Longtime assistant Hamlette takes over as William Campbell head coach

Seven seasons of coaching under Brad Bradley prepared William Campbell graduate Dwayne Hamlette well for taking the reins of the Generals’ football program.

He officially succeeded his mentor on Tuesday, a month and a week after Bradley accepted the head coaching job at Patrick Henry in Roanoke.

“Coach Bradley, he’s a motivator not only to the kids, but the staff,” said Hamlette, an imposing 6-foot-4 coach who played football, basketball and baseball for the Generals from 1994-97. “He expected a lot out of us.”

William Campbell athletic director Rick Purcell said Hamlette, who has also served as in-school suspension teacher, spring weight room coordinator and coach of the JV football team, was the best fit out of a pool of more than 20 applicants.

“He’s well-rounded as a multiple-sport athlete and he’s been willing to coach anything,” Purcell said, noting he has also coached JV softball and basketball at the school. “He has done what he needed to do to get there. Players respect him, they like him, and he makes them work hard.”

Hamlette, who turns 30 next week, graduated from Liberty University with a degree in physical education and kinesiology in 2006. He has worked his way up through the football coaching ranks since starting at the middle school level in 2001, coaching the receivers and secondary on varsity and heading up the JV team for the past five seasons.

After playing offensive guard in coach Kevin Saunders’ Wing-T attack in the mid-1990s, Hamlette has adapted well to coaching Bradley’s run-and-gun spread attack at the JV level.

“It was the same system, just a little watered down with not as many plays,” he said.

Though offensive line coach John Earich went with Bradley to PH, John Meadows will remain as the defensive coordinator.

“I’ll be making the offensive play calls and coach Meadows will run the defense,” Hamlette said.

“If we don’t score, you blame me.”

He said he wasn’t the smartest candidate, but the hardest working and best qualified after learning Bradley’s spread attack and building a strong rapport with the players.

“You’ve got to find what motivates the kids individually and as a team,” he said. “If these kids know anything about me, they know I’m not going to put up with any crap. They’re expected to make the right choices and do the right things when they’re not on the football field.”

He is as interested in developing young men as football players, and teaching life lessons through the sport.

“What these guys know about me is football is very important,” he said. “It’s what we love and what we do. At the same time, my priorities are faith, family and football.

“We’re never going to be so high after a win or so low after a loss,” he added. “At the same time, we’re going to compete hard to win every football game.”

Hamlette wants his players to come back in 10 years and thank him for the positive impact he has made on their lives, just as he is doing now at his alma mater.

“These kids have such a positive influence on you that you really don’t want to go anywhere,” he said. “William Campbell’s been good to me, while I was a player there, and I see this as one way to give back.”