A visit with WPIAL champion coach Joe Hamilton


Background Info: Joe Hamilton is one of the most successful football coaches in WPIAL history. His coaching career spanned 52 years, including 49 as a head coach. His career began with three years as an assistant at Beaver, his alma mater. His first head coaching stint was at Midland, where he posted a 9-1 record in his first year. He also coached at New Brighton and Hempfield, before a 39-year stint at Blackhawk. He finished with a 342-170-11 career record, which ranks him second in WPIAL history, and fifth in Pennsylvania history. Blackhawk advanced to the WPIAL title game 10 times during his career. The Cougars won four titles - 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1996. They places second in 1978, 1988, 1994, 1998, 2006, and 2008. His squads reached the PIAA finals three times - 1998, 2006, and 2008 - but had to settle for runner-up all three years. He had a 280-142-7 record at Blackhawk. Hamilton is a 1959 graduate of Beaver High School and 1963 graduate of Geneva College. He was an All-State linebacker and guard at Geneva College, where he earned Little All-American honorable mention honors. One of the most respected interscholastic football coaches in the history of the game, Hamilton was inducted into the Beaver County Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and Western Pennsylvania chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Halls of Fame.

Hamilton's memories of his first season as a head coach.
I was 24-years old when Midland hired me. We were one of the smallest schools in the WPIAL, but were playing in the biggest classification. We posted a 9-1 record that year, but the WPIAL did not have playoffs at that time. They picked two teams in each class to play in the WPIAL finals and we didn't have enough Gardner Points to qualify. Our only loss that year was to New Brighton, who had Po James as their running back. There's no question in my mind that we would have won the WPIAL title that year if we were in the smallest classification. Nobody in that class could have stopped our offense.

Hamilton's memories of his first appearance in a WPIAL title game
In 1978, my third season at Blackhawk, we made it to the WPIAL title game. We played Penn Hills, a school that was three-times our size. They had six NCAA Division I players on that team. The game was played at Pitt Stadium. The community support for that game was incredible. We had numerous bus loads of students attend the game. We gave them all they could handle, but lost 7-0.

Hamilton's memories of winning three consecutive WPIAL titles from 1991-93.
Winning a WPIAL title is no easy task. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication from both the players and coaching staff. Winning three years in a row is an incredible experience. I was blessed to work with so many great assistant coaches. And the talent we had on those teams was great.

Hamilton lived the dream.
I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a head coach. You could say I lived the dream, because I picked that as a profession and never got fired once. That's unusual. Being at one place 39 years is unusual. That's a lot of my life. We had some great kids and teams. I put myself in the perfect place, as far as a community. My reward is when my former players come back and tell me how much their time with the football team meant to them. It meant a lot to me too.