Williams Retained on Redbird Football Coaching Staff

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack announced Wednesday that Jim Williams, who formerly served as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the Redbird football team, has been retained on the ISU coaching staff as the recruiting coordinator and director of football operations. Williams will be assigned a position to coach in the coming weeks.

Williams will oversee Illinois State's local and national recruiting efforts, while also handling travel arrangements for the team and staff, both to and from games, as well as other administrative duties as assigned.

"Jim has been invaluable to the Illinois State football program over the last few weeks as we begin to transition into a new staff," said Spack. "He's been very helpful in letting me know where our team is at right now, as well as what our recruiting needs are as we get ready for the 2009 season. He's also done a great job organizing our recruiting force and has been a tremendous resource for me for on-campus matters. I've been very impressed with Jim and his ability to adapt to my coaching style and philosophies.

"Jim is the type of person and coach you want around your program. He is a class act and someone who will be a tremendous asset to our student-athletes and coaching staff as we transition into a new style of play at Illinois State."

Williams will be entering his sixth season as a member of the Illinois State football coaching staff. He served as the Redbirds' offensive coordinator the past two seasons, while also guiding the ISU quarterbacks in 2008. From 2005-07, he worked with the tight ends and H-backs for the last three seasons, after serving as the running backs coach his first year at ISU.

Williams was instrumental in guiding the Illinois State offense to the nation's 18th-best per game rushing total (197.18 ypg) in 2008. One of Williams' mentees, wide receiver Eyad Salem, earned first-team All-Valley Football Conference honors after he ranked tied for 31st in the nation in receptions per game (5.73 rpg) and 36th in receiving yards per game (76.64 ypg).

In his first season calling the plays for the Redbird offense (2007), ISU averaged 29.5 points and 402.8 yards of total offense per game. The Redbirds ranked No. 32 nationally in scoring offense and No. 33 in total offense. ISU relied on the rushing game and averaged 199.5 yards per contest, which was the No. 28 ground attack in the country.

A year earlier, Williams molded Dave Mordis into an all-conference fullback, one that paved the way for Pierre Rembert, who rushed for a school-record 1,743 yards in 2006.

In 2005, Williams mentored the top-blocking tight end in the league in Jonathan Denley, who went on to earn All-Valley Football Conference Honorable Mention honors. Combined with the fullbacks, Williams' crew helped lead the way for the conference's second-best rushing offense with 208.8 yards per game.

Prior to joining the ISU staff, Williams served three seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II member Nebraska-Omaha and was the offensive coordinator during the 2003 season.

With Nebraska-Omaha, Williams coached the leading NCAA Division II rusher, Justin Kammrad, who finished third in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

Williams' Maverick offense ranked No. 6 nationally in rushing with 240.6 yards per game and No. 13 in total offense with 453.0 yards per contest. Including a playoff game in 2001, Williams coached three 1,000-yard rushers in his three seasons at UNO. Prior to his three-year stint at UNO, Williams worked one season as the running backs coach at Western State (Colo.). In the spring prior to leaving Western State, he served as the co-offensive coordinator.

He entered the college coaching ranks in 1998 as the offensive coordinator at Independence Community College. During his two years at ICC, Williams instructed the quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends and receivers.

The Altoona, Kan., native earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from New Mexico State in 1990, where he lettered two seasons, and obtained a bachelor of science degree in secondary education from Colorado State-Pueblo, formerly Southern Colorado, in 1994. Williams earned his master's degree in business administration from Canyon College in 2001.

Williams and his wife, Kristi, have three daughters, Madison (10), Samantha (7) and Megan (4).

WILLIAMS COACHING LEDGER

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