William Campbell hires new football coach

CAMPBELL CO. - Fifth-year Coeburn football coach Greg Mullins was named to the same position at William Campbell at Monday’s Campbell County School Board meeting, replacing Dwayne Hamlette who resigned Dec. 19 after a 3-7 first season.

“We thought he fit what we were looking for,” Generals athletic director Rick Purcell said of Mullins, who served as an assistant for 10 years previously at Pound, his alma mater, from 1996 to 1999, Louisa County, West Caldwell (N.C.) and King George. “He seems to be a guy that has a good head on his shoulders, he knows football and has some head coaching experience.”

In five seasons at Coeburn, Mullins’ teams compiled a 13-39 record, going 2-8 his first two seasons and again this past fall.

“We made progress in a lot of areas and just didn’t win as many football games as we’d hoped to,” he said. “We did a lot of things that we’re proud of and definitely left the program in better shape than it was when we started.”

Mullins plans to visit William Campbell later this week to meet with returning players, “and get to know everybody before working on getting a staff together.”

Hamlette, a William Campbell and Liberty University graduate, was groomed to succeed Brad Bradley in the final four of the eight seasons he served as an assistant at his alma mater.

But he wasn’t able to match the standards set by Bradley, who led the Generals to the Region B playoffs in all nine seasons at the helm, winning four Dogwood District titles and two Group A, Division 1, state championships. Bradley took over at Patrick Henry-Roanoke last year.

“The kids needed to go in a different direction,” Hamlette said. “It wasn’t so much about the wins and losses. It wasn’t a good fit. Sometimes, you can’t stay at home.”

After a promising start with a 60-12 rout of Cumberland, the Generals lost a 14-13 halftime lead in a 44-14 blowout at Brookville. The following week, they blew a three-touchdown advantage on Coolidge (D.C.) in the fourth quarter of a 42-40 defeat.

“It started out as a smooth transition, but with our season going the way it did, things kind of snowballed,” Hamlette said. “Even though we led or were tied in all but two games at halftime, we didn’t close out the games we should have won.”

Purcell said Mullins potentially faces a tougher transition than Hamlette did, but is confident he is the man for the job.

“Any time you come in and start anew, it’s always a challenge,” Purcell said. “I think he’s up to it.”

Though the team dealt with some attrition last fall, the Generals’ ranks certainly aren’t depleted.

“We’ve got some talent,” Purcell said, “some young players who are very, very good and talented. I’ve been around a long time and this was just one of the years when it didn’t happen for us. But I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t get right back up to where it was before.”

Mullins has a vested interest in seeing that it does.

“We hope to compete at the top of the Dogwood District and keep the (winning) tradition alive,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to work at a school with a program that has had the sustained success that William Campbell has had and where football is a top priority. That was a major draw for me.”

He and his wife, Leah, also a teacher, have two daughters — Kiley, who’s 5, and Marianna, who’s 5 months old.

“We’re really excited about the move,” said Mullins, who’s certified to teach special education and history. “It’s going to be a big transition for us, moving four and a half hours away, but we’re excited about the opportunity and the change and moving in a new direction.”

At the same time, he wants to see the program stay on the track it has been on for the past 10 to 15 years.

“It has been one of the best (Group) A teams in the state since it moved to single A,” he said. “Year-in and year-out, you’re going to have the athletes and the support from the school and the community to compete for state championships.”

Mullins plans to implement a 3-5 defense, like that run at Amherst over the past several seasons and which Altavista employed to win its first state championship this past fall.

“Defensively, we’ll try to get as many athletes on the field as possible, get speed on the field,” he said.

After experimenting with the I formation, split-back veer, Wing-T and spread attacks at Coeburn, Mullins plans to incorporate the spread and Wing-T, which the Generals ran predominantly before Bradley introduced the run-and-gun spread formation in 2000.

“Offensively, we’re going to stick with a lot of things that have been successful in the past,” Mullins said. “We’re going to kind of blend the two together.”

He believes it will be a successful formula that results in a better win-loss record than he had at Coeburn, or the Generals experienced last fall.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work (but) I plan to be at William Campbell for a long time,” he said. “I don’t plan to move around as I did early in my career as an assistant. I’m hoping to come to William Campbell and put down roots.”