While Kenny Hill waited for his opportunity to play quarterback again, he worked as a quarterback coach near his parents' home in Southlake, teaching young kids how to play the position.
"They were young, so just tried to teach them basic fundamentals," Hill said with a smile Thursday.
It was a daily reminder just how much he wanted to get back on the field.
After two seasons at Texas A&M, including a 2014 campaign in which he led the Southeastern Conference in passing yards, Hill decided to transfer, leaving College Station unsure of what the future held.
So he went back to where he was most comfortable.
"My spring semester (in 2015) I was at home," Hill said. "That was extremely humbling. Going from starting at (Texas) A&M to going home and not even being in a school anymore, I think that was the biggest thing that made me grow up."
He decided to enroll at TCU in the summer of 2015, and now, feeling more confident and relaxed, has an opportunity to earn the Frogs' starting job this spring. That is, after he spent the 2015 season impressing coaches as TCU's scout team quarterback.
"(Gary Patterson) expected me to bust my butt and get it done in the classroom, and to help the defense get better, because that was my role coming in," Hill said.
"Being on our scout team, he saw a lot of defense," Patterson said of Hill. "And obviously, he's athletic."
And Hill is hoping to show that athleticism when he gets his first game-like atmosphere as a member of the Horned Frogs, at TCU's Spring Game April 1 in Fort Worth.
"It's going to be unreal," Hill said. "I'm just going to soak it all in and not try to let the moment get too big."
