Coach's dilemma: Football game or daughter's wedding?

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Friday, September 12, 2014
Wagner coach Walt Hameline walks on the sideline on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.
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NEW YORK -- You think fall weddings are inconvenient for college football fans? Imagine being a coach with a daughter who has her heart set on a Saturday in late September.

That was Wagner College coach Walt Hameline's dilemma. His youngest daughter, Kelly, told him last fall the place she chose as the site of her big day had few dates available. And the one she picked was Sept. 20, the same day Wagner was scheduled to play Monmouth University.

It would seem the only options would be to miss the game or miss the wedding.

But, incredibly, there was a third option.

With the help of an old friend - Monmouth coach Kevin Callahan - Hameline was able to reschedule the game.

Wagner, an FCS school in Staten Island, visits its rival on the Jersey Shore on Saturday, giving the Seahawks an open date on Sept. 20 and keeping peace in the Hameline family.

Hamelin says it's Kelly's "wedding present and a lot of presents to follow throughout life."

He's just happy she didn't pick Sept, 6, when the Seahawks played at Florida International, a game Wagner was paid $240,000 to play.