William Jewell College alumnus, former coach and longtime athletic director Larry Hamilton passed away on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at the age of 83.
 
Hamilton attended Jewell from 1957-1961 competing as a member of the football, swimming and track and field teams. In 1960, he was the leading point scorer at the Missouri Collegiate Athletic Union Outdoor Championships and won conference titles in the 100, 440, and 880 during his career. Additionally, he was an All-Conference honoree on the gridiron and was an honor student, majoring in biology and physical education. 
 
He returned to the Cardinals as the head swimming and assistant football coach in 1967. Over the next 16 years his swimming teams set numerous records and dominated the MCAU and the Heart of America Athletic Conference. He sent 48 swimmers to the national championships and coached five All-Americans.
 
In 1980 he became the head track and field coach and led the program to two HAAC titles. Additionally, he served as an assistant coach during one of the best runs of Cardinal football in program history, coaching defensive backs as Jewell went to four straight NAIA playoffs and played for a national championship in 1982. As a head coach, two of his teams, the 1976 men's swimming and 1986 women's track and field, have both been selected to the William Jewell Athletics Hall of Fame as well as the 1980, 1981 and 1982 football teams as an assistant. 
 
He was appointed to the Director of Athletics role in 1972, a position he held for nearly three decades. During his tenure, he oversaw the fundraising and construction of the Mabee Center, the transition of women's varsity sports to the campus as well as the addition new sports such as softball, women's track and field, soccer, and golf. In 2000, he was named the NACAA/Continental Airlines Athletics Director of the Year and was inducted into the William Jewell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.  
 
A native of Chillicothe, Missouri, he played football under long time Jewell coach Darrel Gourley at Chillicothe High School in the mid-1950s. He was married to Phyllis Playter in 1984 and had three children. 
 
Funeral services will take place on Tuesday, January 10 at Liberty Christian Church with visitation occurring on Monday evening from 5-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration of a donation to the William Jewell College Cardinal Athletic Fund on Coach Hamilton's behalf.