Omarion Hampton was coached by former Chargers great at North Carolina

Travis Wakeman

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Omarion Hampton was coached by former Chargers great at North Carolina image

When the Los Angeles Chargers selected Omarion Hampton with their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it created a connection between them and the North Carolina Tar Heels that many fans can appreciate. 

One of Hampton's coaches at North Carolina was former Chargers second-round pick Natrone Means. Hampton became the third North Carolina running back ever drafted by the Chargers, and two of them have a strong tie to each other. 

Means was moved to running backs coach at North Carolina this offseason, working under Bill Belichick. Prior to that, he was an offensive analyst. 

Means was taken with the No. 41 overall pick of the Chargers in 1993. He played three seasons for the team, starting at running back in Super Bowl XXIX. He then played with the Jacksonville Jaguars for two seasons before coming back to the Chargers. 

His 3,885 yards rushing rank 7th in team history as he was a big, powerful runner who fans have fond memories of to this day. Hampton was excited to play for the same team that Means became famous with. 

When speaking to Eric Smith and Omar Navarro of the team's official website, Hampton discussed how much Means has meant to his young career thus far. 

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"Him having my back through everything. Like if I don't understand stuff, I'll meet with him 1-on-1. We always love talking ball, even talking off the field about stuff not even about ball.

"He's just always there for me. He's obviously a great player, but good man as well. He taught me a lot of things", said Hampton. 

It will make Hampton a quick fan favorite as Means was always a player Chargers fans loved and appreciated.

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Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.