Tom Hamilton

Thomas James Hamilton (December 26, 1905 – April 3, 1994) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and naval aviator who rose to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy. He was the head coach at the United States Naval Academy from 1934 to 1936 and again from 1946 to 1947 and at the University of Pittsburgh in 1951 and 1954, compiling a career college football record of 28–32–1. Hamilton was also the athletic director at the Naval Academy from 1948 to 1948 and at Pittsburgh from 1949 to 1959. From 1959 to 1971, he was the commissioner of the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), renamed the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968 and now the Pac-12 Conference. Hamilton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1965. Early life and playing career Born in Hoopeston, Illinois, Hamilton attended high school in Columbus and Granville, Ohio. He attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1927, and was a key player on the 1926 football squad that won a national championship with a 9–0–1 record. The single blemish on that season was a tie with Army, a game which has been described as "one of the greatest football games ever played." He was also elected as class president during his time at the academy.