A Look at Pep Hamilton, Pt 1...

[keithbooth22]

A look at Pep Hamilton's scheme, recruiting, incoming QB son and more on Maryland's new offensive coordinator​

For someone who's never played or worked for the University of Maryland football program, Pep Hamilton has been linked to it often. What did the Terps get in their new OC?​

For someone who's never played or worked for the University of Maryland football program, Pep Hamilton has been linked to it often. Hamilton's been considered for the head coaching job twice in the past 10 years, has long been Mike Locksley's close friend and has a son who's about to begin his Terps career.

So, it wasn't stunning on Friday night when news broke that Maryland has hired Hamilton as its new offensive coordinator, replacing Josh Gattis, who quietly was not renewed after two seasons at Maryland. He'll arrive at a crucial time, with Locksley needing a turnaround after a 4-8 season and blue-chip quarterback Malik Washington arriving surrounded by expectations he'll lift to program to another level.

Hamilton has decades of experience as a quarterback's specialist, perhaps the most important vacancy on the staff considering the roster uncertainty at the most essential position on the team. Starter Billy Edwards transferred to Wisconsin, UCLA transfer Justyn Martin is unproven, and Washington is a true freshman. As offensive coordinator, he'll also be tasked with helping to fix a running game among the Big Ten's weakest this season.

Here's more on Hamilton's offensive style, his son playing quarterback at Maryland and what his hire means for the Terps:

The bio​

Hamilton, 50, played quarterback at Howard from 1993 to 1996 and then began his coaching career there. He's been a respected quarterback coach for decades.
Hamilton worked for seven NFL teams during the past two decades after he began his NFL coaching career with the Jets and later served as an offensive coordinator for the Colts (2013-15) and Texans (2022). He was also the assistant head coach for the Browns in 2016. Hamilton was the quarterbacks coach for L.A. Chargers star Justin Herbert during his rookie season in 2020, when he completed 66.6% of his passes for 4,336 yards with 31 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. He also coached former star Andrew Luck in college and the NFL.
"Pep was instrumental in my development as a player in college and the NFL. I am excited for him and this opportunity," Luck said in 2020 when Hamilton was hired by the XFL's DC Defenders.

What does it mean for the offense​

What is Hamilton's offensive scheme? Via the Houston Chronicle:

The "No Coast Offense," Hamilton terms it. He won't be stereotyped or pigeonholed. He says it will "knock the defense back," run with power, "create conflicts" and mismatches while throwing in rhythm, stressing early down completions and third-down efficiency and taking its shots downfield.

Texans tight ends coach Tim Berbenich tight ends coach said in 2022:
"It's a tight-end driven offense, for sure, even starting back from the Stanford days, and he carried that into the Colts system as well," Tight Ends Coach Tim Berbenich said. "But it's a run-first kind of operation. Pep's going to do anything he can with the skill we have here to score points. Pep's going to try and move the ball and score points, but it has very much been a tight-end driven situation. Pep is going to adapt that offense to how the personnel here and how we move forward there."
Major changes to the offense seem unlikely. Locksley's has hired offensive coordinators he believes can run his system.

He's been linked to Maryland often​

Hamilton was considered for the job when Maryland hired Randy Edsall in 2015. He was also a final candidate for the Maryland job before Locksley was hired in 2018. The two collaborated on a symposium for minority quarterback coaches and offensive coordinators at Morehouse College that year, which eventually led to Locksley founding the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches (NCMFC). And Locksley was rumored to be considering him during previous offensive coordinator searches, but Hamilton was entrenched in NFL jobs.
The two have been friends for years. Hamilton is perhaps Locksley's closest football confidant and has worked with him to increase diversity in college football coaching. Via a 2018 Terp Magazine article:

Even the graduate assistant ranks, where most football coaches get their start, are consistently more than 60% white.
Locksley has used that as a motivating factor, making sure to cross-pollinate his knowledge across position groups to become an expert all over the field. But as he enters what he terms "the back nine" of his career, the lack of minority successors has bothered him. In 2018, Locksley and Pep Hamilton, who was quarterback coach for the Los Angeles Chargers last season, put together a symposium for minority quarterback coaches and offensive coordinators at Morehouse College, planting the seed for NCMF.

It's not his first Big Ten job​

Hamilton has spent most of his career in the NFL, but he's had a few college jobs. In 2017, he signed a four-year, $4.25 million deal to become Jim Harbaugh's passing coordinator and associate offensive coordinator at Michigan. He was there for two years before Harbaugh parted ways with him.
"Hamilton was part of a small group of assistant coaches in college football making more than $1 million per year. He served as the team's assistant head coach and passing game coordinator during a 2018 season in which the Wolverines averaged 419.5 yards per game, tied for 50th among FBS programs," Dan Murphy of ESPN wrote in 2019.
The Wolverines' offense ranked 50th nationally in total yards (419.5 per game) and 21st in scoring (35.2 points) in 2018, a season in which they finished 10-3 and finished second in the Big Ten East. While not great, it was a drastic improvement over the season prior when Michigan's offense ranked 105th nationally in yards per game," Aaron McMann of Mlive.com wrote at the time.

What about recruiting?​

He replaces Gattis, a respected recruiter who was productive if unspectacular as a recruiter in Maryland. Having spent most of his career in the NFL, Hamilton doesn't have extensive experience as a recruiter, but he did well during a short stint at Michigan, including four-stars Nico Collins, Oliver Martin and Joe Milton.
Maryland football signed the No. 31 class in the country, led by Washington. The Terps 2026 recruiting class is ranked No. 22, buoyed by the commitment of five-star Baltimore edge Zion Elee, the No. 2 prospect in the country.

He's following his son​

Hamilton's son, quarterback Jackson Hamilton, committed to Maryland last summer. Jackson missed a significant portion of his high school career with an ACL injury but is viewed as a legitimate Power Conference prospect.
Still, at six-feet-tall and 188 pounds -- five inches and 40 pounds smaller than Washington -- and when you compare recruiting profiles, he's unlikely to threaten Washington's perceived savior status anytime soon.
"I feel like it was the right place for me to continue on because coach Locks and I are on the same page about a lot of things when it comes to football," Hamilton told the Houston Chronicle. "That's very important as a quarterback. During my times of being out with the ACL, the concussion and the pneumonia, his interest in me never wavered."
Pep Hamilton: "As a parent, you try to prepare your kids for life after being in the household ... I feel like he has the character and the value system that's going to allow him to be a great teammate, be a great student and be a great contributor to the university and Maryland's football program."

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