Bill Lawrence hired as Lima Senior head football coach during Monday’s board meeting held at Lima South Middle School.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Bill Lawrence, a long-time assistant coach at Kenton High School, is the new head football coach at Lima Senior.
Lawrence was introduced on Monday at a Lima City Schools board of education meeting. He replaces Alphonso Townsend, who was the Spartans’ head coach the last three seasons.
Lawrence has been an associate head coach, offensive coordinator and an assistant coach in Kenton’s football program for 16 years and has been the Wildcats head softball coach for 15 years.
Lawrence began his coaching career as the head football coach at Lake Christian Academy in Florida in 1996 after playing wide receiver at Urbana University and graduating from Grand Canyon University.
He is the ninth head football coach at Lima Senior since Leonard Rush retired after the 2000 season.
The Spartans have finished .500 or better in only four of the last 22 football seasons. But Lawrence called Lima Senior his dream job.
“When I say it is my dream job, I wanted to go somewhere I could build a program. I wanted to be some place where I could make the biggest impact on kids’ lives. If I could get an opportunity, this is where I wanted to be,” Lawrence said.
“I definitely believe there are plenty of athletes walking the halls at Lima Senior who are going to make us a successful football program,” he said.
Building relationships is also important to Lawrence.
“I love people, I love kids. I spent probably three hours today at the high school meeting kids and talking to them and it was just a great day. They’re excited and excited to be part of Lima Senior football,” he said.
Lima Senior athletic director John Zell said, “Coach Lawrence comes from a very impressive system. He had a lot of experience under Coach (Mike) Mauk and Coach (Brent) Fackler with the Kenton Wildcats. We were very impressed with his dedication to the student athletes and everything he stood for in building relationships with the students in and out of football season.”
Zell said he also was impressed with Lawrence’s preparation for his interviews, including watching film of the teams of Mike Fell, Andre Griffin and Townsend.
“He came in very prepared and understood the history of Lima Senior football and that was one of the best selling points,” he said.
One of the things Lawrence will be bringing with him from Kenton is Mauk’s pass-dominated offense.
Lima Senior will be “the greatest show on turf,” he said. “Coach Mauk is in my DNA. We will bring five (receivers) wide. We’ll have a running back at times but one of the things Coach Mauk taught is that every time you throw the ball to a receiver he turns into a running back. We will be full-fledged Coach Mauk’s system. We’re going to do as much as we can to score as many points as we can every week.”
