Coach James Williams is in his 22^nd year of coaching and his 11th as the Athletic Coordinator / Head Football Coach at Marshall High School.  When Coach Williams arrived in 2010, the Buffalos started from the ground up and focused on character, discipline and hard work.  In the first season they finished 3-7, but made great strides towards building a championship program.  In the 2012 season, the team finished 13-1 and Coach Williams was named 22-4A Coach of the Year, Vype Magazine Co-Coach of the Year, as well as a finalist for The Touchdown Club of Houston’s “Coach of the Year” Award.  The Buffalos made the playoffs again in the 2013 and 2014 seasons and Coach Williams was fortunate to coach in the Bayou Bowl All-Star Game.  During the 2015 season, Coach Williams’ program won the Touchdown Club of Houston’s Sportsmanship 3^rd Place award.  In that year, Coach Williams became a board member for the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association (GHFCA) as well as a ‘Player of the Year’ committee member for the Touchdown Club of Houston.  In 2016, the Buffalos made their next deep playoff run to the state quarterfinals, before finishing the season at 11-3.  During this season, Coach Williams was awarded the Houston Texans Coach of the Week award and The ‘Be a Champion’ Leadership Award.  While in the playoffs, our team was awarded the Dave Campbell’s week 14 Army 5A school of the week.  After the 2016 football season, Coach Williams was recognized as the Houston Chronicle All-Greater Houston ‘Coach of the Year’.  The 2017 season was another great season for the Buffalos, as they advanced, once again to the state quarterfinals and finished the season with a 10-3 record.  The 2018 Marshall football team finally broke through and made it to the State Championship vs Aledo.  After the 2018 season, Coach Williams was once again recognized as the Houston Chronicle All-Greater Houston ‘Coach of the Year’.  Also in that year, Coach Williams served as the President of the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association (GHFCA).  In the 2019 season, the Buffs returned to the State Championship for the second year in a row, but came up just short again with a 42-45 loss to Aledo.   

Coach Williams came to Marshall from Hightower High School where he was the Defensive Coordinator for 2 seasons.  The first of those 2 years, the team played in the state championship against Allen High School.  Before Hightower, Coach Williams spent 2 years at Manvel High School, where he was voted ‘Teacher of the Year’ in the 2007-2008 school year.

Coach Williams is originally from Chicago, Illinois.  He has a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and a Master’s Degree in Educational Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  While there, he also played football and ran track and field.  Thereafter, Coach Williams joined the Illinois coaching staff as an Operations/Recruiting Assistant then as a Defensive Graduate assistant coach for 2 years.  In 2001, he won the Big Ten Championship while on staff.  James Williams is married to Dr. Alveda Williams (20 years) and they have 2 children, Janai (16) and James III (12).