It is 5:30 p.m. at Murdock Stadium.
The evening air is still and chilly, but not uncomfortable. As the sun sets it bathes the stadium with a warm golden glow.
Suddenly, a piercing whistle blows.
The sound echoes throughout the previously quiet stadium as El Camino College football team players rush either onto the field in formation or onto the sidelines.
“Practice has officially started,” coach Billy “Mac” McClellan said.
Billy McClellan is a 35-year-old cornerback coach for the El Camino College football team. This year will be McClellan’s third season coaching for the Warriors.
He was asked to coach football for El Camino by defensive coordinator Andrew Alvillar.
Alvillar used to be McClellan’s football coach when the future cornerback coach was a student attending Los Angeles Harbor College.
“I became a coach to give back experience and wisdom that I have been able to attain from my own experience, from playing ball,” McClellan said.
McClellan grew up in Carson.
He attended Los Angeles Harbor College for the football program. He then transferred to Kansas State University and played “a few stints of some leagues that just didn’t come to fruition.”
That’s when McClellan decided to give back some of his passion and knowledge of the sport to other young football players.
McClellan coaches alongside defensive backs coach Shawn Parnell during practices and the two have gotten to know each other very well.
“Very knowledgeable, very diverse, committed, dedicated to his craft, and a good teacher,” Parnell said of McClellan.
Not only does McClellan have a passion for coaching football, but he also has a passion for being a father.
McClellan is married, with two sons and one daughter.
Elijah, McClellan’s 9-year-old son, attends and will be alongside his dad at most of the Warriors practices.
“Little Mac,” is Elijah’s nickname that both Parnell and some of the players call him.
Throughout practice, Elijah sat on the sidelines while he watched the players run and throw the ball as the players joked around with one another.
Elijah loves to watch his dad coach, and he loves to participate in the drills whenever he can as well.
“When I am here, I’m focused on coaching, and when I am at home, I am focused on being a father and a husband,” McClellan said.
Aside from McClellan’s wife and kids he considers the players he coaches and the coaches he leads his family as well.
“You can tell he cares about us more than just football, like we are not just his players,” defensive back Abdul Muhammad said. “He calls all the defensive and cornerbacks family.”
El Camino football player and other defensive back Khalil Williams put it simply.
“He makes football fun,” Williams said.
Outside of football, McClellan has another job working in tech for the Human Resources Department of Airbnb.
There is one piece of advice McClellan has for future football players looking to excel in their careers with their abilities and talents.
“Play this game as long as you can, find happiness and have fun while you’re doing it,” McClellan said.
McClellan said it’s not a matter of if, but when the game stops for a player. Until then, the coach has one final word of advice for players.
“Give it everything you have,” he said.
