Eric Hamilton is now in his 31st season as the head coach for The College of New Jersey Lions as the 2007 season opens. The coach of seven New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) championship teams, Hamilton is in his third decade in the league, making him the senior member of the NJAC.
Six times he has directed the Lions to postseason appearances in both the ECAC and the NCAA Division III Tournament. In 1990 the Lions advanced to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals, while in 1995 the team captured their first-ever ECAC Championship crown. The 1996 season saw the Lions earn the program's second NCAA Tournament bid, advancing once again to the Quarterfinals. The following season the Lions returned to the NCAA Tournament and once again advanced to the Quarterfinals. In 1998, the squad earned the program’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance as well as their fourth straight postseason appearance, which commenced with a bid to the 1995 ECAC Championships. The 2003 Lions earned a spot in the ECAC Southeast Championship. Hamilton continues to turn out quality teams and is a frequent participant at both athletic and educational clinics geared toward young student-athletes.
In 1977, then Trenton State College made perhaps its most daring coaching assignment ever in the selection of 23-year old Hamilton, who had starred for the Lions between 1971-74. At the time, he was the youngest collegiate head coach in the country.
Nine seasons later on November 16, 1985, that selection gained further credence in TSC's 28-0 victory over Ramapo College at Lions' Stadium. The win, Hamilton's 56th, made him The College's winningest gridiron coach, moving him ahead of Bob Salois, his former coach. Hamilton enters the 2007 season with an overall win-loss-tie record of 179-115-6. He guided the Lions to The College's first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference Southeast Championship in 1995 and followed up the next three seasons with NCAA berths and another ECAC bid in 2003.
Not only has Hamilton established stability in a program that had gone through five head coaches in five years from 1972-1976, but he has also established a winning tradition. From 1978 through 1983, Trenton State enjoyed six consecutive winning seasons, the longest success streak of its kind in the 80 years that the intercollegiate program has been alive. In the highly-competitive NJAC, Hamilton's teams have put together a 106-53-4 record, highlighted by league championships in 1980 (the first in TSC history), 1983 (shared with Montclair State and Glassboro State), 1988, 1990, 1994 (shared with Kean), 1996 and 1998.
After 31 seasons, his career winning percentage is .607, the highest of any TCNJ coach with more than five years of duty. His accomplishments have not gone unnoticed, as he has twice been selected Coach of the Year by the New Jersey College Football Writers Association (1980 and 1981) and as NJAC Coach of the Year by the conference coaches in 1983, 1990, 1994, 1996 and 1998.
To date, Hamilton has produced 20 All-American performers (three Kodak/AFCA All-American, nine Associated Press All-Americans, one AFCA, and eight Football Gazette), 63 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Star selections, and 130 All-NJAC first team performers and two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
Active in the local community, Hamilton was honored in 1986 by the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. The 1975 TSC graduate was cited as the organization's 1986 recipient of its Contribution to Amateur Football Award. Specifically, the Bordentown, NJ native was honored for his efforts in organizing and promoting the Mercer County area's 12th man Touchdown Club, which honors outstanding high school athletes each week during the regular season. Named the President of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1995, Hamilton also serves as the chair of the NJAC Football Coaches Committee and will represent the NJAC on the Division III Football Council. In 1995, Hamilton was inducted into TCNJ’s Alumni-Athletic Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as an All-American center with the Lion football team.
In December of 2002, Hamilton was named the recipient of the National Football Foundations Chapter Leadership Award for the Eastern Region and was recognized by the organization for his contributions to the sport. He has devotedly served the game of football in the Delaware Valley and in particular for almost three decades. He has served as president of the highly successful Delaware Valley Chapter since 1995. In the 44-year history of the chapter, they have awarded over a quarter of a million dollars in scholarships to local scholar-athletes and continue to operate as one of the most productive chapters in the country. The $45,000 awarded annually is the most by any NFF&CHF chapter in the country.
The scholarship money is raised throughout the year, but primarily at the popular William Pearce Memorial Golf Tournament. Headed by Hamilton and a strong board of directors, The Delaware Valley Chapter also sponsors the Sunshine Football Classic game that helps grant the dreams and wishes of terminally ill, chronically ill, and handicapped children whose parents are under financial strain due to the child’s illness.
Also a 1974-75 National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete, Hamilton is a 1971 graduate of Bordentown Regional High School, where he earned all-area and all-league honors as an offensive center, in addition to participating in track and field. While at TSC, Hamilton earned all-conference awards three times and All-ECAC citations as a junior and senior. As team captain in 1974, he capped his playing career with an All-America berth on the Kodak, Associated Press, United Press International teams. In 1975, Hamilton graduated from TSC with a bachelor of science degree in industrial arts. The following fall, he joined coach Carmen Piccone's Lion football staff as a graduate assistant. He served in this capacity during the 1975 and 1976 seasons before moving up to interim head coach in January, 1977.
Hamilton, who has earned a master of education degree (M.Ed.) in student personnel services, is also assistant director for athletic development and alumni relations. Hamilton is a member of the American Football Coaches Association, as well as the New Jersey Football Coaches Association. In the spring of 2004, he completed his second consecutive three-year term on the Hamilton Township, (NJ) School District Board of Education chairing the facility/technology committee. In the spring of 2006, he returned for a third three-year term on the Board of Education and is serving as the President for the 2007-2008 year. In the spring of 2004, Hamilton was selected to serve a three-year term on the important NCAA football rules committee.
This past year, he was named to the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. Mission Statement: The mission of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) is to provide expertise and leadership to the Association in order to promote a healthy and safe environment for student-athletes through research, education, collaboration and policy development. This committee is charged with hearing drug-test appeals. The Sports Sciences Safety Subcommittee provides guidance on sports specific health and safety research and policy issues. This subcommittee also edits the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook. Hamilton was appointed as the Division III Football Rules Committee representative.
He and his wife Kathleen have five children, sons Matthew, age 28, Jeffrey, age 26, daughter Kaitlin, age 22, and sons Ryan Douglas, age 17, and Colin Reid, who is now 15.
