot of footwork,” Hills noted with a grin. “He brought a lot of things to my attention that I wouldn't ordinarily think about. Once he did, I realized it all made a lot of sense.”  

Because of the limited time they had to work together, Hills knew he had to soak up as much information as possible.

“Our time together was so short that I realized I had to work on this stuff on my own,” Hills said. “When I wasn't with him I would go in my basement and have my mom videotape me in slow-motion while I threw a ball into the couch. I'd look at my stride, my footwork, and all the things Gus and I worked on together.”

The fruits of Hills' labor were evident when Maryland took to the field for spring practices.

“I quickly realized how much better I was because of our time together,” Hills explained. “I felt stronger with the ball, I was more confident in the pocket and I just felt like I was able to do more on the field than I was before.”

Every quarterback needs to be confident, and that's the skill Hills developed most during his time with Frerotte.

“When I got back to school I realized I was much more confident in myself as a player,” Hills said. “I knew I was ready for this season and ready to take the next step in my game.”

-Maryland-