All American’s Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) was given what he thought was a great opportunity to become the football coach of Golden Angeles University, so he took it. Billy’s original dream was to play in the NFL, and while he succeeded in that dream, he couldn’t let go of the glory days. When he switched to coaching South Crenshaw High from Beverly High to save its football program, he started to move on from his glory days. He helped inspire an entire football team as he did with Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), even creating a literacy program.
Billy is returning to being Coach Baker on All American after a short stint as Principal Baker. He fought to be the principal of South Crenshaw High, but as soon as another coaching job came along, he quit. He initially stepped in as the interim principal while the committee looked for a full-time replacement. However, after Preach compared coaching and being a principal, Billy was inspired to move on from being Coach Baker to Principal Baker. It made a lot of sense for his character to move into this role because of how he inspired his players.
Taking The GAU Job Doesn’t Mean The Football Program Is Saved
Billy Baker wrongly believed taking the GAU job meant his boy’s team would be saved. The NCAA is investigating Coach Garrett (Sean Carrigan), and while they have discovered that none of the other coaches were complicit, Billy let it slip that he is the next coach. Now, Garrett wants to destroy the program. The former coach told the NCAA that A.D. Barnes (Morris Chestnut) knew what was happening. Barnes denies it but could have known about it at some level. Until the NCAA clears Barnes, the program's future is still precarious.
Billy Taking Coaching Job Betrays Spencer
Billy initially went to A.D. Barnes to fight for Coach Kenny (Mustafa Speaks) on Spencer’s behalf. He had no idea Barnes would offer him the job. While Billy was excited about this opportunity to return to the sport he loved, he knew that this could upset Spencer. Spencer went to GAU because of Coach Kenny. In college, Kenny has been what Billy was to him in high school. This is why Billy held off on telling him, but Jordan said it was time to tell him because he couldn’t lie anymore.
Unfortunately, Barnes assumed Billy would have told Spencer already and told him that Billy had taken the job. The look on his face shows he was just upset as Jordan expected he would be. So while Billy thought it would be a good thing to coach Spencer again, he betrayed Spencer in the process, and Spencer doesn’t forgive easily.
Billy Taking The Coaching Job Means Jordan Doesn’t Transfer
Now that Billy is taking the GAU coaching job, his son, Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling), will not transfer. This could hurt his son’s chances of playing next season. He was all set to be QB1 at his new school. He had found a place that seemed to fit him and possibly a coach that could be as inspirational to him as his dad was to Spencer. While it’s great that Jordan is sticking around, this could mean he loses out on being QB1. If Billy didn’t take the opening coaching spot, there would have been nothing holding Jordan back from transferring.
Principal Billy Was Great & This Really Isn’t His Dream Job
Principal Billy was a great character arc for Billy Baker. It shows how much his character has grown over the last four seasons. He was finding his place. He discovered his coaching skills could help him succeed in the principal role. Unfortunately, the writers making him jump ship as soon as a coaching job comes along takes away all that character growth he’s had. Grace James (Karimah Westbrook) was not wrong in calling Billy out on what he was doing. He was selfish, and even though it seemed like he had let go of his glory days, he hadn’t.
This Division 1 coaching job isn’t the dream job he believes it to be. His dream was to lead a D1 school with his son and Spencer, but this is a football program in crisis. And while he liked the idea of building the program back up, he didn’t realize that the fallout wasn’t over yet. This isn’t a high school-level coaching job. This is an NCAA Division 1 school, so things don’t get swept under the rug. It will investigate Barnes fully to make sure he wasn’t complicit. What they find will determine the program’s future on All American.