From walk-on to starter, a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket is up for national award
When William Lay III got the news that he had been nominated for a postseason award, he couldn’t believe it. In fact, he didn’t believe it. He thought teammate Josh Tukes was just having a bit of fun with him.
But a few minutes later, Lay’s phone rang. It was his brother, who confirmed that Lay was on the watchlist for the Burlsworth Trophy, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.
“My friend Tukes sent me text and I said, ‘I don’t think that’s right,’” Lay said. “After he sent it my brother called and let me know, because I don’t have a Twitter, and it came out true.”
Tukes also started a rumor that he was creating a special fan page to boost Lay’s candidacy. That did turn out to be fake news. But there’s nothing false about the important role that Lay has played on the team’s offensive line this season.
When center Kenny Cooper was injured in the second game against South Florida, Lay was thrown into the starting lineup, where he’s been the last five games. Cooper’s footprint had been large; he had been nominated for the Rimington Award given to the nation’s best center and his experience and toughness would be hard to replace.
But Lay has provided maximum effort as a replacement and it has been noticed.
“(Lay) is in there playing center for us, essentially the quarterback of the offense,” coach Geoff Collins said. “He makes everything go with the Mike (middle linebacker) IDs, the plays, getting us going as an offense.”
Lay (6-foot-2, 3-5 pounds) was a three-time letterman at Hart County High School, but received no Division I scholarship offers, so he chose to walk-on at Georgia Tech. He was redshirted as a freshman and did not get into a game last year. He got a fresh start under the new regime, who offered a clean slate and based playing time on effort in practice. Lay has taken advantage of his opportunity.
Although he landed in the lineup with little fanfare, Lay believes he can play with anyone.
“You have to have the mentality that you’re the best,” he said. “If not, you’re going to hesitate and as soon as that happens, you’re going to get beat.”
Not that it’s easy. Lay held his own the last two weeks against Pittsburgh and Virginia, two of the top defensive teams in the conference.
“It’s been back-to-back weeks of an elite defensive line,” Collins said. “They have just battled and we had some really good plays and success.”
Lay is trying to duplicate the success enjoyed by Sean Bedford, another Georgia Tech center. Bedford won the first Burlsworth Trophy in 2010. He walked on in 2006 and had become the primary center by 2008. Bedford earned a scholarship in 2009 and became an All-ACC player. Bedford is now the radio analyst for the school’s radio broadcast crew.
“I watch a lot of film, make sure I’ve got the (opposition’s) tendencies down and prepare for the game,” Lay said. “I try to get better every single play within the game, see what I can do better than the last play. Mostly it’s the experience and getting used to the college speed and college techniques.”
The Yellow Jackets close the season with three home games, starting on Saturday against Virginia Tech. Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. at Bobby Dodd, with the game being broadcast on Fox Sports South.