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Yale has a football coach again as former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant Tom Williams accepted the job.
It is my understanding that he will become the first Yale football coach to have been a defensive coordinator for a semi-pro team in Japan. After spending 1994 as a graduate assistant at Stanford (his alma mater), he headed to Japan to run for the defense for the Fujitsu semi-pro team. What followed were coaching stops at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford, San Jose State and finally the Jaguars. Probably the most complete bio I have seen of him came courtesy of San Jose State. Obviously it is a bit out of date since it was posted in 2005 but it provides a breakdown of his coaching accomplishments.
It will be interesting to see what Williams has in mind in regards to his coaching staff. It has been an anxious time for the assistants since Jack Siedlecki stepped down as Yale's coach in late November. I have spoken to Rick Flanders and Tony Reno and while they said all the right things and along with the rest of the staff have carried on as well as could be expected in attempting to recruit a quality class to replace the sizeable outgoing senior class. However, the last couple of months have been difficult for them emotionally not knowing whether they would remain at Yale or have to start looking for a new job.
This is a big recruiting weekend with about 20 uncommitted players coming to campus. Having Williams as the head coach could be vital in securing commitments.
Status quo has reigned in the recruiting process despite not having a coach in place for six weeks.
Yale received the same number of early commitments as they have in past years and the number of recruiting visiting Yale in the next two weekends is in same range as it has been in the past.
More names of the Yale football Class of 2013 figure to become known in the coming weeks but these are the players I know have committed to Yale thus far:
John Runk, WR Cincinnati Anderson
John Powers, QB Hopkins (projects as a defensive back)
Will McHale, LB Greenwich
Philippe Panico, K Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Cambridge, Mass.
Dez Duron, QB Evangel Christian, Shreveport, La.
Ryan Falbo, QB Moon Area High, Moon Township, Pa. (projects as a defensive back)
It is my understanding that he will become the first Yale football coach to have been a defensive coordinator for a semi-pro team in Japan. After spending 1994 as a graduate assistant at Stanford (his alma mater), he headed to Japan to run for the defense for the Fujitsu semi-pro team. What followed were coaching stops at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford, San Jose State and finally the Jaguars. Probably the most complete bio I have seen of him came courtesy of San Jose State. Obviously it is a bit out of date since it was posted in 2005 but it provides a breakdown of his coaching accomplishments.
It will be interesting to see what Williams has in mind in regards to his coaching staff. It has been an anxious time for the assistants since Jack Siedlecki stepped down as Yale's coach in late November. I have spoken to Rick Flanders and Tony Reno and while they said all the right things and along with the rest of the staff have carried on as well as could be expected in attempting to recruit a quality class to replace the sizeable outgoing senior class. However, the last couple of months have been difficult for them emotionally not knowing whether they would remain at Yale or have to start looking for a new job.
This is a big recruiting weekend with about 20 uncommitted players coming to campus. Having Williams as the head coach could be vital in securing commitments.
Status quo has reigned in the recruiting process despite not having a coach in place for six weeks.
Yale received the same number of early commitments as they have in past years and the number of recruiting visiting Yale in the next two weekends is in same range as it has been in the past.
More names of the Yale football Class of 2013 figure to become known in the coming weeks but these are the players I know have committed to Yale thus far:
John Runk, WR Cincinnati Anderson
John Powers, QB Hopkins (projects as a defensive back)
Will McHale, LB Greenwich
Philippe Panico, K Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Cambridge, Mass.
Dez Duron, QB Evangel Christian, Shreveport, La.
Ryan Falbo, QB Moon Area High, Moon Township, Pa. (projects as a defensive back)
posted by Jim Fuller at
9:49 AM
4 Comments:
He may be a great guy, but with no head coaching experience, no offensive coaching experience, and no Ivy connections, I'd say he's a surprising choice. There have to have been better candidates, if they had taken the time to look in the right way, instead of the unrealistic names they were pursuing.
Thanks for your work here... I'm a lurker, not a commenter, but you've made the last couple of months more interesting with this info....
I don't have the same negative impressions some have expressed. Someone with no head coaching experience may be risky, but that's not synonymous with bad... there's a big potential upside as well. I just hope that if he's successful, it's not just a stepping-stone. I hope he was seriously vetted on his long-term intentions, contingent on success. Somebody ought to ask him about that today in the press conference.
good point made in the last post. i would absolutely hate to see this position become a stepping stone. not that each coach has to stay for 473 years like carm, but it would be nice if this was a job people strived to get for the job itself, and not because of what it might lead to.
The last time any Yale head coach left voluntarily was John Pont in 1965. I don't think people should be concerned about coaches using Yale as a stepping stone. Most of the time this place is a graveyard for coaches - the end of the line. If Coach Williams is so successful that someone else wants him, I'd be delighted with the success he must have achieved. Good luck, Coach Williams!
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