Robert Vann Williams (born November 21, 1958) is an American football coach who most recently served as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at the University of Oregon, from 2018 to 2021. Williams served as the head football coach at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 1999 to 2002, compiling a record of 16–17.

Playing career

During his time at Purdue University, between 1978 and 1982, Williams was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the Boilermakers football team and a

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in his senior season. He started for three years in the

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, after spending his freshman season at running back. He graduated in 1982 with a degree in general management.

Coaching career

After spending one season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Williams got his first coaching position as a running back and secondary coach at

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

, where he remained for two seasons.. Retrieved April 19, 2009 He spent the next five seasons as an offensive backfield coach at Eastern Michigan. On December 6, 1999, Williams was named as the head football coach at

. Williams coached the Spartans to a 37–34 win over Florida in the

2000 Citrus Bowl The 2000 Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game following the 1999–2000 football season. The game matched the 1999 Michigan State Spartans football team, Michigan State Spartans against the 1999 Florida Gators football team, Florida Gator ...

in his first game as head coach. In his first full season as head coach, the Spartans began their 2000 season 3–0, with wins over Marshall, Missouri, and

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

, before losing four consecutive and finishing the season 5–6. The Spartans did improve in the following season, though were inconsistent, and finished the regular season 6–5, which included a win versus rival Michigan in the infamous " Clockgate" game. In the 2001

Silicon Valley Football Classic The Silicon Valley Football Classic (SVFC), sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley Bowl or Silicon Valley Classic, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-certified Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that was ...

, Michigan State defeated Fresno State 44–35, finishing the season 7–5 and giving Williams his second bowl victory. With the victory, he became the first coach in Spartans history to win his first two bowl games. Nearing the end of his third season, Michigan State was 3–6 and last place in the Big Ten when the Spartans decided to fire Williams as head coach. After leaving Michigan State, Williams went to the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver coach for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. During his time with the Lions, he was reunited with wide receiver Charles Rogers, whom he had recruited and coached at MSU. After one season in the NFL, Williams returned to college as a wide receiver coach, as well as an assistant head coach under Nick Saban at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. After Saban left LSU for the Miami Dolphins, Williams followed him to become a running back coach for the team several months later. However, after two seasons with the Dolphins, Williams was fired at his position. On January 18, 2008, Williams again rejoined Saban at Alabama, accepting the position of tight end and special teams coordinator.

Personal life

Williams is married to Sheila Williams. The couple has two children: a daughter, Nataly, member of the Theta Sigma chapter of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

sorority, and a son, Nicholas who is an offensive quality control coach with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Head coaching record

*Fired after 9 games.

Notes

References

External links

Oregon profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bobby 1958 births Living people American football defensive backs American football running backs Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Ball State Cardinals football coaches Detroit Lions coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football players High school football coaches in Florida Players of American football from St. Louis African-American coaches of American football 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportspeople