BILLY HENDERSON
The Legacy of a Legend
He has been called the "Macon Meteor." Humorist Lewis Grizzard said he sported "one of the last crew cuts in captivity." Old timers say he was the greatest athlete that Macon, Georgia ever produced. Well, they are only partially right. William Bradford "Billy" Henderson, a star athlete at Lanier High School in Macon, Georgia Bulldog football hero and one of the top football coaches in the history of Georgia, was actually born in Dublin and lived here until shortly after his father's death in 1937. This is the story of Billy Henderson, who despite tragedies of real life, led his teams to the pinnacle of Georgia high school athletics.
Billy Henderson was the second son and the youngest of four children of Hollie Bradford "Red" Henderson and Jewel Fauche Henderson. The Hendersons lived in a small rental home at 510 South Lawrence Street in Dublin. "Red" Henderson worked as a mechanic at the Bellevue Service Station. The family attended church at nearby Centenary Methodist Church. Billy walked five blocks to school at Saxon Street. When Billy was three weeks away from his 9th birthday, "Red" Henderson died at the age of forty-two. Suddenly his mother was cast into widowhood with two children. Jewel moved the family to Macon, Georgia where Billy eventually entered high school at Lanier High. Not a rich family, the Hendersons left the middle class neighborhood of Quality Hill in Dublin for a small home on the south side of the tracks in Macon.
While at Lanier High, Billy was a two-time All American star in football and baseball. In his day Billy was the most prolific scorer in Georgia high school history. Following a stellar career with the Lanier Poets, Billy was a two-sport star for the Georgia Bulldogs in the late 1940s. Earning four letters in both baseball and football Henderson posted a collegiate batting average of .345 and was twice named to the All SEC baseball team. Billy played four seasons under the legendary coach Wally Butts. In two of those seasons, the Bulldogs captured two SEC championships. As of January 1, 2005, Henderson still held the Bulldog record for the longest pass reception in Georgia Bulldog bowl history. The mark came in the 1948 Gator Bowl when Henderson snared a 58 yard
pass from Johnny Rauch for a touchdown.
It was during his life in college when he met the love of his life, Frances "Fosky" West. The couple met on a blind date on a hay ride out to Lakeside Park, which was then operated by my grandparents Irving and Margaret Scott. During the summers, Billy played semi pro baseball . In 1948, Billy was playing for a team from Wrightsville when he was summoned from the field to let him know that his first child, William Bradford "Brad" Henderson, Jr. had been born. Billy worked at several odd jobs to support his family. Following his graduation from the University of Georgia, Billy played two seasons of minor league baseball in the Chicago Cubs minor league system. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Furman and the University of South Carolina.
In 1958, Billy returned home to Macon, where he was named the head football coach of Willingham (now Southwest) High School. Henderson built the program toward a winning tradition. On September 4, 1964, his son Brad set a Willingham passing record in defeating Warner Robins, led then by quarterback Sonny Purdue, Georgia's current governor.
And then it happened. Coach Henderson was busy watching game films. The team had Labor Day off. His son Brad came in and asked for the keys to the family car. He and his girl friend were headed to Indian Springs to enjoy a picnic with his schoolmates. The couple was coming home when a driver traveling more than 80 miles an hour ran a stop sign and killed young Brad and his girl friend. When Henderson heard the news that a couple of teenagers had been killed out on Riverside Drive, he suspected it was Brad because Brad was never late coming home. When Bibb County Deputy Sheriff Ray Wilkes walked into the room, Henderson knew that the dead teenager was his son and the hero of his life. The tragic death of his son has never left his mind. He frequently talks about Brad's death as a way of coping with the pain. The people of Macon honored the memory of the junior Henderson by naming the city's newest football stadium in his honor.
Henderson remained at Willingham until 1970 when the school became known as Southwest High School. He compiled a respectable record of 64 and 42 in his fourteen years. Henderson left his head coaching job to accept a position at Mt De Sales. After two seasons, Billy Henderson got the opportunity to return to Athens, where he enjoyed many successes.
From 1973 to 1995, Billy Henderson coached the Gladiators of Clarke Central High School. For part of that time, Henderson also served as the school's baseball and swimming coach. His son Johnny was a member of the 1976 Georgia Bulldog SEC Championship team.
During his 23-year tenure at Clarke Central, Henderson's teams won state football championships in 1977, 1979 and 1985. They finished second on four other occasions, playing in the championship game three years in a row from 1984-1986. His teams made it to the playoffs in 19 seasons and at one time for 18 seasons in a row, before going two and eight in 1993. Fourteen of his Gladiators played in the NFL for a time. Three of them made it to the Super Bowl. Billy Henderson coached his last game in 1995. His health forced him to leave, albeit temporarily, from the game he loved. When he recovered, Henderson sought to return to his second hometown of Macon to coach a new team at Westside High School. When he was not hired, his eyes turned toward the position vacated by former Dublin High School coach Tom Simonton at Central High School, spinoff of old Lanier High. Henderson initially accepted the offer, but left high school football when his life and the lives of his family outweighed his life long passion for football on Friday nights.
When Billy Henderson retired from coaching, he stood in fifth place in wins among Georgia high school football coaches. As of 2017, he is still listed in the top ten, placing ninth with 286 wins, 107 losses and 15 ties. Had he not served for three years as an assistant coach for two years and had he been able to return to coaching in Macon, Henderson most likely would have accumulated more than 300 wins.
One honor after another have been bestowed upon Billy Henderson. He received the Bill Hartman Award from the University of Georgia for outstanding contributions beyond the field. Henderson is a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame. His teams won 12 region championships and seven sectional championships. He is one of the few coaches in Georgia history who have won state championships in three sports; football, baseball and swimming. Despite all of these accolades, Henderson points to a moment on Thanksgiving Day as the high point of a career. During a team meal on their way to the his first state championship, Henderson took time to lead the team prayer. He opened his eyes to see white hands and black hands holding each other. He paused to think "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the rest of society could do the same in pursuit of a common goal?"
After Billy retired, he was active in youth athletic and Boys and Girls programs in Athens. He also founded the Athens Sports Hall of Fame. Not too bad for a young Dublin boy who overcame the loss of his father and his eldest son to become one of the most renowned sports figures in Georgia high school history.
Billy Henderson died on February 14, 2018, just in time to have a Valentine's date with his wife and beloved soul mate Fosky. Hardly anyone who knew Coach Henderson didn't love him, not for his coaching record or his athletic play, but for the true gentleman that he was.
In eulogizing Henderson, Macon Telegraph columnist Ed Grisamore proclaimed, "A million tears have been falling from Macon to Athens, Jefferson to Jekyll Island — and all roads in between. Coach Henderson was a legend in this state. He told me many times he would rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Next to my father, he was the greatest man I've ever known."
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