Jeffries takes Mapletown mentality to national football organization


Hillary Jeffries
Every so often, Hillary Jeffries is the most popular employee at the National Football Foundation offices in Dallas.
When a care package arrives from Mapletown, via her mother and father – Cindy and Dave Jeffries – it becomes the most sought-after package in Texas, with the box that contains pepperoni rolls from Giant Eagle and Sarris Candy as the main attractions.
“Anytime my colleagues see, ‘The Package,’ they just follow the box around until it’s opened,” Jeffries said.
“There’s no doubt I look forward to those boxes of goodies from home. So has everyone else. … They like the pepperoni rolls from Giant ‘Iggle’ and the candy. I’m addicted to both.”
Jeffries calls Mapletown home. Her parents live across the road from the high school.
“I am so proud of where I came from. You might not be able to find Mapletown on a map, but there is so much spirit and the people are wonderful. The entire community is your family. It’s always been a goal of mine to make everyone proud from back home. I hope I have done that.”
Indeed she has.
The 1997 graduate of Mapletown has forged a reputation as one of the most high-powered and important females in college football as the director of special projects at The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Inc.
Her baby is the College Hall of Fame.
Jeffries has been with the NFF for 13 years, starting as a summer intern, moving up to part-time status and working her way to her current position.
She is one of two females from the Washington-Greene County area to hold a significant position in college football. Laila Brock, a Washington High School graduate, senior director of operations and logistics for the College Football Playoff, is the other.
“I’m very proud of that,” Jeffries said. “It’s really cool to think that in our little area we have two gals so heavily involved in college football. There will always be a connection between Laila and me. We talk. We don’t always get to see each other because of our schedules. … I can look out my window and see her office. When I get that box, I always run over and give her some of those pepperoni rolls and the candy.”
The best part for Jeffries, she said, is she is working in the sport she loves most. Jeffries was a cheerleader for the Maples and Friday nights were always football nights in her home.
“Football has always been my favorite,” she said. “I’m the son my father never had. High school football on Friday, college football on Saturday and the Steelers on Sunday. I have followed football as long as I can remember.”
It is no surprise Jeffries went to West Virginia University with the intent of becoming a sideline reporter. She got her undergraduate degree in journalism and was part of a dance team that performed during Mountaineer basketball games.
But during her senior year, she decided being in front of the camera wasn’t for her.
“I still had such a passion for football,” she said. “I took some time off (and) worked some odd jobs before I decided to return to WVU to get a master’s degree in sports management. … I knew by then I wanted to work for a national football organization.”
That’s when she agreed to so a summer internship with the NFF.
“Thirteen years later, here I am,” she laughed. “Some days I wake up and realize I live in Dallas. How did that happen?”
It happened because of Jeffries’ diligence, hard work and honest romance with football.
“She is so energetic, so full of life,” said Linda Messich, Mapletown’s athletic director and a retired teacher. “Hillary is very intelligent and was a good student.”
Messich was Jeffries’ 8th grade English teacher.
“Hillary is just a really great person. The whole family is like that,” Messich said. “She always led the cheers at the football games. I’m glad she is getting the recognition she deserves. For her to do this in a man’s world – football – is impressive.
“It would be great if we could get her back here some time to speak to students. She is doing great things.”
Jeffries is so committed to football her friends often joke if they want to hang out with her on the weekends between September and December, it will be on a couch watching football on television.
Except it’s not a joke.
“I have that reputation,” she said. “I just try to keep abreast of what is going on. I read a lot, and with all the apps and live streaming, I get to see a lot.”
Jeffries’ two main initiatives with the NFF are the College Football Hall of Fame nomination selection process and the national scholar-athlete program, which dates back to 1959.
She has reaped many rewards from both vital aspects of her job.
“The Hall of Fame nomination process is really a great opportunity for me to get to know about so many different players and coaches and to meet or talk with people who end up becoming lifelong friends,” Jeffries said. “That’s really the neatest aspect of it all.”
It hasn’t all been easy for Jeffries.
The Hall of Fame nomination process can, at times, be heated and difficult.
“At the same time, I have had to develop thick skin in dealing with the aftermath of the process,” she said. “When the ballot comes out or the voting on a specific class ends, there are always people upset, and while I do not have a vote, I am the face of the process. I get to hear the displeasure. Not everyone is as friendly as others at those times.”
Those dealings are offset by more pleasant encounters with the likes of Peyton and Eli Manning, Tim Tebow, Rod Woodson and many others.
“I have been given the opportunity to meet some really nice people,” Jeffries said.
Her loyalty to the NFF, Steelers and Mountaineers are obvious. She has a Terrible Towel hung over her chair and her office is filled with WVU memorabilia.
Jeffries doesn’t know what the future holds for her career, but she knows she will do everything she can – like she did about 20 years ago – to continue to work in football.
“I’d love just to continue to work within a national football organization,” she said. “I always want to be working in football – maybe the Steelers one day.”
Even though she lives in Dallas and works with some of the biggest faces in college football history, Jeffries said she will never forget her “little corner of the world in Mapletown.”
“I never could have imagined I could get here,” she said.
“But my parents always encouraged me to reach out. Everything I grew up around taught me to keep pushing forward. Add that to my experience at WVU, I gained the courage to get to where I am. My parents gave me the confidence to take a chance. I am beyond happy and beyond blessed.”