Former Northern Ireland manager Bryan Hamilton was appointed Director of Football on June 12th 1998 in a management partnership with Bruce Rioch. Bruce took responsibility for day-to-day affairs. Bryan was responsible for defining the club's footballing vision, the long term development of players and football coaching throughout the club.

Bryan gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland whilst playing for Bobby Robson's successful Ipswich side of the 1970s. He later joined Everton before moving into coaching. Sides he has coached or managed include Leicester, Tranmere, Wigan and Swindon. He managed Northern Ireland's national side before joining Ipswich and inspiring them to challenge for the play-offs. He holds an FA Advanced Coaching license.

With the departure of Bruce Rioch on 13th March 2000, Bryan was placed in charge of the first team until the end of the 1999/2000 season. On 5th April 2000, Norwich City confirmed that Bryan would be the new Norwich manager with a contract until June 2002. He made his impression on the club in late April 2000 by releasing Mike Milligan, Shaun Carey, Che Wilson, Kevin Parker, Matthew Joynson and Darren Way.

Following a run of 5 consecutive defeats (Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton, Burnley, Wimbledon, Portsmouth) in the autumn of 2000, Bryan resigned on 4th December leaving the Canaries in a poor 20th position in Division One. His affiliation with Ipswich never won him the true support of the Carrow Road regulars and his relationships with the team were strained with Lee Marshall dropped and transfer-listed after a run-in with Hamilton.

Bryan returned to Portman Road on 23 November 2001 to act as joint first team coach for the struggling Blues who are at the wrong end of the Premiership table. He was to work closely with George Burley and Tony Mowbray, However soon after their relegation, Ipswich announced on 17th May 2002 that Bryan's contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the month

In September 2002, USA A-League side Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced that Bryan would be joining them as assistant to Coach Tim Carter. Hamilton, a long-time professional colleague of Carter’s, plans to re-locate to Pittsburgh in 2003. Although Bryan would be coaching the Riverhounds, he would also use his scouting networks in Europe to bring new players to Pittsburgh. However Bryan has expressed an interest in the managerial vacancy at Ipswich caused by the sacking of George Burley. Based on his impact at Carrow Road, most Norwich fans would be delighted to see Hamilton in charge at their Suffolk rivals. Hamilton, who served as Burley's first-team coach at Portman Road until May, says he would jump at the chance to succeed him.

"I know it's a good place to be and a good place to work. The manager's job would be a tough job but a good one. They haven't invited applications yet, so I'll wait and see if they do. I worked there for two of the last four years as first-team coach and would like to be part of it again."

Bryan resurfaced the following month when the Football Association of Ireland announced that he would be helping them search for a replacement for Mick McCarthy who had resigned as Irish manager in October 2002.

In November 2006, Bryan was appointed as technical advisor to Antigua and Barbuda. He will be working with head coach of the senior national football team, Derrick “Pretty Boy” Edwards. Hamilton said "I'm not here to take anyone's job. I am here to help everyone. I'm not a miracle. My goal is to work with the players and the coaches. I've come here to offer my services for a period of time."