Steve Stetson, associate head coach at Division I-AA New
Hampshire for the past four years, has been named head coach at
Hamilton. He replaces Pete Alvanos, whose teams went 5-35 in five
seasons.
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. 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," athletic director David Thompson said.
"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,
where he revived the 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.
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 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.
Stetson graduated from Dartmouth 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.
After 20 years, Hamilton gets coach back
Dec 23, 2005