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As a football offensive line coach at Christopher Columbus High School, his alma mater, Jason Hill refers to his stalwart pack of quarterback protectors as the “trench bullies.”
So when he decided to produce and market his late father’s special steak rub and marinade, there was never any doubt as to what to call it.
Jason lost his father Bob Hill, a Vietnam veteran originally from North Carolina, in 2000 when Jason was 15 and a freshman at Columbus.
“Two of my father’s favorite things were barbecuing and watching football with his kids,” says Jason. “One day in my early 20s I cooked some barbecue for my sister using my father’s formula. She told me ‘it tastes just like Dad’s.’ That gave me the idea to honor his legacy by sharing his rub and marinade recipes with the world.”
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. These days, Jason, now 40, barbecues and watches football with his five children: two sons who graduated from Columbus and three daughters who are still in school. He has been happily married to his wife Maytte for 14 years.
Jason played center and defensive end at Columbus and graduated in 2003. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, he coached youth football at Tamiami Park, then at Southwest High School. He has been the offensive line coach and a student counselor at Columbus for the past eight years.
“I quickly found out there is a learning curve to producing and marketing food products,” explains Jason. “More so for the marinade than the dry rub. For example, I learned that chopped garlic expands in a bottle over time and can crack the glass. So we moved to granulated garlic.”
Two of Jason’s good friends, Juan Guixens, Jr., owner of Johnny Cuba Beer, and Pepi Gomez, helped him navigate through the process, which ultimately culminated with approval by the Food and Drug Administration. He has also developed a relationship with the owners of La Lechonera, a legendary spice and marinade producer founded in Miami in the 1960s.
What makes Trench Bullies BBQ Rub special, one might ask? It’s the natural ingredients such as brown sugar, paprika, salt, granulated garlic, onion powder, ground black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and a few secret spices which will remain a secret.
Trench Bullies BBQ Rub can be purchased through Amazon.com. Trench Bullies Marinade will be available in the spring of 2025.
