Football Coach Tries to Restore Glory at NW

To say it's been a tough 18 months for the Northwest Jaguars football program would be a gross understatement.  2009 was unquestionably the most turbulent for the Germantown school since it opened in 1998.  In March 2009, junior David Katembwe was imprisoned for robbery and three months later, a car crash injured senior Hassan Dixon, killing his 12-year-old sister. Tragedy struck again that summer when Edwin "Dek" Miller died after collapsing during conditioning drills.

On the field, 2009 was no better for the Jaguars. On top of its 3-7 finish (the worst since the school's first year in 1998), Northwest's then-head coach Mark Maradei was suspended at one point in the season for allegedly making inappropriate contact with a player during practice. Maradei resigned shortly after the season.

But 2010 ushers in a new era for the school. Earlier this year, Northwest hired long-time Montgomery County coach Bob Hampton. Hampton has no illusions about it being an easy road back to the top, but the 67-year-old retired school teacher has a history of winning everywhere he's been and that spells good news for a team that is yearning to return to the days when it was a perennial contender. Although Northwest finds itself 0-3, three games into the season, that doesn't damper Hampton's optimism for the future of the program. 

"I'm excited about being here," Hampton said. "Right now we're taking it on the chin a little bit, but we are a young team. We have to grow and we have to learn. But if we grow together, learn together, and we stay together, then good things will happen."

Hampton has been part of 11 state championship teams in Maryland and has coached alongside of Al Thomas (at Seneca Valley and Sherwood) and Bob Milloy (at Good Counsel).  Hampton also served as the head coach at Wootton for 14 years, where he took the Patriots to the 1990 state championship and to the 1991 quarterfinals. Although he hasn't been a head coach since leaving Wootton in 1996, Hampton is confident he is in the right place now.

"For the past six years, I was at Sherwood [as defensive coordinator]. But I live in Germantown and I knew the job was going to open up and I ended up applying the day before the interviews started," Hampton said.  "It was a hard decision [to leave Sherwood] but I definitely thought it was the right move to make and the right thing to do. I still do." 

Correction: The image in this article previously appeared with an incorrect photo credit. The photographer is Ed Sheahin, from whom we have licensed the photo for use in this article. We regret the error.