Sam Hampton cheered for Marshall University from 2017-2020. Sam was a part of the 2018 cheer team who placed 3rd at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) College Nationals Competition in Daytona, FL - the best placement for the program thus far. Sam was a part of a stunt group who won the NCA Top Gun Stunt competition at the 2018 NCA Camp against over 30 different All-Girl groups from competing Colleges and Universities. Sam was brought back into the Marshall University Cheer program as an Assistant Coach in 2023.

In 2023 and 2025, Sam helped guide The Herd to earning a Gold Bid at NCA Camp - an honor only very select teams receive in support of competing in the Advanced Division for NCA Daytona College Nationals. Under Sam’s guidance she has helped lead her team to have 15 All-Americans over 3 years; a title given to cheerleaders who meet rigorous tumbling, stunt, and jump expectations at NCA Camps.

Sam spent the 2019-2023 seasons as a NCA Instructor. Sam traveled the country to provide various levels of cheerleading teams from high school to the advanced collegiate level giving in depth instruction of cheerleading technique and safety. Sam led multiple College and University Cheerleading teams to success as many teams she worked with ended their season with a National Title at the NCA Daytona College Nationals. As a Varsity Brand Worker, Sam was a certified judge and scored many Varsity Brand competitions including NCA College Daytona Nationals. As a NCA Instructor, Sam was given the Most Prepared Rookie Award in 2019. Sam was nominated for the Top Rookie Award in 2019, and had repeated Top Veteran nominations for 2020-2023.

Prior to signing with Marshall University’s Cheerleading team in 2017, Sam cheered for Cheer Extreme All-Stars; a top All-Star program in the country. Sam also cheered for North Point High School earning multiple back to back Championship Titles from 2013-2017.

Sam earned a Bachelor's Degree in three years for Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology from Marshall University in 2020. In 2018, Sam was inducted into the Criminal Justice Honors Society (Alpha Phi Sigma). Sam earned a Master’s Degree in 2022 in Communications from Marshall University working simultaneously as a Graduate Assistant for the Communications Department, independently teaching the Fundamentals to Communications course. She is married to husband, Kyle. Sam has a son, River; and a step-daughter, Danica. Sam currently also works as a Child Protective Service Worker for Wayne County, W.Va.

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Kenyatta Grant	Head Cheer Coach		colema23@marshall.edu
Samantha Hampton	Assistant Cheer Coach		jones1100@marshall.edu

Marshall University Athletics

2025-26 Cheerleading Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff