Merle "Skip" Hall (born February 18, 1944) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

for six seasons, from 1987 to 1992, compiling a record of 42–28. He replaced Lyle Setencich following the 1986 season, Boise State's first losing season in four decades. Hall was previously an assistant coach at

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

under Don James, and later was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

under Bob Stull.

Coaching career

In Hall's second season, he led the Broncos back to the

NCAA Division I-AA playoffs The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was k ...

, their first appearance since 1981. Hall's best season was in 1990, when Boise State advanced to the national semifinals, falling in a high scoring game against Big Sky rival

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, the conference champion whom the Broncos had defeated a month earlier in Boise. Hall gave Jim Zorn his first coaching job, as quarterbacks coach at Boise State in 1988. Former

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

head coach Jim Mora is a former player of Hall's, as are

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Gary Pinkel Gary Robin Pinkel (born April 27, 1952) is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 1991 to 2000 and the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, compiling career record o ...

Business career

After 30 years of coaching college football, Hall transferred to the business arena with

Aflac Aflac Inc. (American Family Life Assurance Company) is an American insurance company and is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia. In the U.S., A ...

, recruiting, coaching, and building teams. He was a regional manager with Aflac for ten years, and was then appointed Associate Managing Director of Individual Sales for the

Principal Financial Group Principal Financial Group is an American global financial investment management and insurance company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. Business operations Four segments comprise the company: Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal G ...

in Boise. Hall also travels throughout the United States addressing business leaders on the subjects of communication, leadership, motivation and accountability.

Head coaching record

References

1944 births Living people Boise State Broncos football coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches {{1980s-collegefootball-coach-stub