Leadership Personified: Nasir Hill '26

By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

Nasir Hill would eventually become one of the best safeties to play for Bob Surace at Princeton, but on this particular Friday night, Surace wasn't there to scout him. He wasn't even rooting for him. Hill's Saint Augustine team was facing Notre Dame, quarterbacked by Surace's son — and current Rutgers freshman — AJ Surace.

Surace already knew Hill was an elite defensive back; he had earned all-state honors and was well on his way to a second. But that night, Hill's versatility and selflessness stood out even more. When injuries forced him to slide into a middle linebacker role, he didn't just adapt for his team — he dominated, showing the same physicality and leadership that defined his play in the secondary.

It wasn't the first time Hill had stepped up for his team. As a freshman, he switched to running back to fill a need on offense. Time and again, Hill has shown one consistent truth: wherever he lines up, he gets the job done.

• • •

Hill remembers the feeling of exhilaration as a child when he had a football in his hand.

"I loved running the ball," said Hill, a senior co-captain. "I felt free. I got bigger and better as I got older, and I just loved being able to play the game."

Hill began dreaming of an NFL future when he was five, and his initial dreams saw him at the wide receiver position. An early trainer offered a different pathway: play defensive back, where you don't need to rely on another player getting you the ball.

"I wanted the ball every play in high school," Hill said, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns in his first game at safety. "I needed some time to mature to understand the position. I was naturally good at it, and I realized if I train here and work hard at the position, I can excel and maybe be even better at the next level. I had to grow up a bit, because high school had been about the fun and just going to get the ball, but I needed to get more technical. That's what I did my junior year of high school."

That's when he started receiving all-state recognition and caught the eye of several schools, including Princeton. Hill knew he could receive the best education possible if he attended Princeton, but the NFL dream never died, and he saw a path there as well. While Princeton had one football player drafted between 1981-2012, five players have been drafted over the last 12 years, including former teammates Andrei Iosivas '23 and Jalen Travis '24.

"We had 32 NFL teams come during my freshman year," said Hill, who found varsity time during his rookie season despite being in a crowded locker room. "I knew we had a good pipeline. I was a young guy trying to get my feet wet, and seeing the guys around me like Jalen, Andrei, [undrafted Minnesota Viking] Henry Byrd gave me the sense of hope. I knew I could live out my dream."

• • •

The physicality of the game was never an issue for Hill, though he was especially proud of the gains he made in the weight room after his freshman season. The experience he gained from that first fall, and then the growth that came from watching film and understanding the defense, made the game slow down significantly.

"I would watch clips and then go outside and just drill," he said. "Drilling plays, drilling different coverages, figuring out where I think I would need to be. I worked at technique so I could be efficient at everything I did. I became more disciplined, and I stayed hungry."

Since then, Hill has been a constant presence on the Princeton defense. After he broke into the defensive back rotation as a freshman, Hill earned the starting job his sophomore season and never let it go. He made 62 tackles in 2023 to earn second-team All-Ivy League honors, and he followed that with a second straight All-Ivy season last year.

"Nasir Hill is one of the top safeties to play at Princeton in my 40 years of being a player, alum and head coach," Surace said. "He has a hunger to constantly grow and he has played his best football recently. Beyond just being an exceptional player, he brings excellence as a leader."

It couldn't have surprised anybody when Hill was elected captain prior to the 2025 season. He was always a leader by example, but his time at Princeton showed him other ways to lead.

"College is when I really gained my voice," Hill said. "I understood that people listened to me and respected what I was saying. It took some maturing to embrace a leadership role like that. Being voted captain by my teammates was one of the best things ever for the simple fact that these guys respected me and were putting their trust in me."

Hill has made good on that trust both on and off the field. He remains one of the team's leading tacklers, and he had a key interception in the victory over Brown. For all the strong games he has played, Surace is just as happy to note his role after suffering an injury against Lafayette. Hill has been an iron man of sorts, so missing most of a senior-season game could have rocked him. Instead, Hill firmly planted himself in the coaches' area and called out the offensive tendencies he studied all week in camp.

He and his classmates will play on Powers Field a final time this Saturday, and while he would love nothing more than one more home victory, he will work to continue building Princeton football towards what he believes is a bright future.

"I want to leave this program better than I found it in some way, shape or form," Hill said. "I love my teammates. I want to do anything I can to help them in life. I'm just so grateful and blessed to be here and meet the people that I've met, to build relationships with the people around me. That's the most important thing. I really enjoyed being able to meet new people who share the same values as me, and who also understood and loved the game like I do."

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