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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Where Are They Now?
Fort Worth, TX
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Tom Williams was a three-sport star at Trinity Valley in the mid-‘80s. He’s still on the field, but now as an assistant coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s probably fitting that Tom Williams is a coach. He starred in three sports in high school, played college football at Stanford under Dennis Green and Bill Walsh, and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under the Hall of Famer Walsh. Williams isn’t exactly Hall of Fame coaching material yet, but don’t put it past him. His record of achievement doesn’t rule anything out.
In his days at Trinity Valley School, Williams was a four-year letterman in football and baseball, and a three-year letterman in basketball. He was voted MVP in all three sports and named All-Southwest Preparatory Conference in all three sports. His senior year, Williams totaled more than 1,700 yards and 26 touchdowns as a running back, averaged more than 20 points per game in basketball, and hit .400 in baseball.
However, Williams wasn’t just a jock. His academic success was on par with his on-the-field accolades, and he accepted a scholarship to Stanford, where he knew he could get the best of both worlds.
“My goal when I graduated high school was to try find the best place I could get a great education and still play the highest level of football I could play,” he said.
Stanford gave him that opportunity, and he took full advantage. After starting for four years, Williams graduated with honors in history and signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers. In 1994, he decided to return to Stanford to pursue a Masters degree, and joined the Cardinals as a grad assistant.
Williams went on to hold a number of coaching positions at the college level, including stints at Hawaii and the University of Washington. From 2002-2004, he was the linebackers coach at Stanford before taking that same position at San Jose State, where he also served a co-defensive coordinator. Last year, Williams joined the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars as a defensive assistant.
“I do a little bit of everything, quite honestly,” Williams explained. “I’m the assistant defensive line coach, but I also work a little bit with the linebackers and secondary in nickel situations.”
Williams has never coached at the high school level, but sees a similarity regardless of what age group you’re teaching.
“As far as the coaching and teaching that goes on, I don’t think there’s any difference,” he said. “Teaching is teaching. They still treat a coach like a coach. The reality is that these guys are still young men who get paid a lot of money, but they’re still young men who still want to be the best for a lot of reasons…and if you can help them get better and perfect their craft and make it to a Pro-Bowl or extend their career a few years, then they’re listening and paying you as much respect as any coach they’ve ever had.”
Despite working at the highest level of football and being some 30 years removed from his days at Trinity Valley, Williams still fondly recalls his time at TVS.
“The friends that I had on those teams are still some of my best friends today,” Williams said.
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For Tom and Kelly Dorman of North Richland Hills, football is a family affair. When their two sons, Tommy and...
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Where Are They Now?
It’s probably fitting that Tom Williams is a coach. He starred in three sports in high school, played college football...
More
Archives
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