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(Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included a photograph of McMillian that has been taken down due to usage rights.)

By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

CLEMMONS — Linebackers are often the workhorses of a football defense.  

For senior Chancelor McMillian, he’s had to work for everything he’s achieved as a linebacker for West Forsyth and much of that work ethic came from knowing he had to wait his time.  

He played on the JV team for the Titans his first two years, but that didn’t frustrate him. 

“I had no (frustrations) about making varsity my sophomore year because of the people who started in front of me,” he said. “I had Mack David and Caleb David. They were both starting in front of me. So, I didn’t really think I would be on varsity. I was prepared to still be on JV. I still played well on JV, but I knew I would be prepared for the next year.” 

Although he knew he had to bide his time, playing on JV for two years taught McMillian a lesson. 

“It led to want to be better,” he said. “It made it not be OK with just being JV. It just made me hungry to get to the starting spot.” 

His playing time for the JV team his first two years with the Titans proved to be formative through his nearly year and a half so far on the varsity team. 

“JV was a learning experience before I got to the real deal,” McMillian said. “I feel as if I was able to increase my potential as a football player by JV. The games were a lot easier, in my opinion, but it helped me get to where I am today.” 

After his sophomore season, things changed for him and the whole football fraternity at West Forsyth. Shortly after the varsity season concluded in 2022, Coach Adrian Snow announced that he was resigning. Snow was replaced by Kevin Wallace, who previously was the head coach at Northwest Guilford. 

“I was kind of worried about who would come in after Coach Snow, but we got an awesome coach who came in after,” McMillian said. “He’s helped the program grow a lot.” 

Wallace came in and knew he had to replace a coaching legend in Snow. Wallace coming in to coach last season coincided with McMillian’s first season on the Titans’ varsity team.  

“Well for me on varsity, I played a decent amount, but not as much I would like to,” McMillian said. “I played a good amount. I started a few games, but there was still a few guys ahead of me last year.” 

Part of developing and waiting his time was McMillian transforming his body. According to McMillian, he was 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds as a freshman. He said he’s now 5-11 and 215 pounds.  

“We really like where he’s at, what he’s put into the offseason physically, just how he’s changed his body in essentially a year, year and a half,” Wallace said. “He’s a kid who’s always smiling, so he’s always in a good mood. He goes to workouts, goes to summer workouts, whatever. He’s always smiling and enjoying the moment.  

“And our kids kind of feed off him. Probably one of our leaders on the team. So, he’s a great kid to have on the team and a great player.” 

Changing his body was integral for McMillian to crack the starting lineup. 

“I’d say he had to put weight on,” Wallace said. “Put on muscle mass, especially playing inside. You know, he was kind of a backup for us – started one or two games last year, got some playing time in. I mean he just needed to put more weight on to be able to hold up for a whole season is what our thoughts were.” 

And biding time in order to play is a rarity in just about everything, especially sports.  

“He’s been great,” Wallace said of McMillian. “I mean he was behind two kids last year that he’s really learned from – Davion (Eldridge) and Caleb (David), who started a lot of games and learned a lot. Learned how to practice correctly and all that stuff.” 

West Forsyth finished 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the Central Piedmont 4-A last season in Wallace’s first season, which was also McMillian’s first season on varsity. According to MaxPreps.com, McMillian played in five games last season and had eight solo tackles.  

“I tried to work my way through,” McMillian said. “And I came in this year with a big role to fill, and I think I’ve been doing a decent job with that so far.” 

So far this season through three games, McMillian has played in each game and has four solo tackles. Much of what he’s been able to accomplished happened throughout the offseason.  

“I spent way more time in the weight room,” he said. “I spent way more time on techniques, understanding the position that I’m playing. I’ve started eating healthier. I got on a supplement plan. And I’ve also been working on speed training and stuff like that.” 

Those hard yards and changing the way McMillian prepares has helped through the first three games.  

“I can see a tremendous difference from how I played last year to how I play now,” he said. “I think I play faster. I make my reads faster. I’m more explosive. I make more big plays. And also, without the physical aspect of it mentally, I’ve become mentally tougher. I think I’ve become a better leader on the team. I’ve become more vocal on the defense.” 

His level and notoriety have increased so much that he’s now a co-captain.  

“I think we’ve got a good group that bought in,” Wallace said. “They’ve seen over a year; they saw results within the first year and they just want to keep it going.” 

Keeping it going is the next task for the West Forsyth football team. The team is 2-1 overall following a loss at home against powerhouse Weddington. It had last week off before this week’s Central Piedmont 4-A opener at Mount Tabor (2-1). 

“We’re actually really hungry because a lot of people, now that they’ve seen how we played against Weddington, a lot of people think that we’re overrated or overhyped. We’re coming into this week hungry to show people what West Forsyth football is really about.” 

Counting the Mount Tabor game, West Forsyth has seven regular-season games left, plus the possibility of playing in the NCHSAA Class 4-A playoffs. The same holds for McMillian’s career at West Forsyth.  

“He was a backup last year,” Wallace said of McMillian. “Just coming in and being new, not knowing much, we started thinking he was an OK player. And then when he started, we were, ‘Oh, wow. He’s not scared to hit. He’s not scared of the physicality. He plays when he was in.’  

“We were really excited for his future coming out of last year and (coming) into this year. And now, he’s done a great job for us and hopefully he continues it through conference play.” 

As for his future, that’s still up in the air for McMillian. He said he’s received some NCAA Division III offers from Averett, Methodist, and Hampden-Sydney. 

“You know, if he wants to play Division III, play (in) a good Division III program he can definitely go,” Wallace said.  

However, McMillian, who said he has a 3.9 GPA at West Forsyth, could eschew his football career after this high school season is over and go another route.  

“I want to apply for North Carolina A&T and go into their industrial-engineering program,” he said. “I love engineering. I love the idea of being able to make parts to stuff and building and designing, making blueprints and stuff like that.”