By Kaitlin Candelaria
Samford University’s new head football coach has some large shoes to fill, but he’s up to the challenge.
Chris Hatcher became Samford’s new head football coach on the heels of Coach Pat Sullivan’s resignation in December 2014. Sullivan led the Bulldogs for eight seasons. Some highlights of his time at Samford include four straight winning seasons for the first time since the late 1990s as well as helping the team win its first Southern Conference championship in 2013.
“Coach Sullivan has done a really good job of building the program basically from scratch,” Hatcher said. “He came in, and now we have this great facility and a Southern Conference championship under our belt. Now, we want to take it to the next level. We want to be a perennial Southern Conference power. We want to be on the hunt for more conference championships and national championships every year.”
Samford Director of Athletics Martin Newton said he agrees and is excited to watch Hatcher continue to build on that foundation.
“Coach Sullivan really just built such a strong foundation, and at this point, I’m most excited about seeing Coach Hatcher continue to build on that,” Newton said. “I’m excited about the ‘Hatch Attack’ and the entertainment value of how we’re going to be playing on the field this fall.”
In the past, Hatcher coached at Valdosta State University, Georgia Southern University and Murray State University and has given starts to big name coaches such as Will Muschamp and Kirby Smart during his career.
He said he was drawn to the coaching position at Samford not only because of what he describes as an outstanding location but also because of the university’s academic reputation.
“The school is so beautiful, and we have really great athletic facilities here,” Hatcher said. “It just seemed like the right fit for me at this time in my career.”
Hatcher, a father of two, said a lot of what makes a great coach is finding balance.
“This is a job that there’s not enough hours in the day,” Hatcher said. “You’re constantly worried about the welfare of your student athletes, but you’ve got to take care of your own family and make sure that your coaching staff has time to be daddies as well.”
As Hatcher and his team get ready for their first fall practices, which kick off next month, he’s focusing on playing an exciting brand of football.
“You’ve got to be competitive,” Hatcher said. “Everybody likes a winner. I’ve always said you can be an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan, but you can also be a Samford fan. Our goal is to get the local community to come out and see the product that we put on the field every week. If someone has never been to a Southern Conference game, I think they’d be pleasantly surprised with the type of athletes that will be taking the field.”
Newton said Hatcher is similar to Sullivan in that they are both family-oriented men.
“The 80-plus young men we have on roster here are an extension of (Hatcher’s) family, and I’m excited to see how that’s going to blend and come together,” Newton said. “He has only been here for six months, and he’s already entrenched in the community, and that kind of enthusiasm is contagious.”
That entrenchment will continue as football season nears, Newton predicted.
“I think you’ll see a lot of new and exciting energetic things to get the student body fired up,” he said.
But Newton and Hatcher aren’t playing all of their cards just yet.
“There’s going to be some exciting new changes, but you’re just going to have to wait till Sept. 3 to see them,” Newton said. “If you want to come watch an exciting brand of football with true student athletes, this a family-friendly, fun place to come watch a football game. The excitement we’re creating from a fan experience standpoint is well worth the low price.
“We want Samford to become the Over the Mountain community’s football team.”
