Charles Robert Williams (August 1, 1877 – October 17, 1957) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and college athletics administrator. Williams coached at

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

, Clemson, and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Early years

Williams was born on August 1, 1877 in

Bland, Virginia Bland is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bland County, Virginia, United States. Bland was originally known as Bland Court House. The population as of the 2020 Census was 312. Climate The climate in this area has mild di ...

. He attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, where he was an end on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team.

Coaching career

South Carolina

Graduating in 1902, Williams served as the Gamecocks' mentor for two seasons,

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

and

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

, achieving 6–1 and 8–2 records. In 1902, he oversaw an upset of the rival

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

, who were coached by

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

. This was the only game lost by the Tigers that year.

Davidson

From 1904 to 1905 he coached at Davidson, where he compiled a 9–5–1 record.

Clemson

Williams came to Clemson in 1906. The Tigers went undefeated with a 4–0–3 record, with wins over Georgia,

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Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and the John Heisman-coached Georgia Tech team. Clemson's first forward pass took place on November 29, 1906, during the game with Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Left End Powell Lykes, dropped back to kick, but lobbed a 30-yard pass to George Warren instead. Clemson won, 10–0.

VPI

Williams left for VPI for the 1907 season, leading them to a 7–2 record.

Returns to Clemson

Williams then returned to Clemson in 1909. The 1909 season was notable for the resumption of the Clemson-Carolina rivalry after a five-year gap, caused by a near riot in October 1902. The Tigers enjoyed a 6–3 season under Williams' guidance and defeated the Gamecocks, 6–0, in Columbia on November 4. Williams was replaced by

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

in 1910 who had a three-year run at the school, the first coach to actually have a signed contract. With Dobson's departure after the 1912 season, Williams returned for the second time to the Clemson head coaching position. He, too, would serve for three years, 1913–1915. The Tigers produced records of 4–4 in 1913, 5–3–1 in 1914, and 2–4–2 in 1915. In the 41 games that Williams coached in five seasons, he went 21–14–6, for a .585 winning percentage. Between the years of 1915 and 1926, Williams practiced law in Roanoke, Virginia, and was the city's mayor. He returned to coach Clemson for the final five games of the 1926 season.

Death

Williams died after a stroke in DeLand, Florida in 1957.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

Additional sources

* *Gaillard, Luther, "Clemson Handbook", The Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co., Wichita, Kansas, 1996, pages 9–10, . *Sahadi, Lou, "The Clemson Tigers - From 1896 to Glory", William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1983, page 17, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bob 1877 births 1957 deaths American football ends Clemson Tigers athletic directors Clemson Tigers football coaches Davidson Wildcats football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football players Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks athletic directors South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Virginia lawyers People from Bland County, Virginia Sportspeople from Roanoke, Virginia Coaches of American football from Virginia Players of American football from Virginia