The Green Bay Packers have announced that Justin Gumm of Hamilton High School in Sussex, Wis., has been named the Packers High School Coach of the Week.
Gumm, in his seventh season as head coach at Hamilton, has his undefeated 12-0 Chargers preparing for the WIAA Division 1 state semifinals as the program looks to reach the state championship game for just the second time in school history. Following a 4-6 record in his inaugural season, Gumm has built Hamilton into a perennial Division 1 power, compiling a 60-12 record over the past six seasons.
That sustained success is anchored by the Chargers’ “CHOP It” culture.
“We have our ‘chop the wood’ culture, and CHOP for us is Consistent Habits Of Precision,” Gumm said. “It’s being process-oriented, not looking at the end goal, but working our hardest every single day and doing that with a lot of pride, energy, excitement and love for the guy next to you. It’s about us more than any individual; it’s a ‘we’ thing, not a ‘me’ thing. We have a decent amount of roster turnover each year, and coaches move on to coordinator and head coach roles elsewhere, so keeping our foundation the same year after year is something we are really proud of.”
A native of Quincy, Ill., Gumm attended Quincy Senior High School, where he played quarterback for the Blue Devils under head coach Randy Dickens before graduating in 2005. He went on to attend Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., playing quarterback for the Wildcats under head coach Christian Guenther and graduating in 2009.
Gumm began his coaching career as an assistant at Truman State University in Missouri before returning to his alma mater, Culver-Stockton, for one season. He then moved back to Illinois, serving as the offensive coordinator at both Hoopeston High School and Jefferson High School before accepting his first head coaching position at South Beloit High School. Moving to Wisconsin, Gumm became the defensive coordinator at Madison East High School before taking over as head coach at Kettle Moraine High School for four seasons. After spending one year as the offensive coordinator at Grafton High School, he was named head coach at Hamilton in the winter of 2020.
For Gumm, the driving force behind his coaching career is the relationships built with his players and the surrounding community; a sentiment reinforced when former players reach out to thank his staff for supporting them through difficult times.
“It’s really about our players and those relationships you build with them,” Gumm said. “That is what it’s all about and that’s why we do things. We’ve been through a ton of adversity here at Hamilton, and our coaches, community and kids have been such an amazing support system. We put so much work into this that it is so rewarding on Friday nights to see the happiness on our players', coaches' and community's faces. We have high expectations athletically, academically and character-wise, and I’m just so proud of what our Hamilton people are about.”
While honored to receive the Coach of the Week recognition, Gumm emphasized that the accolade belongs to the entire organization.
“It’s not me, it’s our program,” Gumm said. “We have a lot of great players that make us coaches look good, and I couldn’t do most of what I do as a coach without my phenomenal coaching staff. It’s awesome for our program to be recognized because it truly is a program award.”
Gumm and his staff oversee a program of 140 players. His assistant coaching staff includes Dayton Licklider, Mario Balistreri, Eric Zilisch, Darrell Sontag, Justin Kontny, Zach Wettengel, Chris Botsford, Elijah Hill, Henny Hiemenz, Craig Polifka, Nathan LeRoy, Jim Sparks, Jerad Warren, Conner Dingle, Jacob LeFeber, Darien Moran and Michael Johnson. Outside of coaching, Gumm is a physical education teacher at Hamilton High School. He and his wife, Alexis, have two sons, Houston and Lincoln, and one daughter, London.
About the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week Program:
The Packers will recognize one outstanding high school coach as their ‘Coach of the Week’ winner during the 2026 high school football season. Winners are awarded several items and privileges, including a $1,000 donation to the school’s football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL Foundation, as well as recognition of the award on Packers.com, boundwisconsin.com and wifca.org.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 10 a.m. every Monday to Jake Krueger, Football Outreach Coordinator, at [email protected]. Please include the nominee’s name, address, school, phone number and reason he/she is deserving of the award.
Travis Wilson serves as the Bound Wisconsin Manager. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisBound or reach him at [email protected].
