Johnny Williams, 68, passes away
Former Troy athletic director and assistant coach lost a battle with leukemia.
UPDATE: I’ve now added a touching tribute from Johnny Williams’ son Andrew as well as a few photos I found on Facebook. ESPN had a very good bio on Coach Williams that I’ve also added below - Bill Rice, Jr. (5 p.m.)
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Johnny Williams, who successfully guided Troy University’s athletic programs from Division II to Division I, passed away yesterday in Tuscaloosa, according to a Facebook post from his wife and other media organizations.
Coach Williams, 68, passed away after battling leukemia and suffering what friends have said was an adverse reaction to a bone marrow transplant.
Wrote Robin Lilly Williams on Facebook:
“Our hearts are broken. Johnny lost a very hard fought battle with leukemia and a bone marrow transplant yesterday (February 4, 2025). He touched so many people’s lives in the athletic world, that I felt I needed to share on this platform. Plans for his memorial will be updated later today. Please keep our family in your prayers as we learn to navigate our lives without him.”
Arrangements: Monday February 10th, 2025.
Visitation will be at Cross Pointe Church 4109 Uníversity Blvd East 35405 from 10-12 with service beginning at 12 … burial following service at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park Cemetery. Lunch at Cross Pointe Church afterwards.
Williams, a former All-Conference defensive lineman at North Alabama, came to Troy as an assistant coach, serving as a coach under Rick Rhodes, Robert Maddox and then Larry Blakeney.
In 1987, he was on the coaching staff of Troy’s second Division II national title team.
After the 1993 I-AA team advanced to the semi-finals, Williams was named the school’s athletic director.
“Johnny was a heckuva of a football coach,” Coach Blakeney said in 2016 when Williams was inducted into the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame. “He did some very admirable things here coaching the defense in the years that he and I worked together.”
Prior to his appointment as Athletics Director, Williams was an original member of the Athletic Challenge Fund Steering Committee, which was the precursor to the committee that raised $1 million in less than two years to initiate Troy’s move to Division I.
Additionally, Williams also assisted in the Troy Athletics business office and with football promotions.
The Troy football team advanced to the FCS (I-AA) Playoffs six times in seven years and began playing at the FBS (I-A) level in 2001. Troy teams won 28 conference championships under Williams’ watch – football (3), baseball (4), women’s basketball (1), men’s basketball (3), men’s golf (4), softball (2), men’s tennis (2), women’s tennis (2), men’s track & field (6) and women’s track & field (1).
“Johnny knew exactly what we needed and knew where we were trying to go,” Blakeney said of his relationship with the coaches. “He knew how much work and how much money it would take for us to compete, and he did everything in his power to make us successful.
“I’ve always said this about Johnny, if you feel bad call Johnny, because he will brighten your day up. He is very positive and that is something that is paramount in this business. There was never a time that I went to him with an issue and he didn’t listen and try and satisfy what we thought our needs were.”
He continued to make his mark on collegiate athletics following his 10-year tenure as Troy’s Athletics Director as he spent three years as the Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Alabama before founding Creative Marketing Management in 2007.
Williams turned his attention back to football in 2013 when he served as the executive director of the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic. Williams helped turn that all-star game into the Camellia Bowl the following year where he served as the game’s executive director.
“I’ve never met anybody that didn’t like Johnny Williams,” said Montgomery County Commission Chairman Doug Singleton as reported by WSFA-TV. “It’s going to leave a tremendous void here in Montgomery, Alabama.”
Note: This is a breaking story and I will add more details and quotes on this sad story later today, this evening and tomorrow. - Bill Rice, Jr.
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Andrew Williams relates touching story about his late father.
Note: I found this heart-touching tribute to his late father at the Facebook page of Johnny William’s son, Andrew. I added some light edits.
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By Andrew Williams
I was injured during a middle school football game in the 8th grade. I was probably 6”1 and 230 at the time. I hyper extended my left knee playing left guard against Greenville in Troy
I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t feel anything from the knee down just as I still do today
I had torn my ACL, MCL and PCL tendons as well as my perineal nerve that operates your foot, giving it sensation and movement.
As I hopped off the field and laid against the fence, I recall looking over my right shoulder and seeing my father at the fence coming from the stands to check on me to see if I was ok.
I said, “No, something is wrong.”
So he came down and picked me up like a baby. Then walked up the incredibly-steep hill at Charles Henderson Middle School and placed me in the red Astro Mark 3 van we had at the time.
Now I can’t reiterate enough how long and steep this hill was and is still. This was an incredible feat of strength … But my father was an absolute boss weighing well over 350 pounds.
Don’t know why I am telling this other than just saying how he was always there for me in my time of need.
I am so thankful I was there for him today holding his hand as he had held mine in life. I guess that’s what fathers do. And what sons do. When the time comes to act and do, we respond without hesitation.
Thank you to those who have reached out to me telling stories of my father and how he molded their lives for the better. He was a man among men that led with integrity and faith in this world.
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Williams bio from ESPN … was a standout football player at UNA, native of Tuscaloosa … came to Troy in 1985
Note: ESPN/Walt Disney owns many bowl games, although Johnny Williams was the director of several of these games. The following is from ESPN’s website:
Johnny Williams serves as executive director of the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., created in August 2013. In this role, he manages day-to-day operations of the bowl.
Williams founded Creative Marketing Management (CMM) in 2007, which specializes in all area of sports business including: event management, Division I transition feasibility studies, assessments of athletic operations (budget, funding sources, compliance, marketing, academics, personnel, recruiting, etc.), executive searches for administrative and head coaching positions, corporate representation, facility design and career management.
Williams was the executive director of the Raycom College Football All-Start Classic, also held at the historic Cramton Bowl. In its inaugural year in 2013, the game drew over 18,000 fans and over 130 NFL scouts.
Williams spent three years as the senior associate athletic director at Alabama (2004-07), where his responsibilities included oversight of Tide Pride, Marketing and Promotions, and the Ticket Office.
Prior to arriving at Alabama, he spent 10 years as the Athletic Director at Troy University (1994-2004), where Williams oversaw the athletic departments moved to Division I-A from Division II in all sports.
In January 2002, Williams was honored for his progressive leadership by the All-American Football Foundation with its prestigious Gen. Robert Neyland Athletics Director Award.
Williams began his athletic career at Troy as a graduate assistant football coach under Rick Rhoades. During his coaching tenure with the Trojans (1985-93), Williams also held several administrative positions within the department.
He was part of the 2016 Troy University Athletic Hall of Fame Class.
Prior to his arrival in Troy, Williams was the head football coach and athletic director at Pickens County High School in Reform, Ala., in 1984. He also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of North Alabama, from 1979-83.
A 1980 graduate of UNA with a degree in health/physical education, Williams was a four-year defensive starter for the Lions, earning Defensive Lineman of the Year honors in 1978. He was selected to the UNA Team of the Decade for the 1970s. Williams is a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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Note: More info coming tomorrow.