Williams made an impact as a long-time baseball coach at Lincoln High and at the American Legion level, mentoring numerous players to pro careers – most notably Johnny Pesky. That was after a memorable career as a football coach.

Williams played collegiate football at the University of Iowa, then moved to Miami, Fla., in 1912. After contracting malaria, doctors urged him to move to a high, dry climate.

Williams began his journey into coaching as football coach at Baker High School in 1913. After military service, he moved to Portland to become a municipal bond investor, but returned to coaching football at Commerce High in 1921. Despite coaching teams from a school of 200 students, his players competed equally with schools of 1,000 students. He also coached baseball at Commerce.

Williams became the football coach at Lincoln in 1930 and made headlines by having the city install lights at Multnomah Stadium, making Lincoln the first school West of the Mississippi River to play a night game.

He began in Legion ball in 1932. Ten years later, he was forced to give up coaching Lincoln’s baseball team due to regulations that called for coaches to have majored in physical education in college. Williams taught history at the school.

The state baseball community saluted him in 1952 for his service in the American Legion ranks.
Williams was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.