CCU’s Hamilton confident heading to Chicago Bears minicamp

Coastal Carolina’s Chad Hamilton didn’t get selected in the seven-round NFL Draft last weekend, but soon after the final picks were announced he quickly became a rather popular target with several teams looking to add the 6-foot-2, 292-pound offensive lineman to their rosters.

Having visited with the Chicago Bears at the team’s facility a couple weeks ago, Hamilton said he felt a connection to the organization and decided that was the best fit for him.

And this weekend he’ll begin the process of trying to prove that he’s a good fit for them as well after signing as an undrafted free agent.

“Not everyone gets drafted and I was still hopeful,” he said of watching the draft with family and friends back home in James Island. “I was keeping in contact with my agent and when the draft was over there were several teams that were trying to get me to sign with them as a free agent. My agent and I talked and we picked Chicago because Chicago is the best fit for me personnel-wise and scheme-wise, what formations they run and what plays they run based on what I did at Coastal.

“I’m excited about leaving [Thursday]. I’m ready to get started and compete and live out my lifelong dream.”

Hamilton set himself apart at the NCAA FCS level as a dominant left tackle, helping Coastal Carolina to record-setting offensive numbers while starting three-plus seasons.

He was a consensus FCS All-American last season and a first-team All-Big South pick the last two years (after earning second-team honors in 2012).

Viewed as undersized for the tackle position in the NFL, he’ll be worked out at guard and center with the Bears, he said.

“They’re going to try me out at both spots. I just have to come in and compete. Everything is up for grabs,” he said. “You [try to] get your foot in the door and you just keep excelling.”

Hamilton said he got a small signing bonus and inked a three-year contract that is contingent on him making the team’s final 53-man roster. He said he does not have to pass any rounds of cuts this weekend at the rookie minicamp and will return home June 18 for about a month before heading back for preseason camp.

If he makes it through the final preseason game without getting cut he plans to move his family to Chicago.

Hamilton is looking to become the fourth former Chanticleer to make the NFL as an undrafted free agent, following in the path of safety Quinton Teal (2007), Mike Tolbert (2008) and Maurice Simpkins (2010).

“I’m feeling very confident,” he said. “I know if I go out there to Chicago and do what I do best, which is ball out and compete, I know I’ll do great, I know I’ll get a position. It doesn’t matter if I’m backing up or I’m starting, I will compete and do anything I can to help that team. I believe in myself and know I can do it. I just have to go out there and prove it.”

And to think, at one point Hamilton wasn’t even sure he was going to pursue a professional football career.

Working as a teacher at Whittemore Park Middle School in Conway, he was already thinking about life after football as his wife faced some early complications in pregnancy.

“There was a lot going on so that factored into everything,” Hamilton said. “But when I got the good news that the pregnancy was going to be good, I went in and got an agent, started training, got the call for the [NFL Scouting Combine] and it all took off after that.”

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 6:01 PM with the headline "CCU’s Hamilton confident heading to Chicago Bears minicamp."