A decorated Fayetteville high school football program is under new leadership at the head coaching position.
“It’s a new day at the 1800,” said former Pine Forest offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Te’vell Willams in an “X” post.
Last week, it was confirmed by the Cumberland County Board of Education that E.E. Smith will gain new leadership of the football program, and the job was given to Williams as the new head coach.
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The Golden Bulls former coach, Antonio Wallace stepped down in March via “X” announcement after leading Smith’s best season since 2019, 3-7 in his sole season. The Golden Bulls were 1-9 overall a year prior.
Williams is a Fayetteville native who attended Pine Forest, coached by Bill Sochovka before going on to UNC Pembroke where he became a standout receiver and tallied 178 catches for 2,403 yards and 30 touchdowns for a caree. He spent nine seasons on Sochovka’s staff at Pine Forest.
“I was very grateful to God first, for blessing me with the opportunity,” Williams began. “Also, to the administration for recognizing that I was the candidate they felt was the best option to lead the program.”
Williams realizes that it isn’t an easy feat to take over a three-win team that has such cultural impact on the community. “I have a sense of responsibility to bring it back to notoriety and relevance within the county and state. There is a lot of potential walking the hallways at E.E. Smith, so it is of utmost importance to make the program culturally attractive to those kids,” he said.
While excelling in play himself at UNC-Pembroke and coaching under Sochovka at Pine Forest, Williams’ learning of coaching the game and operating under an organized program went in depth during his nine-year tenure and the three years spent as offensive coordinator.
“Being the offensive coordinator the last three years has helped me understand how to communicate with players, how to establish trust, and sell my vision to them has been a huge learning process for me. He (Sochovka) allowed me to have control over a lot. And also being a college football player under Coach Pete Schinnick was huge in helping me understand how an organized program should look,” Williams said.
With a “brick-by-brick” and “embracing the grind” mentality heading into spring workouts, Williams’ ultimate goal is to “emphasize that we have to rebuild the program and culture from the ground up,” he said.
“I want to instill in my players the importance of working hard in all we do and doing it with excellence while fostering a great attitude while doing it.”
2024-04-18 08:12:19
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