William Nelson James (November 14, 1897 – September 15, 1969) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Trinity University in

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from 1949 to 1951, compiling a record of 15–14–3.

Early life and college playing career

James was born on November 14, 1897 in

Watauga, Texas Watauga () is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 23,497 at the 2010 census. The city's businesses and retail markets are generally located on Highway 377. Geography Watauga is locate ...

. After graduating from North Side High School in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

, he went to

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is a ...

with former coach Robert L. Myers joining up with the likes of high school teammates

Matty Bell William Madison "Matty" Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He played for Centre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head footbal ...

, Bob Mathias, and Sully Montgomery.

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-tim ...

and

Red Weaver Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

played for North Side as well, but did not have enough credits to yet go to college. They went to Somerset High in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, where they met up with

Red Roberts :''This is an article about the baseball player. For the college football coach, see Red Roberts (American football).'' Charles Emory "Red" Roberts (August 8, 1918 – December 2, 1998) was a Major League Baseball player. Roberts played for ...

and were recruited by boosters to Centre. The 1917 team ostensibly did so well that Myers felt his players were better than his coaching abilities, and hired

Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional American football coa ...

. James was thrice an All-Southern tackle and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

. He started at end in the 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game.

Coaching career

James was an assistant for the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...

. James was the head football coach at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

from 1949 to 1951.

Late life and death

James retired from coaching in 1952. He continued as owner of Camp Stewart, a boys' summer camp in

Hunt, Texas Hunt is an unincorporated community in western Kerr County, Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 2 ...

, which he had owned since 1929. James died on September 15, 1969, at Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital in

Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler- ...

, following an illness.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* 1897 births 1969 deaths American football ends American football tackles Centre Colonels football players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches All-Southern college football players Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas {{1920s-collegefootball-coach-stub