Legendary Pasadena High School Football Coach Tom Hamilton to be Honored with Dedication at Rose Bowl Before Turkey Tussle on Thursday

Legendary Pasadena High School Football Coach and Athletic Director Tom Hamilton will be celebrated with the dedication of Tunnel 4 at the Rose Bowl in his honor by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the community on Oct. 31, prior to the Turkey Tussle game.

The donation that enabled the dedication and naming of the tunnel was made by Mickey and Lee Segal. Mickey Segal played for Coach Hamilton when he attended Pasadena High School.

Segal is the president of the Legacy Foundation Board of Directors and the chair of the organization’s $40 million capital campaign.

“Tom Hamilton inspired hundreds of high school teenagers to do their best, to continue to support and lead other teammates,” Mickey Segal said. “And most of all he encouraged high school football players to inspire and reach out to goals far beyond playing football.

The dedication event on Oct. 31 will be free and open to the public.

“Coach Tom Hamilton has meant so much to this community and has provided so many inspiring leadership moments to residents and former students in the Pasadena area,” said the Legacy Foundation Chief Development Officer Dedan Brozino. “We owe it to him to dedicate Tunnel 4 in honor of the legacy he left to all of us.”

Councilmember Victor Gordo remembers Coach Hamilton well.

“I learned from Tom Hamilton and the rest of the coaching staff the importance of leaders setting a tone for a program and that’s what Coach Hamilton did,” said Victor Gordo, Rose Bowl Operating Company Board Member and City Councilmember.

“He was an elegant and deliberate leader for the Pasadena High School athletic program, who set a tone we could all respect and follow. And his influence went far beyond athletics. We learned important life lessons from him and the rest of the coaching staff.” Gordo said. “He made a tremendous impact on my life and the lives of other coaches and athletes.”

Rose Bowl Operating Company CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn said it is fitting to honor Coach Hamilton.

“I absolutely knew Coach Tom,” Dunn said. “He was very active in the community and I got to know him pretty well. After he left coaching I used to see him working out at the Rose Bowl. He was a great person, he cared so much for the community and cared about his kids. It’s exciting that he will be honored with having a tunnel named after him at the Rose Bowl.”

The dedication will take place prior to the annual Turkey Tussle between Pasadena High School and John Muir High School.

A plaque displaying Hamilton’s name and accomplishments will be placed at the opening of the tunnel.

Hamilton coached Pasadena to victory in 16 of the 24 games at the annual Turkey Tussle against John Muir High School.

“He won just about everything you can win as far as a high school coach,” said Gary Griffiths, Hamilton’s assistant for 13 years. “Yet the concept of the football coach is such a minute part of who he was. He elevated all the standards.”

Coach Hamilton’s tunnel is one of 12 tunnels to be named in honor of donors, community supporters, organizations including the Pittsburgh Steelers and universities like UCLA, Michigan and Harvard, around the venue’s famous concourse. There are 28 tunnels at the Rose Bowl, Dunn said.

Segal said “For me, he was an inspiration in the area of always being able to achieve anything you want if you want to work hard enough to achieve it,” he said. “Never believe something is unattainable, the sky’s the limit. For Coach Hamilton, I thought there was no better place to honor him than at the Rose Bowl.”

The event will be held prior to the 7 p.m. kick-off of the 2019 Turkey Tussle, which is a ticketed event.

All guests will be asked to exit the stadium upon the completion of the tunnel dedication. Those who bought a ticket to the Turkey Tussle can re-enter at the appropriate gates.