J.D. Williams Knows About Working for Fresno State and the UW
Fresno State earlier this week announced it had rehired J.D. Williams as its secondary coach, hanging on tight to a Bulldogs icon, continuously counting on a favored son to be an integral part of its athletic program.
Jeff Tedford made Williams a member of his Fresno State coaching staff in 2017, Kalen DeBoer retained him in 2020 and Tedford just reupped Williams once more.
For all of the recent crossover between the Huskies and Bulldogs football teams — with quarterback Jake Haener and wide receiver Ty Jones transferring to the Mountain West entry and DeBoer and six of his assistant coaches coming north — Williams has long been at the forefront of knowing what it's like to experience both schools.
In 2006, he joined Ty Willingham's Husky coaching staff as a defensive-backs coach, as a former Fresno State cornerback who earned various All-America accolades. He was one of five Bulldogs drafted as an NFL first-rounder, going to Buffalo with the 18th overall pick in 1990. He played in four Super Bowls for the Bills, unfortunately all losses.
Williams found himself working at the UW for three seasons for both professional and personal reasons. He left the California Bears coaching staff, and the Fresno State staff before that, and took a job with Willingham's Huskies partly because of his younger brother.
On Oct. 28, 2000, Curtis Williams was a standout Husky safety who on a slippery field at Stanford came up and collided with Cardinal fullback Kerry Carter at the goal line. Williams didn't get up.
This Williams was left paralyzed with a spinal-cord injury and the rest of his life — which would last just 19 more months — would be a difficult existence in hospitals, wheelchairs and nursing care until his death because of complications related to his injury.
When J.D. Williams arrived at the UW four years following his brother's passing, Curtis William's No. 25 was displayed on the Husky Stadium playing surface, on the UW sideline.
"You never forget your brother," J.D. Williams said shortly after joining the Huskies. "At the same time, you can't let it affect everything you do. There are times when it's harder than others. Just being in Seattle, driving around campus, it's 'Hey, my brother was here.' You think about it. I keep a couple of pictures of him in my office. Every day, when we take practice, you see that number on the field. He's with me all the time."
In Williams' first season in Seattle in 2006, the Huskies hosted Fresno State in their third game. The Bulldogs were coached by Pat Hill, who was the offensive coordinator when J.D. played.
Fresno state's best player during that season was a wide receiver and All-America candidate named Paul Williams, yet another brother. Three months before Curtis died, he chose the Bulldogs over Washington and UCLA to play his college football.
In 2006, J.D. Williams was entrusted with coming up with a game plan that would stop his brother Paul, all the while both were remembering Curtis during this weekend football family reunion, an account that can be read here. The Huskies won that game 21-20.
Fifteen years later, J.D. Williams is back at Fresno State to stay. He was rehired along with another former Husky connection, Kirby Moore, who recently was promoted by Tedford to be the Bulldogs' new offensive coordinator.
Kirby Moore, the younger brother of Boise State and NFL quarterback Kellen Moore, served as a UW graduate assistant for Chris Petersen's staff in 2015 and 2016 before joining Fresno State as a receivers coach the following season. He worked with Tedford, who was a Husky offensive analyst in 2016.
Huskies and Bulldogs.
It seems to be a good mix, a popular breed.
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