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Princeton University Athletics
Nicholas Hilliard
A Path To Success: Nicholas Hilliard '25
October 10, 2024 | Football
Nicholas Hilliard may have only been three years old at the time, but he still remembers the water starting to appear on the highway. Maybe he didn't fully understand the significance, but he knew it was bad.
In the backseat of a car on its way out of town and towards a challenging, unknown future, all he could do was cry.
His first home—and a hometown that held special appreciation for the Hilliard name—would never be the same afterwards. But he knows he was lucky. There were others that didn't escape Hurricane Katrina.
He did more than escape it. His family showed him a path to success from it, and now he is showing that same path to his peers at Princeton.
• • •
A banner, filled with legendary names from franchise lore, can be found within the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Dalton Hilliard, who rushed for more than 4,100 career yards and scored 53 touchdowns, all for the Saints, can be found on that banner.
Randy Hilliard is also New Orleans royalty, though not for his play with the Saints. A New Orleans native who played college ball at Northwestern State in Louisiana, Randy played nine years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with Denver.
Hilliard, who is related to both Dalton and Randy, was just a boy when his home was gutted by Katrina. His family spent years afterwards living with family members or in trailers, but in time they made their way to Darrow, Louisiana, a small town located an hour outside of New Orleans. Shari and Gregory Hilliard made sure their little boy — who isn't so little anymore — would get the chance to follow his dreams, regardless of Katrina's devastation.
"I credit a lot of what I do to my parents, not only for showing me perseverance, but also hard work in the face of overwhelming odds that would cause some people to fail," Hilliard said. "They went from nothing to building back up, and I was always coming home with three meals a day."
Those meals went to good use for Hilliard, who, like most in the area, had football in his blood. He loved the joy that his last name brought to people within his hometown, and he strived to be the best player he could be. He loved football so much that he competed in other sports outside of the fall just to make him a better player.
"A lot of different sports can translate to football," he said. "I used basketball for cardio and work on my footwork. Powerlifting was an extra incentive to lift more weight, and track focuses on technique, so throwing the shot put made me focus on building technique. Everything kept me in athletic shape, even when it wasn't football season."
When you're a young player living in the heart of SEC country, you naturally dream of playing in the big stadiums on Saturday afternoon. Hilliard accepted those as just that—a dream. His parents, who made sure football never came before academic success, mentioned after his sophomore year that it's possible he could have the best of both worlds.
Those worlds seemed closer than ever when Princeton showed interest — along with several other schools. Still … Princeton?
"When you first hear Ivy League, it can be intimidating," Hilliard admitted. "Coming from Louisiana, we didn't have too many guys going to Ivy schools. There was one guy from 2012 who went to Yale, and that was the only person from my school that I could remember. It didn't feel like it was in the realm of possibility."
The coaches explained why he fit at Princeton, and why Princeton would fit him — both for the next four years, and the 40 after that. When he went on his visit, which happened three months before the COVID pandemic shut the world down, he felt the connection and committed on the spot. He still remembers jumping around (as quietly as possible) with his future teammates on the seventh floor of their hotel that weekend.
"Talking to the coaches and meeting the players made me realize that this is the place I wanted to be," he said. "I want to be somewhere that pushes me to the edge on the field and off the field and makes me become the best version of myself that I can be."
It's hard to imagine a better version than the person Hilliard has become.
• • •
If you just focus on the football field, Hilliard is a success story. He earned limited time as a freshman, but he focused on both flexibility — he was strong, but too stiff, which was limiting his blocking — and slowing the game down as he headed into his sophomore season. He played every game that year, and he was a fulltime starter at offensive guard by his junior season.
Now he is part of a senior-laden interior line that sets the tone for first-year starting quarterback Blaine Hipa, and he wants to make things as comfortable as possible for his new signal-caller.
"We want [Hipa] to know it's OK to lean on us," said Hillard, a psychology major considering careers in business or psychology, including potentially mentoring high school athletes. "He has to know everything about the offense, and he has to diagnose everything in a split second. We want him to know that he has three leaders supporting him and invested in everything he does, and we will fight, scratch and claw to make sure you are successful."
Surace, a former Princeton All-Ivy offensive lineman, couldn't be happier with Hilliard leading Hipa, or anybody else on the team.
"Nick has grown so much through the last five years," he said. "He has always been strong, and he is one of the strongest in the weight room I've ever coached. But he has been such a force as a leader. It's not only on our team as captain, but he is also our Princeton athletics VSAAC (Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) leader and Ivy League student rep."
Leading the team on the field and off, and representing Princeton students in the Ivy League, is such a set of demanding responsibilities that his father recently asked why he does it all.
Nick's response was simple. "Somebody has to do it."
It got a laugh from his father, but in reality, Nick knows that his parents showed him what true leadership means, and he knows that he can be the same type of inspiration for others.
"Leadership is your ability to help the next person in line," he said. "If my experience can help the next guy have a smoother transition here, I owe it to myself and to them to try. I want to advocate for the people in that room."
Hilliard and his teammates will head to nationally ranked Mercer this weekend knowing the season hasn't started as they hoped. An injury-riddled start has left the team with a 1-2 record and an uphill climb coming their way.
Don't expect Hilliard to shed tears on his way out of town this time. He has seen far worse, and he knows success awaits those who persevere.
In the backseat of a car on its way out of town and towards a challenging, unknown future, all he could do was cry.
His first home—and a hometown that held special appreciation for the Hilliard name—would never be the same afterwards. But he knows he was lucky. There were others that didn't escape Hurricane Katrina.
He did more than escape it. His family showed him a path to success from it, and now he is showing that same path to his peers at Princeton.
• • •
A banner, filled with legendary names from franchise lore, can be found within the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Dalton Hilliard, who rushed for more than 4,100 career yards and scored 53 touchdowns, all for the Saints, can be found on that banner.
Randy Hilliard is also New Orleans royalty, though not for his play with the Saints. A New Orleans native who played college ball at Northwestern State in Louisiana, Randy played nine years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with Denver.
Hilliard, who is related to both Dalton and Randy, was just a boy when his home was gutted by Katrina. His family spent years afterwards living with family members or in trailers, but in time they made their way to Darrow, Louisiana, a small town located an hour outside of New Orleans. Shari and Gregory Hilliard made sure their little boy — who isn't so little anymore — would get the chance to follow his dreams, regardless of Katrina's devastation.
"I credit a lot of what I do to my parents, not only for showing me perseverance, but also hard work in the face of overwhelming odds that would cause some people to fail," Hilliard said. "They went from nothing to building back up, and I was always coming home with three meals a day."
Those meals went to good use for Hilliard, who, like most in the area, had football in his blood. He loved the joy that his last name brought to people within his hometown, and he strived to be the best player he could be. He loved football so much that he competed in other sports outside of the fall just to make him a better player.
"A lot of different sports can translate to football," he said. "I used basketball for cardio and work on my footwork. Powerlifting was an extra incentive to lift more weight, and track focuses on technique, so throwing the shot put made me focus on building technique. Everything kept me in athletic shape, even when it wasn't football season."
When you're a young player living in the heart of SEC country, you naturally dream of playing in the big stadiums on Saturday afternoon. Hilliard accepted those as just that—a dream. His parents, who made sure football never came before academic success, mentioned after his sophomore year that it's possible he could have the best of both worlds.
Those worlds seemed closer than ever when Princeton showed interest — along with several other schools. Still … Princeton?
"When you first hear Ivy League, it can be intimidating," Hilliard admitted. "Coming from Louisiana, we didn't have too many guys going to Ivy schools. There was one guy from 2012 who went to Yale, and that was the only person from my school that I could remember. It didn't feel like it was in the realm of possibility."
The coaches explained why he fit at Princeton, and why Princeton would fit him — both for the next four years, and the 40 after that. When he went on his visit, which happened three months before the COVID pandemic shut the world down, he felt the connection and committed on the spot. He still remembers jumping around (as quietly as possible) with his future teammates on the seventh floor of their hotel that weekend.
"Talking to the coaches and meeting the players made me realize that this is the place I wanted to be," he said. "I want to be somewhere that pushes me to the edge on the field and off the field and makes me become the best version of myself that I can be."
It's hard to imagine a better version than the person Hilliard has become.
• • •
If you just focus on the football field, Hilliard is a success story. He earned limited time as a freshman, but he focused on both flexibility — he was strong, but too stiff, which was limiting his blocking — and slowing the game down as he headed into his sophomore season. He played every game that year, and he was a fulltime starter at offensive guard by his junior season.
Now he is part of a senior-laden interior line that sets the tone for first-year starting quarterback Blaine Hipa, and he wants to make things as comfortable as possible for his new signal-caller.
"We want [Hipa] to know it's OK to lean on us," said Hillard, a psychology major considering careers in business or psychology, including potentially mentoring high school athletes. "He has to know everything about the offense, and he has to diagnose everything in a split second. We want him to know that he has three leaders supporting him and invested in everything he does, and we will fight, scratch and claw to make sure you are successful."
Surace, a former Princeton All-Ivy offensive lineman, couldn't be happier with Hilliard leading Hipa, or anybody else on the team.
"Nick has grown so much through the last five years," he said. "He has always been strong, and he is one of the strongest in the weight room I've ever coached. But he has been such a force as a leader. It's not only on our team as captain, but he is also our Princeton athletics VSAAC (Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) leader and Ivy League student rep."
Leading the team on the field and off, and representing Princeton students in the Ivy League, is such a set of demanding responsibilities that his father recently asked why he does it all.
Nick's response was simple. "Somebody has to do it."
It got a laugh from his father, but in reality, Nick knows that his parents showed him what true leadership means, and he knows that he can be the same type of inspiration for others.
"Leadership is your ability to help the next person in line," he said. "If my experience can help the next guy have a smoother transition here, I owe it to myself and to them to try. I want to advocate for the people in that room."
Hilliard and his teammates will head to nationally ranked Mercer this weekend knowing the season hasn't started as they hoped. An injury-riddled start has left the team with a 1-2 record and an uphill climb coming their way.
Don't expect Hilliard to shed tears on his way out of town this time. He has seen far worse, and he knows success awaits those who persevere.
Players Mentioned
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