Coach M. Hamilton

Michael Hamilton

Freshman Head Coach and Defensive Ends

Facing a challenge is nothing new for White House freshman head coach Michael Hamilton.

The veteran of the United States Army served in Iraq as a member of the 18^th Airborne Corps and the 20^th Engineer Brigade of Fort Bragg, NC, where he was a Sapper Platoon Leader. Now a teacher at White House High School, his newest form of leadership will come as the new freshman head coach after serving on the staff as an assistant for the past two years.

Hamilton joins his brother Ryan as a member of the Blue Devils’ coaching staff and they combined are the two newest faces in a group that otherwise has been at White House for the better part of two decades.

Michael is a former standout center at Hunters Lane High School and then graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. His Army service came after his college graduation, and he recently completed his Masters. Varsity head coach Jeff Porter expects his experience in education and the military to be a vital asset on the football field in the leadership of incoming freshmen.

Michael teaches History and Geography at White House High School.

Q: What is the best part about coaching at White House and teaching at this school and in this community?

A: “Every year it still seems new to me because I grew up in East Nashville, coming from Hunters Lane, and this is such a smaller community, but that is a good thing for me. I really enjoy being a part of it and I’m just getting used to it.”

Q: When you are not specifically coaching your players on Friday night, what types of things catch your attention during the game?

A: “For me, I guess it’s watching the individual players and the fundamentals, and seeing what types of things we can work on the next week. I want to see the big picture, and take cues off certain players and see what they are learning as we progress through the season.”

Q: The staff at White House has been together as a whole for a long time. What are some of the things you notice that the general fan does not get to see about this staff and this program?

A: “There are always involved in something out of season. It’s a year-long thing for them. That’s new to me. At Hunters Lane it did not seem to be a year-round thing like it is here, from the weights and conditioning, to the fundraising, it’s a year-long thing which never seems to stop and that’s a really impressive thing, that it is that important to them.”

Q: What is the biggest thing you notice about incoming freshmen when they are first exposed to the program?

A: “You get to see them completely uncoached as far as the varsity program is concerned and you get to watch them from that point, to the end of the freshman year, and see them start to take off in some of the things that the program is about and then the next three years as they grow and then graduate.”

Q: What is the biggest change in kids from the time they arrive in the program until they graduate?

A: “Ability is always the first thing you are going to notice from the time they are freshman to a senior, as far as playing time and how much they have learned. Of course, this will be my third year coaching, so the freshmen I had the first year are now juniors and I have not seen a class go all the way through the program. Their ability and maturity is the biggest change as they grow.”

Q: There is a hallway in the fieldhouse with pictures of past players, teams and their accomplishments. Do you ever stop and take a glimpse of the past?

A: “I do, because we had some big-time players come through at Hunters Lane and we still did not take the time to put pictures on the wall and recognize history, and when you came in as a freshman, it was very unlikely that you had any idea of the players that had came through before you. It’s a big honor and tradition here that is taken very seriously.”

Coaching profiles by Kris Freeman are the property of White House High School football. For more on the coaching staff, visit www.whitehousefootball.com .