Franklin Walker was content being a college football coach in the late 1970s, working as an assistant coach at then-Jersey City State College with the immortal late Harry Massey.
But in 1979, someone in the Jersey City Board of Education had the infinite wisdom to suggest that Walker take over the football program at Lincoln High School. Walker had been an assistant coach at Ferris in the past, but this venture would have been his first as a head coach.
At that time, Walker was already a teacher in the Jersey City school system and on his way up the ranks that would lead to stints as athletic director, district supervisor, principal, and associate superintendent of schools, a position he still currently holds.
So the transition back to the district as a head football coach wasn’t a painful one. But Walker remembers the early days of taking over the Lincoln program and vividly recalls one special member of that first team – namely current Lincoln coach Robert Hampton.
“I had a chance to watch Lincoln a lot before I got the job, because we both practiced at Roosevelt Stadium,” Walker said. “So I knew of Robert before I even got there. And he was one of the first guys I went after and called upon after getting the job. I knew he was the president of the senior class and a very cerebral player. He was also a very tenacious player.”
Hampton was an outside linebacker on Walker’s first team at Lincoln. He wasn’t around when Walker finally guided the Lions to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group III state championship in 1981 – the first and only state championship Lincoln has ever earned in football.
By the time Walker was doing his magic on the sidelines in defeating Lakeland for the state crown in 1981, Hampton was a football player at Boston University.
But the Lions couldn’t have gained the necessary respect as state champs in 1981 if it weren’t for the groundwork established by Hampton and his teammates two years prior.
“In 1979, we missed making the state playoffs by one power point,” Walker said. “We lost to Hoboken and that knocked us out.”
Back then, only four teams qualified in a section, not eight like there are today, so earning a berth to the NJSIAA state playoffs was a major achievement.
“However, by the time that group became seniors, they were all seasoned and ready to make a run at a state title,” Walker said. “I knew it. They were all like coaches on the field. To be very honest, Robert’s group had everything to do with what we were able to accomplish two years later. They set the standard and the tone. There were guys like Johnny Griggs, Paul Chisholm and Mark Holmes who all wanted to be like Hampton.”
It formed a bond between coach and player that has lasted three decades.
“He set a standard of excellence and I always wanted him to be proud of me,” Hampton said of Walker. “It was like when Denzel Washington won his Oscar and he stood on the stage with Sidney Poitier. Denzel said that Sidney inspired him and made him achieve. Well, Coach Walker did that with me. I always wanted to please him.”
“We kept in contact when he went off to Boston University,” Walker said. “We never lost touch. He would write me letters when he was in college or call me and talk.”
Hampton moved to North Carolina at one point, then returned to his Jersey City roots while working on Wall Street for more than 15 years. He kept in touch with his high school coach and would regularly raise money to donate to the football program at Lincoln while he was a member of the business world.
A few years ago, Walker made Hampton a proposition.
“I told him that one day he should come back to Jersey City and coach football,” Walker said. “I told him that he would be good for the kids. I knew that he would be someone who could keep the kids motivated. I kept telling him that he was the right person for the job to coach at Lincoln. I knew that it was more than coaching football. It was about saving lives.”
It was also about saving a totally deceased football program. Once a very proud and storied grid program in the 1960s and ’70s, Lincoln was totally dormant on the gridiron, never enjoying a winning season since 1987. It was one disastrous campaign after another, an utter laughingstock.
“I knew that he would be able to motivate young men,” Walker said. “That was the basis of our relationship. I knew that he could turn their lives around. I wanted to provide support and give back to him what he gave me as a player. I knew that he could provide guidance and reinforcement to these young men.”
Walker pushed for Hampton to become the head coach at Lincoln. It also meant that Hampton had to walk away from his cushy, high-priced Wall Street job to enter the life of inner-city education at perhaps Jersey City’s toughest high school.
Five years ago, Hampton took the job and the rest, as they say, is history. The Lions have been Jersey City’s top public school grid program for the last three years, becoming the first Jersey City public school to qualify for the state playoffs three straight seasons.
And this weekend, the Lions will be part of the unthinkable and unfathomable. They are headed to the New Meadowlands Stadium to take on New Providence for the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state title, Lincoln’s first appearance in a state title game since Walker’s team took home the title 29 years ago.
It’s been almost 30 years in the making, but Lincoln is getting a chance to dance with the big boys once again.
“I know Lincoln hadn’t been to the state championship in a long time,” said senior two-way lineman Paris Williams. “I just didn’t realize how long. We’re getting a chance to play in the Meadowlands, in that new stadium where some of my favorite players play every Sunday. It’s like a dream come true. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. I think it’s like a dream. But we have a chance to go down in history in this school.”
Teammate Dwayne Larkin is also in amazement about the opportunity.
“We have a chance to do something good, so we should take advantage of it,” Larkin said. “It’s the best feeling in the world right now. We’re going to play on an NFL field. That’s every kid’s dream. Not a lot of kids from Jersey City get a chance like that.”
Nope, the last Jersey City public school team to play at the Meadowlands was Snyder in 1977, when the Tigers lost in the Group IV finale to North Bergen.
“It’s a one-time thing,” Williams said. “Now, we have to finish it. It’s shocking that we’re getting a chance to play at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Just hearing that is amazing.”
“I’ll never forget this,” Larkin said. “We’ll never get a chance to do this again.”
Even though it has been nearly 30 years, Walker never forgets that last state title. In fact, he has a constant reminder.
“I wear this ring every day,” Walker said, pointing to his finger where the 1981 state championship ring sits. “It’s with me every day. I’m ecstatic for these kids and for this program. Hampton told me when he took the job that he was going to take this team to the states. He never wavered on that.”
Added Walker, “There are a lot of similarities between our team in 1981 and this team. We were a fourth seed that year. They were a sixth seed this year. The make-up of each team is strikingly similar. They’ve brought back the tradition.”
Hampton knows that the last piece of the puzzle won’t be an easy one. The Lions are facing the 10-1 top seed in New Providence, a program that has 29 playoff appearances, 18 trips to the finals and five state crowns and has a coach, Frank Bottone, who has won more than 350 games and is retiring after this game.
“They have the edge, with a veteran coach going to his last rodeo,” Hampton said. “They have the emotional edge. But we’re going to match their intensity. We have to be hungry. We haven’t won in 29 years. We’re playing for our high school and our city.”
The former coach and the current coach were reunited in the days prior to the state title game. They had a chance to reflect on what was and what could be, the perfect bridge from one state champion to a possible state title winner.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.