Eric Hamilton (born September 19, 1953) is a retired American football coach. Hamilton was head football coach at The College of New Jersey from 1977 through 2012. He ended his career with a record of 212–144–6. Athlete A native of Bordentown, New Jersey, Hamilton graduated from Bordentown Regional High School in 1971, where he earned all-area and all-league honors playing center for the football team and also competing in track and field. He subsequently attended Trenton State College, now known as The College of New Jersey ("TCNJ" or "New Jersey"), in the early 1970s. He played center for the Trenton State Lions football teams from 1971 to 1974. He was named an all-conference player three times and received All-ECAC honors in 1973 and 1974. He also received All-American designations in 1974 from Kodak, the Associated Press, the United Press International. Coaching career After graduating from Trenton State in 1974, Hamilton became a graduate assistant for the Trenton State football team in 1975 and 1976. In January 1977, Hamilton was named the head football coach at TCNJ at age 23. At the time, he was the youngest head football coach at any college in the United States. Interviewed Princeton TV30 in 2008, Hamilton said that his most memorable experience was his first game as head coach at Trenton State. At age 23, he was "scared to death" to play on the road on a Friday night in a rain storm and wasn't sure what to say to the team. He put on scuba flippers, and a scuba mask, walked into the locker room and said, "All right guys, let's go out and play." The team won 14–0 in the mud and the rain, and he recalled it as "the most fun he ever had." In 36 years as the head coach, he led the TCNJ Lions football teams to eight New Jersey Athletic Conference championships. His teams also played in NCAA tournaments in 1990, 1996, 1997, and 2007, and in ECAC tournaments in 1995 and 2003. He became the winningest football coach in Trenton State/TCNJ history in 1985 when he won his 56th game at age 32. In 1990, The New York Times praised the Trenton State team as "a typical Hamilton team noted for its discipline." He has had one 10-win season (1990), three 9-win seasons (1982, 1997, and 2007) and seven 8-win seasons (1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1996