New Head Football Coach Hired

Steve Stetson Returns to Hamilton

Steve Stetson

Steve Stetson, associate head football coach at the University of New Hampshire for the past four years, has been named the new Mary Jayne Comey and Mac Bristol '43 head football coach at Hamilton College.

Stetson returns to Hamilton, where he was head coach for three years from 1982-84. His record was 9-14-1, but the Continentals went 6-1-1 in 1984 and Stetson was named the New England region's Coach of the Year. At that time, the winning record was Hamilton's first since 1967.

"I'm absolutely thrilled and so is my wife," Stetson said. "We love Hamilton College and we love the people. I'm looking forward to coaching the young men who are there. I'm very different from 20 some-odd years ago. Times are different, recruiting is different and the league (New England Small College Athletic Conference) has improved. I think I'm a much better coach from that first time."

"We are excited to have Steve Stetson join the Hamilton College athletic department staff," director of athletics David Thompson said. "In a short period of time, he has helped develop New Hampshire into one of the best Division I-AA programs in the nation. We are confident that coach Stetson will return the Hamilton football program to a winning tradition for many years to come."

The success of Stetson's 1984 season led to a head coaching position at Division I-AA Boston University. Stetson coached there for another three seasons, from 1985-87. He moved on to Hartwick College, where he revived the football program in 1991 after a 42-year hiatus. Stetson coached the Hawks until 2001, and Hartwick enjoyed eight winning seasons out of his last nine at the school. He led the team to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northwest Region championships three times (1998, 2000 and 2001).

The Laconia, N.H., native returned home in 2002 to join the New Hampshire staff. The Wildcats were 3-8 in his first year, but in 2004 UNH was 10-3 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I-AA championships. In 2005, Stetson helped guide the Wildcats to an 11-2 record and the team's second straight Atlantic 10 Conference North Division title. UNH was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Division I-AA championships and advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

"It's no coincidence that this program has taken a big turn in a successful way and that's due to the influence of Steve Stetson," New Hampshire head coach Sean McDonnell said. "I'm happy for him and I'm excited for the college. He's a hard-working guy and he's very, very bright. He made everybody around him better. I'm sure he'll bring that work ethic and winning tradition back to Hamilton."

Stetson graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in sociology in 1973. He was an all-Ivy League selection at quarterback after his senior year. Dartmouth won the league title each year he was on varsity from 1970-72 and the team's record was 24-2-1 during that span.

At Laconia High School, Stetson was a three-time all-state quarterback. He was later identified by Sports Illustrated as one of New Hampshire's 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century.