Page 41 - Tattnall County

For his long service and successes in Tattnall County, Coach Hall was inducted, along with Danny Scott and Sterling Sharpe, into the Tattnall County Hall of Fame in 2003. This was not the end of a coaching career for Coach William Hall; better things, if there could be better things, were to come.

January 4, 2005, the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association had this to say: “Coach William Hall had a great infuence on coaches and coaching in the state of Georgia. Now our association will be able to preserve his life history so that we can share his accomplishments with others. You were truly an inspiration and will now take your place in Georgia Coaching History. Thanks for allowing our association to honor you!”

On June 4, 2005, William “Billy” Hall was inducted into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame, a very prestigious honor. William Carwell says, “It is a tribute to Coach Hall’s coaching career, which began in the Tattnall County School System in 1961, and is still going on. This is indeed a monumental feat and a very historical one as well.” Sharing a table with Coach Hall at the Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame were two former Glennville High School students whom he coached and went on to become NFL stars…Sterling Sharpe, a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers from 1988-1994 and younger brother Shannon Sharpe, who played from 1990-2003 for the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens.

Known as the “Living Legend,” Coach Hall made a career of helping the youth of Tattnall County. His remarkable and impressive career as a head coach included two region titles in football. During his career, he also coached boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, and track and feld. It was in this sport that he achieved his most impressive coaching record. Coach Hall’s track and feld teams won a total of 284 meets, and his boys’ and girls’ track and cross country teams won 21 region titles, 3 state championships, and 5 state runner-up titles.

Coach Hall returned to Tattnall County High School as the track and feld coach in 2006, and his 2007-2008 team won the region title and went on to fnish 5 th in the state track and feld meet. Coach Hall’s ability to develop winning teams has not gone unnoticed by others

in the sports world. He is the recipient of numerous accolades and awards for his remarkable successes in the athletic arena, including 12 Georgia Athletic Association (GAA) Coach of the Year Awards. Coach Hall is a strong coach but will not take any of the credit for being the coach that he is. He says, “I’m an average coach whose successes show you what God can do for us. God has blessed me with a great work environment and has given me the strength to carry out what He called me to do. My success and the successes of my teams are apparently part of His plan, and I am grateful.” He also gives praise to his wife Willie Mae, and his daughter Valerie for their support and patience over the years.

Hall followed a simple philosophy that he instilled in his athletes: “Do the very best that you can do, and the results will take care of themselves.” As you can see, the results did take care of themselves.

Coach Hall’s most memorable moment of his coaching career as told to Rob Morton at ajc.com.: “I was coaching JV football for Glennville High Schoo,l and a member of the team said there was a kid down in middle school named Sterling Sharpe that was just great. We had a game that week, so I went ahead and talked to Sterling and asked him to play for us. He said okay. The frst time the other team kicked off, he ran the ball back for a touchdown, but it was called back on a penalty. So I told the offcial, ‘Well, you are just going to have to run [with Sterling] farther now.’ And sure enough, Sterling ran it all the way back again.”

As Coach Hall and I were talking about things to write in this article, another memory “popped” into his mind…In 1970, his last year at Tattnall Industrial High School, Coach Hall had a young man on his track team, Lavaughn Howard, who ran the 400 meter and 1600 meter relays. This young man and his team won the State Championship. Now, move forward to 1994, Coach Hall’s frst year at Tattnall County High School. He had a young man on his track team, Shannon Howard, Lavaughn Howard’s son, who also ran the 400 meter and 1600 meter relays. And, yes, this young man and his team won the State Championship. Within a period of 24 years, Coach Hall coached a man and his son in