Previously an assistant at a pair of Division III powerhouses, Chris Hamilton is in his first season as a head coach at Franklin College.
Submitted photo | Chad Williams
Being the boss seems easy until you’re actually the boss.
That reality has hit in different ways and at different times for Chris Hamilton and Jess Johnson over the past few months. The head men’s and women’s basketball coaches, respectively, at Franklin College are both going through their first seasons in charge of a collegiate program, and while there have been plenty of highs, there have also been a few potholes along the way.
Most of those have been related to the fact that it’s impossible to plan for everything — because as a rookie, you really don’t know what you’re getting into until you get into it.
“There’s a lot of little things that come out of the woodwork that I just didn’t realize or wouldn’t have known until it was my program,” said Johnson, who had been a high school head coach at Clinton Prairie, Martinsville and Perry Meridian before spending the 2021-22 season as an assistant at Marian University.
Hamilton, who had been an assistant at Division III powers Randolph-Macon and Nebraska Wesleyan but never the man in charge, echoed that sentiment.
“We’ve just tried to understand that there’s going to be some things this year where as a staff, we don’t know what we don’t know,” he said.
One of the primary objectives for each coach this season has been establishing his or her preferred system and culture. That’s been particularly important for Hamilton, since he’s the third different head coach that the current seniors have had in their four years with the Grizzlies.
Hamilton has tried to ease the transition by keeping things as simple as he can.
“Just in general, less is more when it comes to simplifying things for guys offensively and defensively,” he said. “We try to be very consistent with our language as far as our terminology … We want to try to be able to eliminate confusion as much as possible, because the game is moving so fast and there’s so many quick decisions that have to be made that if you have the same language, it’s easier to communicate.”
At times, it’s worked. The Grizzly men reeled off five victories in a row in January before hitting a wall on their current five game road swing. They’ve lost three straight heading into tonight’s contest at Hanover, a key Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup.
Though the results have been uneven, the coach is happy with the effort and buy-in he’s gotten from his players.
“Our expectation was to try to put ourselves in a position to compete every night, night in and night out, and I think our guys have done that,” Hamilton said.
Likewise, Johnson has nothing but praise for the team she inherited. Franklin’s women enter tonight’s home game with Hanover on their own three-game losing streak, but everyone has remained upbeat and engaged, win or lose.
“I have such a great group of kids,” she said. “It’s easy to want to go to practice or easy to want to prepare and get things ready for them for the next day or the next game.
“Our kids have really taken in what we want, our level of expectation, the level of play that we want to be at, and they’ve really taken steps forward to get us there.”
The men’s and women’s teams head down the home stretch each battling for a top-six spot in the HCAC standings and the accompanying spot in the conference tournament. Both squads currently sit in sixth place.
Johnson is hopeful that her Grizzlies (8-12, 7-8) can hold on to a berth and give themselves a chance to extend their season. Hamilton, for his part, is hopeful about what the men can do if they can get in; Franklin College has won the HCAC tourney each of the last two years despite not being the top seed either time.
A year ago, the Grizzlies went into the tournament as the No. 6 seed, sporting a losing record. They wound up running the table to reach the NCAA Division III tournament.
Hamilton hopes his current squad (12-9, 8-6) can build on the confidence that championship run created.
“Experience is the great teacher, right? So having a locker room of guys that not only knows what it takes, but believes that they have what it takes — you can’t substitute belief,” he said. “If we have a group of guys that believe in what we’re doing and believe that they’re capable of doing great things … that’s a good foundation to start with.”
Laying a foundation has been job number one this season for both Hamilton and Johnson — setting a tone for what each hopes is a long tenure at Franklin College. It’s been a rewarding journey so far … even if it hasn’t always been easy.
“It’s been such a whirlwind,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely more difficult than I anticipated. Being the one in charge, everything kind of comes back to you.”
