Bobby Williams
Position:
Tight Ends/Special Teams
Alma Mater:
Purdue, 1982
Tight Ends/Special Teams
Alma Mater:
Purdue, 1982
Bobby Williams begins his first spring in Tuscaloosa after being hired as Alabama's tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in January of 2008. A veteran coach with both college and NFL experience, Williams joins Nick Saban's coaching staff for the fourth time in his career as they have worked together previously at Michigan State, LSU and the Miami Dolphins.
Williams spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the running backs coach with the Dolphins. In his first season, Miami averaged 118.6 yards rushing per contest, the second-best figure by the team over the previous 21 years (1985-05). Ronnie Brown led the team with 907 yards rushing, second-most among NFL rookies in 2005 and the second-highest total ever by a Dolphins rookie. Brown followed that up with 1,008 yards in 2006, which marked the first time a player in the franchise had rushed for 900 or more yards in each of his first two seasons.
He served as the associate head coach/wide receivers coach at LSU in 2004 where he coached a pair of future NFL first round picks in Craig Davis and Dwayne Bowe. Both Davis and Bowe ranked in the top ten in the SEC in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game that season.
Prior to his one-year stint in Baton Rouge, Williams spent one season (2003) as the wide receivers coach with the Detroit Lions. With the Lions, rookie Charles Rogers, who played for Williams at Michigan State, caught 22 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns through just five games before an injury cut short his rookie campaign. At the time, Rogers' receiving total tied for 11th in the NFC and was third among NFL rookies.
Williams followed Saban as head coach at Michigan State, and served in that post from 2000-02. He led the Spartans to a victory over Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl after the 1999 season, in his first game as the school's head coach. He also guided Michigan State to a 7-5 mark in 2001, his second full season as the team's head coach, one which culminated with a victory over Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Football Classic, as he became the first coach in Michigan State history to lead his team to victories in his first two bowl appearances.
He previously was an assistant on the Spartans staff from 1990-99, during which time he tutored the running backs, the final five years under Saban. Michigan State backs produced nine individual 1,000- yard rushing performances in Williams' ten years in that post, a list which includes T.J. Duckett, Atlanta's first-round draft choice in 2002.
Williams got his start in the coaching profession as running backs/defensive backs coach at Ball State from 1983-84. He followed that with a five-year stop (1985-89) as offensive backfield coach at Eastern Michigan before heading off to East Lansing.
Williams is a 1982 graduate of Purdue where he earned his degree in general management and was a four-year letterman for the Boilermakers. He started his career at running back before moving to the secondary and starting in his final three seasons. A tri-captain as a senior in 1981, Williams was a part of three Purdue bowl teams as a player. He then served one year (1982) as a graduate assistant with the Boilermakers.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Williams and his wife, Sheila, have a daughter, Nataly, and a son, Nicholas.
Williams spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the running backs coach with the Dolphins. In his first season, Miami averaged 118.6 yards rushing per contest, the second-best figure by the team over the previous 21 years (1985-05). Ronnie Brown led the team with 907 yards rushing, second-most among NFL rookies in 2005 and the second-highest total ever by a Dolphins rookie. Brown followed that up with 1,008 yards in 2006, which marked the first time a player in the franchise had rushed for 900 or more yards in each of his first two seasons.
He served as the associate head coach/wide receivers coach at LSU in 2004 where he coached a pair of future NFL first round picks in Craig Davis and Dwayne Bowe. Both Davis and Bowe ranked in the top ten in the SEC in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game that season.
Prior to his one-year stint in Baton Rouge, Williams spent one season (2003) as the wide receivers coach with the Detroit Lions. With the Lions, rookie Charles Rogers, who played for Williams at Michigan State, caught 22 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns through just five games before an injury cut short his rookie campaign. At the time, Rogers' receiving total tied for 11th in the NFC and was third among NFL rookies.
Williams followed Saban as head coach at Michigan State, and served in that post from 2000-02. He led the Spartans to a victory over Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl after the 1999 season, in his first game as the school's head coach. He also guided Michigan State to a 7-5 mark in 2001, his second full season as the team's head coach, one which culminated with a victory over Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Football Classic, as he became the first coach in Michigan State history to lead his team to victories in his first two bowl appearances.
He previously was an assistant on the Spartans staff from 1990-99, during which time he tutored the running backs, the final five years under Saban. Michigan State backs produced nine individual 1,000- yard rushing performances in Williams' ten years in that post, a list which includes T.J. Duckett, Atlanta's first-round draft choice in 2002.
Williams got his start in the coaching profession as running backs/defensive backs coach at Ball State from 1983-84. He followed that with a five-year stop (1985-89) as offensive backfield coach at Eastern Michigan before heading off to East Lansing.
Williams is a 1982 graduate of Purdue where he earned his degree in general management and was a four-year letterman for the Boilermakers. He started his career at running back before moving to the secondary and starting in his final three seasons. A tri-captain as a senior in 1981, Williams was a part of three Purdue bowl teams as a player. He then served one year (1982) as a graduate assistant with the Boilermakers.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Williams and his wife, Sheila, have a daughter, Nataly, and a son, Nicholas.
