By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Recently The Glynn County Board of Education approved the renaming of the BHS field house in honor of longtime BHS coach John Willis.

The “John Willis Field House” will be named after a man who roamed the sidelines at historic Lanier Field and Glynn County Stadium from 1980-2001.

For 22 seasons John Willis was the face of Pirate football and will always be the face of Pirate Football to me because John Willis is MY football coach.

I played on his first two football teams in 1980 and 1981. Pirate football is a passion to me to this day because of one man and one man only and his name is John Willis.

The situation at Brunswick High School in 1979/1980 was similar to what we see in our country currently which was a lot of racial division. Our program was coming off a horrible 0-10 season. Our head coach resigned and I was going into my junior year at BHS. Our school needed someone who could unite and bring us all together.

John Willis was named head football coach at BHS in the summer of 1980. I met John Willis for the first time on a hot steamy practice field behind the old BHS campus around 7AM in early August of that year.

Our first game in the 1980 season was a road game at Camden County. Keep in mind we had not won a football game in two years, and the first thing out of the mouth of our new coach was when we beat Camden. Not we are or we hope it was when we beat Camden.

Then we proceeded to run 21, yes 21, I’ll never forget, 100-yard gassers. Coach Willis said I want to find out who is going to quit on me because if you quit on this practice field then you will quit on me on Friday night.

Coach would chant “what kind of meat?” we would answer Wildcat meat. That became our preseason rally cry. We became a football team in three short weeks.

We loaded the bus and went down to Camden on a Friday afternoon for that season opener. John Willis had a way of making you want to run to run through a wall for him. We believed we were going to beat Camden that night and we did 6-2.

We were all jumping for joy on the field and the first person who hugged me when the horn went off was John Willis and his quote was “I told you so Kipp”.

Outside of my own Father I can’t think of another man I respect more than John Willis in this world today. We went on to become a playoff team my senior season in 1981 and when I see my former team members there is always a special bond from that season when we became a winning football team.

John Willis made us into winners and the lessons he taught us on the practice field still hold true today. If you believe, work harder, and never give up then not many folks will beat you in life.

The ‘John Willis Way’ gave two decades of Pirate football letterman a solid foundation for life. I’m told the road from Habersham Street to the John Willis Field House will be called John Willis Way.

Former players have called Habersham Street John Willis Way for years because John Willis helped teach us how to become a man.

The ‘John Willis Way’ is the only way I know how to approach the game of football. Thank you coach for all you have done for Brunswick High School. Next stop for you should be The Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame. You taught me Pirate Pride coach!