He was an assistant for 20 years. Now, Billy Law is making Marion County football his own
In any other scenario, Billy Law would have his hands full.
Law is the first-year head coach at Marion County, a team that lost the Georgia High School Association class 1A public state championship last season.
Former Eagles coach Chris Kirksey, who led Marion to an overall record of 19-3 over his tenure and coached the team into a powerhouse, resigned from his position soon after that loss, paving the way for Law.
In any other scenario, a new head coach would have to instill a new culture, get to know his players and install new playbooks — all via Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic. But Law has experience on his side and a familiarity with how things are run in Buena Vista.
Now, he’s tasked with making the team his own and continuing a tradition of high expectations on a team that has had plenty of recent success.
Law served as a longtime assistant at Marion County prior to accepting the head-coaching job. He served as an assistant at Macon County for three years before moving to Marion, where he spent the previous 20 years as an assistant coach. This will be his first stint as a head coach.
He’s close with the assistant coaches, many of whom he said have served on staff for multiple seasons. And his close bond with the players meant for a smooth transition into his new role.
“We’ve been doing the same thing since coach (Mike) Swaney (who coached from 2010 to 2015),” Law said. “It was hard to turn down. The kids work so hard, you’ve got a good administration. ... I knew it was a good situation.”
Law credits his experiences on both Kirksey and Swaney’s staffs with preparing him to serve as head coach.
He learned organization such as running the day-to-day operations of a football team, keeping the team focused on the task at hand and working with teachers to make sure his athletes put forth the appropriate effort in the classroom.
Law coached the defense previously and that won’t change this year: On Friday nights, his assistants make the calls for the defensive line and linebackers, while Law calls the coverages.
“Keeping those same guys, keeping that organization together, keeping that same defensive mentality ... all those types of things,” Law said. “(Swaney and Kirksey) were really good mentors.”
Intense and ‘upfront’
Spend some time at a Marion County practice and you’ll hear Law’s voice booming above the sounds of cracking pads and whistles. Much like his two predecessors, Law considers himself a fairly intense coach, and it’s not difficult to see why.
The Eagles are used to it by now, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We knew he could do it,” Eagles tight end Brennan Welch said. “We all did. He was ready for it.”
Law is a direct coach: If you mess up on the field, you’ll know it the second you’re back on the sideline.
And if you’re recording the conversation, you’ll have to bleep out most of the exchange.
“He’s going to keep it real,” linebacker Corey Smith said. “If you’re playing sorry, he’s going to tell you that you’re playing sorry. He’s going to be rough with you, but it’s tough love from Coach Law.”
Keeping a high standard
Before last year’s season opener against Schley County, the Eagles took the field for warmups. Welch said the team moved slow. They were lackadaisical. Motivation just wasn’t there, for whatever reason. Law was already on the sideline letting his team know — quite loudly — what would happen if they didn’t wake up.
“We’re fixin’ to get our a-- kicked!” Law said, according to Welch’s memory.
The Eagles won that game 14-0.
Marion fell to Irwin County in last year’s state championship. They finished the 2019 season with just three losses and the program’s first state championship appearance since 2013.
But times have changed at Marion County and making a repeat state title appearance will be a significant challenge in 2020.
The Eagles lost over 20 seniors from last year’s team, including do-it-all offensive playmaker and quarterback Trice McCannon. Most of this year’s Eagles play both offense and defense.
“We’re trying to play what we can both ways and sub,” Law said. “But they’re telling me now that they don’t want to come out (of the game). They want to play both ways all night. You can’t argue with that.”
Marion dresses 32 players on Friday nights. Twenty-fiveplayers played in last week’s 15-14 overtime win over Schley County.
The Eagles are 2-2 this year, with a massive road trip to Chattahoochee County set for Friday night. ChattCo is undefeated, with its closest margin of victory a 23-13 win over 4A Shaw.
It will certainly be a challenge for this young Eagles team. In any other scenario, with a new head coach and an offseason of Zoom meetings, the odds would be heavily stacked against them.
But this isn’t a typical scenario.
“When (the job) was offered to me, I had to think about it a while,” Law said. “I knew we lost 22 kids from the state championship game. ... But all these kids out here, I knew I had a great offensive line coming back. A great defensive line coming back. All the coaches said they were going to stay. So, I was just glad to have it.”
