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Hammer

B.J. Hammer

B.J. Hammer has served as the Fish Family Head Coach of Football at Bowdoin since 2019, bringing more than two decades of collegiate coaching experience to Brunswick. A two-time All-American defensive lineman at Wabash College, Hammer previously served as head coach at Whittier and Allegheny and as defensive coordinator at Wabash before taking the helm of the Polar Bears.

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At Bowdoin
  • Fish Family Head Coach of Football at Bowdoin since 2019
  • Led the Polar Bears to the 2023 CBB Championship, awarded annually to the winner of the Bowdoin-Colby-Bates series
  • With 12 wins in the last four campaigns, has led the program to the most wins in a four-year stretch since 2011.  
  • Has continued to build the program as Bowdoin enters a new era in 2026, with NESCAC football teams eligible for the NCAA Championship for the first time
Coaching Resume
  • 2019–present: Head Coach, Bowdoin College
  • 2016–18: Head Coach, Allegheny College
  • 2011–15: Defensive Coordinator, Wabash College
  • 2006–10: Head Coach, Whittier College
  • Also served as an assistant at Heidelberg College and Wabash
  • At Wabash, his defenses helped the Little Giants compile a 51–7 record, ranking among the top five nationally in defense three times
  • Finalist for the 2014 AFCA Division III Coordinator of the Year Award
Education
  • 2001 graduate of Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana
  • Recipient of Wabash’s Pete Vaughan Award in 2001, presented to the school’s top senior student-athlete
Athletic Career
  • Four-year football letterwinner at Wabash
  • Team captain and two-time All-American
  • Three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection
  • Starred on the defensive line, graduating with Wabash records for tackles for loss in a game, season and career
  • Finished his career with a then-school-record 58 tackles for loss, including 15 sacks in a single season