Samford names new football coach
Samford University has hired former Murray State head football Chris Hatcher as its head football coach, the school announced Dec. 11.
Hatcher will be officially introduced at a press conference Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. in the team meeting room on the second floor of the Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House.
“Coach Hatcher possesses the characteristics necessary for success as the leader of our football program,” Samford President Dr. Andrew Westmoreland said. “Underlying his strengths as a great motivator and tactician, he is a person of unshakable character. Fundamentally, he sees himself as a teacher. He is an ideal fit for Samford.”
Hatcher boasts a career record of 121-57 in 15 years as a college head coach at Murray State, Georgia Southern and Valdosta State. He replaces Pat Sullivan who stepped down earlier this month after eight seasons as the program’s head coach.
“First I would like to thank Coach Sullivan and the search committee for their tireless work looking through resumes and conducting interviews over the past week to bring us the best possible coach to lead our program,” Director of Athletics Martin Newton said. “Dr. Westmoreland’s charge to the committee was to find a coach that recognized his role in shaping the character of our student-athletes. Someone that understands the significance of classroom performance at Samford and someone that has a track record of producing positive results. Chris Hatcher embodies all of those characteristics and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Samford family as our new head football coach.”
Hatcher will become the 36th head football coach in Samford history. He will look to continue the recent success of the program as the Bulldogs have posted four-straight winning seasons for the first time since 1999 and three-straight seasons of at least seven wins for the first time since 1962.
“It is a true honor to follow Coach Sullivan and have the opportunity to lead the Samford football program into its next chapter,” Hatcher said. “Put simply, Coach Sullivan is a legend. They say you never want to be ‘the man that follows the man.’ Well I do. With Dr. Westmoreland’s unwavering support, Pat has built an incredible program from top to bottom. A rising program based upon faith, honor, commitment, discipline and character. I will work every day to build upon that foundation and carry forward Coach Sullivan and Dr. Westmoreland’s vision. This state and this University have great passion for football; I promise you that I have it too and can’t wait to get started.”
Hatcher comes to Samford after serving as the head coach at Murray State University since 2010. In five seasons as the head coach of the Racers, Hatcher’s teams employed the high-powered “Hatch Attack” offense to top the Division I-FCS football charts. In 2014, the Racers ranked second in the nation in passing offense, averaging 327.2 yards per game. The team also ranked 15th in total offense at 468.3 yards per contest.
In 2013, the Racers averaged 398.6 yards of offense. The 2012 Murray State offense led the Ohio Valley Conference for the third-straight season. MSU averaged a school-record 484.4 yards of offense per game. The 2011 season saw the Racers go 7-4 and post back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1999-2000 seasons. MSU closed the season winning five of its final six games, including going on the road and knocking off nationally-ranked Tennessee Tech. In 2010, the Murray State offense led the OVC in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense, while ranking fourth nationally in passing offense, fifth in total offense and fifth in scoring offense.
Hatcher is no stranger to the Southern Conference, as he served as the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2007 to 2009. In his first season with the Eagles in 2007, Hatcher led GSU to the second-best regular season turnaround in program history, a plus-4 improvement from 2006. The Eagles ranked among the national leaders in various categories on offense, defense and special teams.
The 2008 season saw Hatcher guide the Eagles to the program’s 25th winning season in 27 years. Hatcher’s team provided impressive numbers in all three phases. The offense ranked 20th nationally in passing and scoring, while the defense ranked 26th in sacks and 22nd in tackles-for-loss. The special teams units finished 14th in punt returns and 36th in kickoff returns. Prior to his time at GSU, Hatcher molded Valdosta State into one of the most dominant teams in Division II.
The winningest coach in Blazers’ history, Hatcher was 76-12 at his alma mater. He coached the program to the 2004 national championship, and he tutored quarterback Dusty Bonner, who was a two-time winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, an award Hatcher won himself in 1994. His 2001 and 2002 teams posted back-to-back undefeated records during the regular season, part of a Gulf South Conference record 35 straight victories during the regular season. During the 2004 championship season, the Blazers lost their season-opener before rattling off 13 consecutive victories, capped by a 36-31 victory over Pittsburg State in the title game. Hatcher was named National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association and was the offensive coordinator for the East squad at the Hula Bowl.
The Macon, Ga., native spent one year as quarterbacks/tight ends coach at the University of Central Florida where he worked with future NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper. He then spent three years working with the quarterbacks at the University of Kentucky where he worked under former VSU head coach Hal Mumme. During his time with the Wildcats, he coached the No. 1 NFL draft pick, All-America quarterback Tim Couch. While at UK, Hatcher and the Wildcats played in the 1999 Outback Bowl, the program’s first New Year’s Day Bowl in 47 years, then followed that the next season with a berth in the ’99 Music City Bowl. It marked the first time the Wildcats had consecutive bowl appearances in 15 years. Hatcher carried his success on the playing field to help him develop into one of the nation’s winningest coaches. A two-time All-America quarterback at Valdosta State (1993 and 1994), Hatcher threw for 11,363 yards and 121 touchdowns during his stellar career. During his senior year in 1994, he led the Blazers to their first postseason berth, advancing to the quarterfinals, and when it was all said and done set 29 VSU passing and total offense records. Among the national records he once set were a 68.5 career completion percentage and a streak of 20-straight completions in a game against New Haven. Hatcher held 14 Valdosta State, 13 Gulf South Conference and 17 Division II national records. He also started 41 consecutive games, posting a 29-10-2 record. Not only did Hatcher excel on the field, he was just as successful in the classroom. Twice he received the Gulf South Conference’s Commissioner’s Trophy which is awarded to the league’s Most Outstanding Student-Athlete. He finished his senior year by winning several national honors including: the NCAA Top Eight Award, the CoSIDA Academic All-America National Player of the Year and a postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. At the time when Hatcher won the Harlon Hill Trophy, he won by the second-largest voting margin in the then-19-year history of the award. Hatcher was also voted to the GSC Football team of the 1990s. The honors continued to add up even after his playing days. Hatcher was named to the Valdosta State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility. He was also elected into the Macon Sports Hall of Fame the same year.
In 2005, Hatcher was inducted into the Division II Hall of Fame. Hatcher was also inducted into the inaugural class of the GSC Hall of Fame in 2014. Hatcher graduated from Valdosta State in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. He and his wife, Lori, also a graduate of VSU, are the parents of a son, Ty, and daughter, Talley.