Miami DE Trevon Hill threw up the U at his VT graduation.  He’s about to face the Hokies

The question was simple enough.

“How badly do you want to play in this game?”

The answer was raw.

“I couldn’t even express to you how bad I want to play in this game.’’

But University of Miami graduate transfer defensive end Trevon Hill, known as “Tre ‘Savage’ Hill” on Twitter, will have to wait a bit to face the team he called his own as recently as last season. At 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Hard Rock Stadium, Hill, who came to the Hurricanes this season after being dismissed after the third game of 2018 by Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente, will play as a member of the home team in a 3:30 p.m. nationally televised game against his former Hokies.

The Canes (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) were off last weekend. The Hokies (2-2, 0-2) got trampled at home Friday night, Sept. 29, 45-10 by Duke.

“Willis is a good quarterback, man,’’ a serious Hill, 22, said of Hokies starter Ryan Willis prior to Virginia Tech’s loss to Duke. “I respect his game, but at the end of the day he’s wearing VT and I’m wearing a U, so I’ve got to get after him.’’

Hill has played in all four games for UM as a backup in the defensive line rotation, getting nearly 40 snaps last week against Central Michigan and garnering his first UM sack amid his six total tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.

“It felt good,’’ he said, “but I’m not satisfied. It took me, what, four games to get one sack? So, I’m pissed off about that. There’s more to come.’’

And for it to come in a crucial ACC Coastal Division game with the Hokies would be a special thrill for the 6-3, 245-pound fifth-year senior, who redshirted his freshman season in 2015 and over the next three seasons played in 30 games — including the three in 2018.

Hill amassed 94 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 11 1/2 sacks, 14 quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and interception at Virginia Tech. A cumulative seven of those tackles and 1 1/2 of those sacks came against the Hurricanes in 2016 at Blacksburg and in 2017 at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I’m sure it’s an important game for him,’’ said UM coach Manny Diaz. “But to me, what I’ve enjoyed about him is the way he works. He has gotten better every week, because he kind of had to play himself back into shape starting in training camp because he missed some time in the summer [with a shoulder injury].

“But he has been eager to learn, eager to work. I think his production has increased every week.’’

Hill’s dismissal from the Hokies came after an apparent altercation last season during halftime of Virginia Tech’s surprising loss at Old Dominion on Sept. 22.

“After consultation with our coaching staff and administration at Virginia Tech, Trevon Hill has been dismissed from the football team effective immediately for not upholding the high standards that we have for our student-athletes at Virginia Tech,’’ Fuente said last September after Hill was dismissed. “I will always put the interests of Virginia Tech and our team first no matter how difficult those decisions may be.’’

Fuente never elaborated on why Hill was kicked off the team, but told reporters the following week that he had “very frank and honest conversations’’ with Hill and that it was “not one incident’’ that led to the player’s dismissal. When he was dismissed, Hill had been leading the team with 4 1/2 tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks.

On National Signing Day, Fuente told reporters, “I still believe in Trevon and want him to do well and went as far as continuing to keep him on scholarship so he can get his education and have an opportunity to play. ...That’s what we want for him, is to still have an opportunity to live out his dream.’’

Hill, who is from Virginia Beach and starred at Salem High, wrote Jan. 8 on social media as part of a long post, “Where I’m from we don’t take losing lightly, and I just wanted to instill that in my teammates and bring the best out of them. During the Virginia Tech game at ODU, specifically during halftime, I was having a conversation with my teammates, and one of the staff overheard a part of the conversation. Words were said and a heated exchange took place. To my knowledge no formal investigation or meetings happened with the athletic department before my dismissal was finalized the next day.

“To this day, I’m still confused, and hurt, about why my dismissal was the solution to a problem I sincerely believe could have been talked out...’’

Hill told reporters this week that he earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in property management, and is working on his masters in liberal arts. Getting his college degree allowed him to play immediately, per NCAA rules, for Miami instead of sitting out the customary year mandated for undergraduate transfers.

As he walked across the Virginia Tech stage during his graduation ceremony, Hill threw up the U.

“I know a lot of people were mad about that, but that was me just saying that I’m moving on,’’ Hill told Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week. “Whatever bump is in the road, whatever is being said negatively about me, y’all can’t stop me. The only person who can stop me is me. I love Virginia Tech with all my heart. I’m a Hokie for life. But at the end of the day, I got my degree, I’m graduating and now I’m moving on to the U.’’

He said he still keeps in touch with his former teammates.

“We have a relationship,’’ Hill said. “Me and the guys are close, so it was hard to leave. But I”m here now. I’m happy to be with these guys.’’

Hill said he has been telling his fellow Hurricanes “things they should look out for’’ about his former team. “Some things that I’ve seen on film and some things that I already know. It’s to help these guys out because we all want to win.’’

Starting defensive end Jonathan Garvin said Hill is one of their own. “He’s like a Miami Hurricane,’’ Garvin said. “He’s really good. He plays hard [and] he makes sure everybody else plays hard.”

When asked the difference between Diaz and his former coach Fuente, for whom he previously said he “lost all respect,’’ Hill pointed to Diaz having “a little bit more energy.’’

“He’s a player’s coach,’’ Hill said of Diaz.

Hill said he chose Miami because he liked “the tradition, the type of defense [and] the people’’ with whom he would surround himself... “The amount of players that just come back here and show love. The national championships. It’s just a little bit different vibe.

“It just felt like it was a home outside of a home.”

During UM media day last month Hill said he wanted to “clean up’’ his “image’’ and show people that if he could “do well in Miami, in a pro city’’ that he could do well anywhere. “It has been hard me to bite my tongue,’’ he said. “That was one of the things I really worked on, trying to stay more level-headed about things and not just blow up...’’

He said Diaz had not talked to him about controlling his emotions, at least not through last Wednesday. “I’m a pretty poised guy,’’ Hill said. “But when it comes to game day, that’s when I turn it on. On game day it’s a different mode.’’

UM defensive coordinator Blake Baker wants Hill to stay level-headed.

“I think from a personnel standpoint, he’s maybe told us about certain [Virginia Tech] guys, maybe what he thinks their strengths or their weaknesses are,’’ Baker said. “You know, he was there for three years, so he knows those guys from a day-in, day-out basis. From an energy standpoint, I keep telling him, ‘We don’t kick off till 3:30. Stay level-headed, and peak at the right time.’

“...He’s done a really good job with it. He’s been really level-headed. He’s had a great week of practice, and he’s continued getting better in our scheme every week, so I expect a big game from him on Saturday.”

Does he wish it hadn’t ended the way it did in Blacksburg, Virginia?

“Nah,’’ he said. “I believe God has a plan for everybody, so I just take the good with the bad and run with it, honestly. I’m happy to be here in the position I’m in. I ended up getting my degree out of it. Can’t be mad.’’

This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 9:42 AM.