‘Coach Hampton’: Oriel Hampton Finds Acceptance, Respect in First Season as Female Football Coach at General Trass
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
General Trass made several attempts to entice Oriel Hampton into becoming its girls’ basketball coach.
With each effort, Hampton, a former standout guard at McCall and collegiate player at Grambling State, rebuffed each advance.
The game wasn’t the same without her biggest fan – her mother Delores Ann Oney – who died of breast cancer during her second year of college.
She left Grambling and returned home to Lake Providence to help, along with her father, raise her younger sister who wound up attending college.
Hampton later returned to school, earned both her undergraduate and master’s degrees, and was asked once again to reconsider General Trass’ offer.
This time she had a change of heart.
“I tried my best in the past to stay away from basketball because I had lost my No. 1 fan,” Hampton said. “When she passed away, my love for the sport fell. I stepped out on faith and took the challenge.”
Hampton guided the girls for four years and the job’s degree of difficulty increased when she coached the boys at the same time, leading the Panthers to the Division IV non-select state playoffs in 2022.
During the football season, it was common to find Hampton at practice watching the team where her son Jorden Brooks-Grimes plays both running back and outside linebacker.
There was another familiar face for Hampton to visit with and hang around the team where Toriano Wells, her former history teacher and coach at McCall in Tallulah, has been the head football coach for the past nine years.
Hampton was secure enough to make suggestions to Wells, things that he could possibly usher into his list of plays to dabble with before the regular season began.
“When you’re watching something on the side, you see it from a different perspective,” Hampton said. “When I thought there were things he could try. Then he said, let’s try it in the scrimmage. Then he said, let’s bring this to life in real games. I tried to watch film with the guys, study film, and learn more.”
Hampton was busting with a certain level of confidence to approach Wells with her ideas after first trying them on some of the players who didn’t offer any resistance. Instead of balking at a female’s perspective on the game, they embraced some of her ideas that ultimately made it onto the playing field.
“When it (concepts) became successful is when it really built up my confidence and coach Wells and the other guys allowed me to have a voice,” Hampton said. “My confidence came from the boys. The things I was telling them, they respected and tried it out. I knew they were the ones out there playing and not questioning what I’m telling them to do.”
Wells found an on-field role for Hampton last season when she supervised the school’s cheerleaders, providing them with a female presence on the sideline amid the chaos of a Friday night football game.
That association escalated to an unforeseen level this season when Wells, realizing his own shortage of assistant coaches, asked Hampton to coach the secondary.
“We taught her how to coach defensive backs,” Wells said of Hampton. “We had camps with her, (watched) videos, (conducted) drills. I’ve been out there with her, and she’s gotten to the point where some of the drills she’s able to do on her own. She’s spent time with those guys getting them ready.”
There was already an indication Wells was becoming increasingly comfortable with Hampton in 2023, asking her to wrap players’ ankles and wrists and provide assistance with injured players. She received a copy of the team’s typed game plan each week, learned the calls, and actually called them out when the staff became thinner.
When asked to become quite possibly the state’s lone female assistant football coach, once again Hampton took a leap of faith, grabbed her coaching attire and headsets, and became part of a team that was one step away from playing in the state championship game.
No. 12 General Trass (9-4) travels to reigning Division IV non-select state champion Haynesville (12-0) at 7 p.m. Friday for a state semifinal contest.
“I started to take on more responsibility that coach Wells would give me,” Hampton said. “I guess he saw it was working out and eventually it led up to this. When he asked, I thought, ‘Are you serious’? When he said that it was time and this is what you’re going to do, I went from mommy mode (mother of 2-year-old Rhyleigh) and into coach mode. That’s what the guys respect me as. They respect me as a coach.
“I didn’t have to think twice because I knew sports were in me,” Hampton said. “I came from a family of athletes that played baseball, football, and basketball. Coach Wells had always welcomed me. I kind of felt like I was a coach in the background. Coach Wells has always made sure I was comfortable and given me respect from Day 1. If I was going to be heard, everyone listened. I knew the type of program I was going to be a part of something positive. There was no hesitation.”
Familiar face around the program
The health of another parent, her father Vernon Thomas Brooks, forced Hampton to step down as girls’ basketball coach before this season.
With her father suffering a pair of strokes and requiring attention from Oriel and her husband Kevin, she decided to focus on coaching football this season and being available to provide care when needed.
“I didn’t want to have to leave during the season,” Hampton said of her decision to step away from her basketball job. “It was a tough decision and hard for my players to accept, but they understood. I had gotten calls during games last year when my dad had his strokes. It was a lot.”
Coaching boys proved uneventful during the 2021-22 season when she coached both basketball teams the same season with the boys falling by four points in the opening round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
There was a sense of familiarity that had been established when Hampton coached that season, coupled with her role as a teacher and mother to Jorden.
She brought a distinct passion from the basketball court to the sideline where she could be her own worst enemy of her laser focus.
Because of the action on the field, it was normal for Hampton to become so wrapped up in the unfolding of a play, that her health could unknowingly be at risk.
“The boys became very overprotective of me,” she said. “The majority of them were football players and I didn’t have an issue with the kids. They listened to me, there was no talking back. When I’m on the sidelines, half of the time I’m so focused that if they’re running towards me, I’m not getting out of the way.
“They’re literally picking me up,” she said. “They weren’t going to let me get hurt. I was so locked in and didn’t even know the play was headed my way. It feels good getting that type of respect from teenagers. They look at me as a coach as well as a mom. It’s a respect thing and I have no problem with the boys.”
Wells was impressed with the measures Hampton went through to learn the game before becoming a member of the football staff.
Wells explained the intricacies of teaching defense – albeit zone or man-to-man – were similar philosophically to that of Hampton’s instruction with her basketball team. She helped defensive backs work on their stance and technique such as backpedaling and high-pointing passes, preparing them to compliment General Trass’ base 50 defense.
“We told her when she came in to look at film, it’s like coaching basketball,” Wells said. “Man-to-man and zone (defenses) in basketball, if a person comes here, you’ve got to match up with them. She’s come in and watched film with the defensive guys. This is the best receiver, what can we do to try and take the guy away from them?
“Like in coaching basketball and playing man-to-man defense, how are you going to try and keep a girl from getting the ball,” Wells said. “She’s taken it upon herself to study film on how to get things ready. She does a great job week in and week out of working with the coaching staff and the guys getting ready to play.”
Hampton said it’s always been her nature to be inquisitive and ask plenty of questions. She’s been open to anyone who could help her learn about her new craft and applied that to her own principles that centered around the three Ds – discipline, dedication, and determination.
“I feel pretty confident,” she said of her first season. “I have faith in God. As long as my faith doesn’t waver, and I’m able to spread that faith to those players, I feel great. I have no doubt. God didn’t give me a spirit of fear, so therefore I can’t pass the spirit of fear down to them.”
Making A difference in athletes’ lives
News of Hampton’s position with the football team was rather uneventful.
“She’s been a mom to a lot of these guys anyway,” Wells said. “They know her. They know the expectations and how she conducts herself, what’s she going to allow and what she’s not going to allow. When we said Coach Hampton was going to be the defensive backs coach, it wasn’t anything new to them.
“They saw her out there working, showing them what to do, and when the guys saw that she knew what she was talking about, they went along with it,” Wells said. “You wouldn’t know that she’s a female out there coaching. The way they respect her, and the way she responds to it and the way she instructs them, is like a regular coach would and that’s what we expected.”
General Trass is no stranger to postseason play with this year’s trip marking the 12th straight for the program and ninth under Wells.
Senior quarterback/outside linebacker Ahmoniee Williams leads the Panthers with 2,741 yards and 32 touchdowns on offense. He’s also the team’s No. 2 tackler with 70 stops, 10 tackles for loss and 7 sacks.
Sophomore Larry Stewart is also a 1,000-yard rusher (148-1,025, 6 TDs) and senior Anton Davis (82-725, 14 TDs) is another key part of General Trass’ offense. Davis is also the team’s leading receiver with 26 receptions with 724 yards and 9 TDs.
Senior defensive tackle Joshua Hopkins leads the Panthers with 102 tackles and a team-high nine sacks for 49 yards in losses. Senior linebacker Vernon Nichols has 60 tackles followed by freshman cornerback Amarea Reynolds (52 tackles, 6 TFLs, 3 sacks) and junior cornerback Damarion Berry (54 tackles).
The team’s secondary, under Hampton’s tutelage, has registered 12 interceptions with three of those coming from Williams, Reynolds, and J’Bion Newson in last week’s 36-34 quarterfinal victory over Jeanerette.
“We didn’t do any type of celebration until afterward,” Hampton said. “I don’t believe in doing all of those celebrating. We’re strictly business. That’s it and get out there and do your job. They know I’m proud of them. I told them we’re not going to celebrate too much because we still have a big game ahead of us.
“I tell them to be locked in, pay attention,” Hampton said. “You never know when someone may get hurt and you’ll have to take that person’s place. This is a team thing. I make sure they’re attentive. I control the sideline, keep them motivated and encouraged.”
Berry leads the defense with six interceptions with Williams and Newson each picking off two passes.
“People want to know what she knows about football,” Wells said. “They see her doing things with the drills and they say she knows what she’s doing. They see her interactions with the guys. During timeouts, she helps to settle the guys down. She’s been coaching for a long time. They (players) understand that she can coach and that’s how they look at it. That’s Coach Hampton. She’s out there coaching.”
Hampton has a deep-rooted faith and lives by bible passages that have helped define her journey.
One of her bedrocks is Philippians 4:13 (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me) and Psalms 23 (The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want).
“I keep those things at the front of my mind,” she said. “I go with the flow from that point forward.”
Hampton coaches in relative anonymity, a place she prefers.
Outside of her Lake Providence community, it’s not common knowledge she’s an assistant with the General Trass football team that seeks a place in next week’s state championship at the Caeser’s Superdome in New Orleans.
“I haven’t run across another team that has a female coach,” she said. “Our supporters here accept me. I haven’t had any type of negative problems. Everything’s been positive so far.”
It’s customary once the final horn sounds to signify the end of a game both teams line up and offer congratulations to one another.
The same thing holds true for both coaching staffs to not only greet players but seek each other out and offer well wishes for the future.
The male-dominated fraternity understands the grind that comes along in an almost year-round process, resulting in handshakes and embraces of respect.
Hampton included.
“The majority of teams we come across have known me from coaching basketball,” Hampton said. “I’m accepted as part of the coaching staff. Even with the players, they shake my hand, and I tell them good game. They say, ‘Yes ma’am, good game’. I’ve been getting the same type of acceptance. It hasn’t been an issue at all.”
Hampton took this step in life because of her love of coaching and impacting young people. There was never a thought about potentially opening the door for other women to walk through, but she’s optimistic her actions could provide a domino effect.
“It would be an awesome feeling,” she said. “Maybe we can start something. There’s no limit to the things we can do. We’re able to get out and do the same things as the male coaches do. I don’t know if people pay attention to me when I’m on the sideline. I’m just there doing what I can do.
“I’m letting God order my steps,” she said. “It’s something I enjoy doing. There’s so much respect and when it’s a respect thing from the boys as well as the other coaches, it makes my job a little bit easier. It makes me confident and just allows me to have a voice.”