Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska Kearney head football coach Ryan Held announced today that Jawon Hamilton is the program's new graduate assistant coach and will lead the Loper running backs.

The Florida native joins tight ends coach Colten Gaines as UNK's grad assistants this fall. Gaines came aboard last season with running backs coach Riley Myers seeing his two-year appointment end this past spring.

Hamilton played for Held at Central Florida during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He then played for three years at FCS power James Madison (Va.) before finishing up at Eastern Michigan. Most recently, Hamilton was an assistant coach at Homestead High School (Homestead, Fla.) as running backs coach after serving in the same role at his alma mater, South Dade H.S. (Miami, Fla.). 

For the UCF Golden Knights, Hamilton led the team in rushing yards (495) and carries (139) as a true freshman in 2016. He played in all 13 games, scored four times, and caught 17 passes. During UCF's 13-0 2017 campaign, he was injured in the second game of the year at Maryland and received a medical red shirt. At JMU, where he played for Curt Cignetti for two seasons, he was a two-time third-team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) pick. Over 36 games Hamilton ran for 1,510 yards and 11 TDs for a program that was 2019 FCS runners up and 2021 (spring) semifinalists. Finally at EMU, he had a team-best 657 rushing yards and four scores on 101 carries. Hamilton ran for 122 and 187 yards, respectively, against UMass and Western Michigan with the Eagles winning seven games and going bowling. 

At South Dade, Hamilton was the 2015 Tournament of Champions South Florida Player of the Year, Class 8A first-team all-state, first-team All-Dade and Miami Herald All-Dade Class 8A-6A. He rushed for 1,259 yards and 16 TDs as a senior, helping his team advance to the regional title game. Finally, he holds a B.S. in Sociology from JMU. 

UNK is currently going through summer workouts and begins fall camp on Aug. 3.