After only three years into his head coaching career, Calvin Hampton and Meridian High School decided to part ways.

The Meridian Public School District doesn’t comment on personal matters officially. Hampton initially called it a resignation but later clarified to The Meridian Star that he was let go. Hampton insisted to us that he didn’t want to give the impression to his players that he quit, which is understandable. But reading the tea leaves, it’s clear Hampton was not coming back next season regardless of who’s choice it ultimately was.

That leaves Meridian in the same position as it was following the 2015 season, when then-head coach Larry Weems stepped down after an extended, successful run as the Wildcats’ coach, which included a Class 5A state championship in 2008. Weems would later go on to accept the head coaching job at Jackson Academy, and Hampton was ultimately promoted from offensive line coach to head coach prior to the 2016 season.

At the time the hire was made, there were two schools of thought surrounding it. The first was the fact that Hampton was a Meridian alumnus who had spent years as an assistant coach on the staff and had a love and a pride not just for the school, but for the community. That was obvious anytime I ever spoke to him, whether it was recalling fond memories of his playing days or insisting his team should not be intimidated by the like of South Panola, for example, because, “We’re Meridian.”

The other school of thought had to do with Hampton’s inexperience as a head coach. He had never had a head coaching job prior to taking over the Wildcats program, and some felt immediately sliding into a Class 6A school and hoping for success was asking a lot. By contrast, after the departure of Randy Bolden to the junior college ranks, Meridian hired a boys basketball coach in Ron Norman who had been in the head coaching ranks a long time and even had a state title to his name. 

Experience and a strong track record won in that instance, and Norman won a Class 6A title in his first year and made it back to the championship game in his second season. Though Norman was hired the summer following Hampton’s hire, some wondered about the contrast in approach to the two hiring processes. That is to say, the coaching search before Hampton was selected to the position felt like a mere formality, with Hampton’s hire already a foregone conclusion.

The program appeared to be on the right track after Hampton’s first season, which ended with a 10-4 record and a loss to Pearl in the second round of the 6A postseason. Record-wise, at 7-7, his second season may have looked disappointing on the surface, except the Wildcats made it all the way to the 6A semifinals before falling to Pearl again. With a roster containing a number of players who will play football at the next level, things looked up for the Wildcats going into Hampton’s third season.

Instead, the result couldn’t be described as anything other than disappointing, and I’m sure Hampton himself would tell you that. Meridian finished 4-7 and missed the playoffs. On a personal level, I hate to see anyone be let go, and when it comes to Hampton specifically, he was always helpful to us and willing to give us some quotes or access to players if we were doing a story, so when you have a good working relationship with someone, watching them be let go isn’t fun.

So where does Meridian go from here? I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s a hire the administration is going to have to be able to sell to the fanbase. People were barely showing up to Ray Stadium by the end of the season, and you didn’t have to look far amongst Wildcat fans to find some people grumbling about the state of the program. You’ve got a fanbase that demands state championships, something the school hasn’t seen in more than a decade from its football program.

My question, and one to which I honestly don’t know the answer, is how much money can the school put into this hire, both in terms of the actual hire itself, and in terms of giving the new coach what he feels is needed for the program to succeed? This is a key point, because let’s entertain this hypothetical: Suppose the school is giving serious consideration to a coach who has won a state championship or even multiple state championships at a school in a lower classification. This person would take the job, except the pay raise he would receive is minimal — if there is a raise at all. 

If that’s the reality, then would a coach consider moving to Meridian just for the pride in trying to lead a 6A program? The 6A status could be a selling point, but you also have a fanbase that has shown it will turn on you quickly if you don’t show the kind of progress they like in the amount of time in which they like it. Why wouldn’t a coach just stay put at a school that lacks that kind of pressure if the money isn’t much different, or different at all?

So, not only do you have to sell the hire to the fanbase, but potentially you also have to sell the job to the right candidate, maybe even with dollar figures. It’s a tough task, one for which I don’t envy anyone on the search committee, but a Meridian program competing for 6A titles is good for both the school and community. Hopefully, it’s a hire that ends up working out.

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.