Frank Hall is a husband, a father, a coach, a mentor. To the Chardon Schools and the Chardon community, Frank Hall is a hero. On February 27, 2012, Coach Hall chased a gunman from the Chardon High School cafeteria just seconds after three students were mortally wounded and another three were injured from gunfire. Coach Hall chased the gunman from the school, putting his own life on the line to protect the school’s children and staff. Coach Hall saved many lives with his unselfish actions that day. After chasing the shooter from the building, Coach Hall re-entered the school’s cafeteria, where he comforted and cared for the students who were mortally wounded until medical personnel arrived. All three students would later die as a result of their wounds.
Coach Frank Hall is a hero. His actions that day were noticed not only by the Chardon community, but by the entire nation. Frank has been the focus of the media, both locally and nationally, because of his show of courage. He was featured on the cover of a June 24, 2013 Sports Illustrated article entitled “A Coach’s Courage,” a story that chronicles Coach Hall’s life and what lead to the collision of his life’s path and the tragedy at Chardon High School on February 27, 2012.
He has been seen on CBS’s 60 Minutes with Scott Pelley speaking of the need for more attention to our children’s safety and security. “We need to find ways to secure our schools better,” Coach Hall told Scott Pelley. “We need to make a stand right now that our schools need to be the most important thing we have in this country, not Wall Street, not Capitol Hill, our schools. We need to determine that in our minds and heart, that our schools and our children need to be the most important thing we have. That’s the bottom line.”
Coach Hall has also spoken at The Texas School Resource Officers’ State Convention and with the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation.
Coach Hall grew up in northeast Ohio in the city of Ashtabula. He is a graduate of Harbor High School, where he was an All-State Wrestler, placing sixth at the state tournament as a senior and was a member of Harbor High School’s Football team that qualified for Ohio’s state playoffs. Frank was named to Ohio’s first team All-State squad that year. He became an honorable mention All-American at Iowa Central Community College and continued his collegiate studies at South Carolina State University, where he was a member of the Bulldog Football Team. Coach Hall completed his degree at Kent State University.
Coach Hall’s heroics are not limited to February 27, 2012. After college, Frank became a member of the Richmond City Sheriff’s Department as a deputy. It was September 12, 2001, when Frank and members from his sheriff’s office reported to New York City and aided that city’s efforts after the terrorists attacks on the Twin Towers. True to his nature, he and his new bride Ashley spent their honeymoon in August of 2005 in New Orleans helping and assisting after Hurricane Katrina.
Coach Hall came to Chardon High School in 2009. He was hired as an educational aide and assistant football coach. Frank fell in love with Chardon High School and the community fell in love with him. Frank was one of the most well-liked members of the staff and commanded the respect of the student body. Chardon students from all walks of life found Coach Hall very caring, concerned, and approachable yet demanded that they act and treat each other with respect. The community of Chardon will forever remember Coach Hall as their hero.
In a difficult decision, Frank was called home to Ashtabula by his high school coach, Mr. Don Rapose, who had become their hometown school’s principal. Returning to the city he was raised in, Frank became the Lakeside High School Head Football Coach in January of 2013.
Frank and his wife Ashley reside in Jefferson, Ohio with their sons Quincy, Christian, Mark, Shawn, Aubrey, and Amir.
In August of 2019 Coach Hall returned to the staff of Chardon High School.