ABOVE: Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen, Council Member Don Smith and Council Member Chris Preston presenting a proclamation to the Thurgood Marshall High School football team for its accomplishment, successfully making it to the state playoffs, and to their head coach James Williams for his award as the All Greater Houston Coach of the Year
The Thurgood Marshall High School football team had an outstanding 2016 season, and made Missouri City, Texas, and the Fort Bend Independent School District proud, after having gone to the 5A state quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
The Buffalos finished their season with an impressive 11-3 record, and were led to the by their outstanding coach James Williams, who was recently named the All Greater Houston Coach of the Year by the Houston Chronicle. During the season, Williams was also recognized as a Houston Texans Coach of the Week, and was given the Be a Champion Leadership Award. During the 2016 playoffs, Williams and his Buffs team were awarded the Dave Campbell’s Week 14 Army 5A School of the Week.
“We are so very proud of our 2016 football team and what they have accomplished,” said Williams, who is in his 19th year of overall coaching and his 7th year serving as the Athletic Coordinator and Head Football Coach at Marshall High School. “I am very honored to receive the Coach of the Year recognition. It’s truly humbling. The credit has to go to our outstanding players, my coaching staff and our very supportive administrators.”
Williams came to Marshall after having served for two seasons as the Defensive Coordinator at Fort Bend Hightower High School, where in the first of those two years, he helped lead the team to the 5A state championship against Allen High School in 2008. Before his stint at Hightower, Williams spent two years at Manvel High School, where he was voted ‘Teacher of the Year’ for the 2007-2008 school year.
When Coach Williams arrived at Marshall, the Buffs started from the ground up, where he placed a strong emphasis on character, discipline and hard work. In his first season at Marshall the Buffs finished 3-7, but as he continued to instill his vision into his players, their breakthrough season came in his third year when the team finished 13-1 and made it to the 4A state quarterfinals. In that 2012 season, 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 Buffs made the playoffs again in the 2013 and 2014 seasons and Williams was fortunate to coach in the Bayou Bowl All-Star Game. During the 2015 season, Williams’ program won the Touchdown Club of Houston’s Sportsmanship 3rd Place award. In that year, 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.
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Williams 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 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. Coach Williams is married to Dr. Alveda Williams and they have 2 children, Janai and James III.
The Forward Times congratulates Coach James Williams and the Fort Bend Marshall Buffs on an outstanding 2016 football season and continued success.