Tom Hamilton (American football)

Hamilton was born in Hoopeston, Illinois, and attended high school in Columbus and Granville, Ohio. Hamilton attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1927. He was a key player on the 1926 Navy football squad that won a national championship with a 9–0–1 record.[3] The single blemish on that season was a tie with Army a game which has been described as "one of the greatest football games ever played."[4] He was also elected as class president during his time at the academy.[3]

Following graduation from Annapolis and commissioning as an ensign, Hamilton served the required period in surface ships before applying for flight training. He received his wings of gold and flew a variety of aircraft, including patrol planes from San Diego in 1938 and 1939. During the war he served ashore and afloat, primarily in aviation training and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He was the "Big E's" flight deck officer and executive officer in 1943 and 1944, commanding the legendary ship during a brief refit in 1944.

In 1934, Hamilton became the 21st head football coach at the United States Naval Academy. He served as head coach at Navy for a total of five years—three years in his first stint from 1934 to 1936 and two more from 1946 through 1947. Hamilton moved on to become athletic director at Navy in 1948, a position which he held for two years before leaving to accept a similar position at the University of Pittsburgh. He served as AD at Pitt until 1959. Twice during his tenure at Pitt, in 1951 and again in 1954, he also was the head coach of the Panthers football team.

Hamilton left Pitt in 1959 to take on the role of founding commissioner of the Athletic Association of Western Universities, which later became the Pacific-8 Conference and eventually the Pac-12 Conference, a position which he held until 1971. He served as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, served 16 years on the U.S Olympic Committee, and was vice-president of the National Football Foundation.[3]

Hamilton received the Theodore Roosevelt Award[5] from the NCAA, the Stagg Award[6] from the American Football Coaches Association, the Gold Medal from the National Football Foundation, the Corbett Award from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics[7] and the James Lynah Award from the Eastern College Athletic Conference.[8] In 1976, he was inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions.[9]

Hamilton was married to Emmie Spalding in 1932 and is buried in the Naval Academy cemetery.[10]

• List of college football head coaches with non-consecutive tenure

• Tom Hamilton at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Tom Hamilton at Find a Grave