Justin Hilliker enters his second season as the Defensive Line Coach / Special Teams Coordinator at Lenoir-Rhyne. Hilliker comes to LR after spending the past six seasons at Keiser in various roles.Â
Hilliker began as the tight ends coach for his first three years at Keiser before shifting to the defensive line and special teams coach for his final three seasons. Hilliker helped the Seahawks to a national championship appearance in 2022 and a national championship victory in 2023. In total, Keiser went to five NAIA appearances and Hilliker was part of back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 2019 and 2020. Keiser won four consecutive conference championships from 2019-22.Â
In 2022, Keiser led the nation in kick off return yards (1,217) and averaged a nation's-best 31.2 yards per kick return under Hilliker. Keiser kicked 21 field goals in 2022 which led the NAIA and converted at an 80.8 percent clip.Â
In total, Kesier was 49-11 with Hilliker on staff and 29-1 in conference play.
Prior to joining Keiser, Hillker spent 22 seasons in the high school ranks including stops at Park Vista, Seminole Ridge Community, and Jupiter Community. In that time, he worked with both sides of the football in various roles.
