Meet your neighbor: Billy Raymond Farmer

Published 12:38 pm Friday, August 24, 2012

When Billy Raymond Farmer retired in 2007 after 42 years of coaching, he thought his days on the football field were over.

“I had no intention of coaching again,” he said, until he got the call about six weeks ago inviting him to serve as head coach of the Victory Christian’s Lions.  “It was strange, because eight or 10 weeks ago, Victory Christian flashed across my mind, but I didn’t know the job was open.  I felt like God was in it.”

With a state championship and multiple playoff appearances under his belt, Farmer hopes to rebuild the Lions into the competitive program it’s been in the past and continued working this week to prepare the young team for its season opener on Aug. 30.

As an elementary physical education class exercised in the gymnasium Tuesday morning, he recalled his coaching history, outlined his hopes for the Lions, and remembered playing high school football at Ashville.

The coaching bug:  Farmer began coaching after earning a business degree from Memphis State (now University of Memphis).  “I was never going to coach, but the spring before my last semester, I helped my high school coach with workouts, and it got in my blood.  So I changed my minor to education and went to Samford after I got my BBA to get my teaching certification.”

His resume:  Starting at Hewitt-Trussville in 1966, Farmer’s career includes stops at Walker, Ashville, Druid Hills and Tucker in Atlanta, Springville (“which is an unpardonable sin if you’re from Ashville”), where he guided the Tigers to their first-ever playoff appearance; Etowah, where the team had endured a 17-season losing streak; return engagements at Ashville and Etowah; Donoho, Haralson County and Cedartown in Georgia, and Coosa Christian.

At Coosa Christian:  He coached Cornell Williams, who was an All-State running back and Class 5A Player of the Year before being recruited by Auburn and eventually named NFL Rookie of the Year.

The players at Victory:  “I’ve coached for 42 years, and I’ve told a lot of people that this is the best group of young men I’ve ever been around.  This is school like it used to be. The kids are respectful.  You can tell their mommas and daddies have done a good job.  Since we started practice, we’ve done more work than they’ve ever done, and they’re in the best shape they’ve ever been in.  As an old, old coach, it makes me feel good to see their fire, intensity, and eagerness to learn.”

The situation at Victory:  “It’s the worst kind of situation to go into,” he said, describing the Lions’ past two winless seasons.  “I’ve had to lay a foundation before, but I’ve never had to dig the hole to pour the concrete.  The kids here have been cheated for two years.  When you don’t win a game, you get cheated of what high school football is all about.  They need to experience something good.  My one goal is to love the kids and give them a good experience.”

How football has changed:  “I’m a dinosaur when it comes to a lot of things.  I remember when I was in high school, not very many people knew a whole lot about football. Everyone is so much more knowledgeable now.  The kids were a lot tougher when I played.  There’s so much more for kids to do now that it’s hard to find those who are really dedicated to the game. My old high school coach, Bill Ellis at Ashville, demanded mental toughness.  I loved him to death.”

How playing for Coach Ellis helped prepare him to play at college:  “When I started at Memphis State (now the University of Memphis), there were 98 freshmen in red shirts, and I was the second smallest kid there.  Two weeks later, there were 33 of us left.  I played quarterback and linebacker at Ashville, so I never came off the field, and when I got to college and everybody was complaining about how hard practice was, I didn’t think it was hard at all.  There I was, a country boy who’d never lived in a house with indoor plumbing or air conditioning, and I was getting to play a game I love, eating three meals a day that were as good as anything you’d ever want to eat, and living in a place with indoor plumbing and AC.  I thought it couldn’t get better than that.”