Page 38 - Tattnall County

William Hall attended 1 st and 2 nd grades at Glennville Colored Elementary School. His 3 rd grade year was spent at Lambertville in Trenton, New Jersey. Hall’s 4 th and 5 th grade years were back at Glennville Colored Elementary School. Moving back up North, his 6 th and 7 th grades were at Roanoke Avenue School in Riverhead, New York. Back in Tattnall County, 8 th through 11 th grades were at Glennville Colored High School. In 1955/56, Hall attended his 12 th grade year at the Tattnall County Industrial

High School in Reidsville.

William Hall graduated from Tattnall County Industrial High School in Reidsville, Georgia, in 1956. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Driver and Safety Education from Savannah State College (known today as Savannah State University). In 1971, Hall received a Master of Science Degree in Physical Education from Indiana University at Bloomington.

In 1961, Coach William Hall began his career at the segregated Tattnall Industrial High School in Reidsville. He worked with a staff that coached talented football and track teams in the 1960’s. When the schools integrated in 1970, he moved to Glennville where he coached until 1993 when the school closed. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, he coached during every season from the beginning of the school year until the end of the year. Most of the time, he

was back during the summer working in conditioning programs. His football, basketball, softball and track teams were competitive and often superior. His track and feld teams won four straight region titles in the 1970’s and again from 1985-1991.

In 1982, Hall took over the football program at Glennville High School and with the help of Sterling Sharpe, led the team to its best record in fve seasons (6-3-1). Later that spring, Sharpe would set the state record in the long jump and receive a football scholarship to South Carolina. Hall was also privileged to coach Sterling Sharpe’s younger brother, Shannon, in track as well as in football. When asked to comment on Coach Hall, Sterling Sharpe said, “He’s a living legend of Tattnall. In having William Hall as a teacher, I found him to be the same as he was a coach. He spoke to you in the same tone, never too emotional or too wrapped up in a situation for the tone