Meet Jazmin Gamble, the Hawthorne High head football coach making history

Football has always been in Jazmin Gamble’s life.

From her brothers playing the sport, to her training athletes and then her own professional career in the Women’s National Football Conference.

Read more High school football: Scores from Friday’s Week 0 games

“Football has always been part of my life because my brother played football,” she said after being hired. “But it didn’t become a permanent part of my life until I started playing. So, the last five years, it became a part of my life and I got engulfed in it very fast.”

Now, she’s taking her career to an even higher level. Gamble was hired in March as the new football coach at Hawthorne High. The Cougars began the new season Friday at home against Gardena.

Gamble is believed to be just the second or third woman in state history to be the head coach of a varsity boys football team. In 2014, Knengi Martin was promoted from junior varsity to varsity coach at San Diego High.

Monique Boone, who was the defensive coordinator last year at Santiago Corona, coached offensive and defensive lines at Hawthorne in 2021.

Gamble played running back and linebacker for the Los Angeles Legends. She was the team’s defensive MVP in 2024 and offensive MVP in 2025. She is also a certified trainer and fitness instructor. She owns her own business, The Jazz Standard.

“When I think of coaching, that umbrella is so vast,” she said. “I’ve always coached athletes, so the desire to coach athletes was always there. I didn’t necessarily think, I want to coach football, until I started getting more involved, maybe like the last year and a half. It was kind of like I’m going to stop playing in a little while, what would be a smooth transition and still be part of the sport. How to transition that into more sports specific. Then within my network, I was notified about the job at Hawthorne and I was like this could be a good next step.

“I don’t think you ever feel ready to do anything, but I’ve just always been the type of person that anything I set my mind to accomplish, I’ve done it and I’ve done it well and for me, it’s about growing and evolving in this industry in general, coaching in general. I knew that it was going to be a challenge because it’s different and again, this space is a male-dominated, so I knew that if I did get into this space, it would be definitely challenging, but I’ve never been the type to run from things like that, so it was like, let’s do it.

Read more Del Mar Notebook: 3 graded stakes lead up to Pacific Classic; longshot wins big

“I’ve built a brand and a company from the ground up, in a city that I’m not from. In my opinion, this wasn’t any different. Yes this is something new, this particular space is new, but I’m not new the grind. I’m not new to the learn something new, adopting things I already know and applying it, hiring staff, I’m not new to that. Creating culture, I’m not new to that.”

Gamble takes over a Hawthorne program that finished 2-8 last season under Corey Thedford. Gamble said during her interviews, the panel asked her about her vision for the program.

“It’s an attention to details and development,” she said. “What I’ve seen on film, these kids lacked confidence and a lot of time that confidence is built in the offseason. It’s built before they get on the field. That’s something I’ve learned personally playing the sport at a professional level.

“For me, it was more of being able to develop them to create that baseline for them so that foundation is already set for them. For me, my main goal is these kids need to know what it feels like to feel prepared and feel confident in their bodies and their abilities to perform and then you get better players. Winning is important to me, but you can’t win if you don’t feel prepared and if you don’t feel like you have the fundamental component. It was about pouring into them fundamentally until they can see what it feels like to build brick-by-brick, from the ground up and that’s going to translate onto the field.”

The road to success at Hawthorne has been difficult. The last time the Cougars finished the season with a .500 or better record was in 2004. The challenge is something that Gamble is looking forward to tackling.

After a nonleague schedule that includes games against Gardena, Compton Dominguez, West Torrance, Narbonne, Compton Centennial and Leuzinger, the Cougars head into the Ocean League schedule, starting Oct. 2.

“I’m really am just a doer, I’m just a hard worker,” she said. “For me, it was like OK, you’ve got this position, this is a leadership position, you’re not new to these roles, yes, you’re new to this position as a head coach standpoint, but the things that make up a good leader, you’re not new to that. I want to give these boys, new opportunities to shine and to thrive and to be better, not just as athletes, but as people.”

Read more Del Mar consensus picks for Saturday, August 22, 2026