ATHENS, W. Va. - Concord University as well as the Mountain Lion football and track families mourn the passing of former head coach Dr. W. Don Williams, who passed away Wednesday Dec., 4 at the age of 86.
Williams was the head football coach at Concord from 1959-69. In that time, Williams compiled a record of 43-54-4 and led the Mountain Lions to West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 1962 and 1966. During his tenure in Athens, Williams coached 26 first team All-WVIAC athletes and two All-Americans.
In addition to his football coaching duties, Williams was also Concord's track & field coach where he played an integral part in having the first all-weather track built in the state of West Virginia.
Prior to coaching at Concord, Williams served in both Navy and Air Force while also graduating from Concord and being an all-conference tackle for the Mountain Lions' football team.
Williams coached high school and college sports for 19 years. He was an assistant football, track, and basketball coach at Bluefield High School for two years in 1955 and 1956. Williams became the head football coach at RB Worthy High School in Saltville, Va. in 1957 where he won the State of Virginia District High School Football Championships in 1957 and 1958.
After leaving coaching in 1969, Don attended Virginia Tech to complete his Doctorate in Education Administration. In 1972, Dr. Robert Hayes, the then Dean of the College of Education at Marshall University, recruited Williams to Marshall to be a professor in the Department of Physical Education and head track coach. He coached track for two years and again negotiated the construction a new all-weather track to be constructed at Marshall.
Williams left coaching in 1974 and spent the balance of his years in the classroom and sought to expand the Phys. Ed Department to a more active and market driven division. He became Chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. During his years as Chair, the Department established degree programs in athletic training, sports administration, and an ongoing curriculum and research in sports medicine with the Marshall University College of Medicine.
After his years in athletics as a student athlete, coach, and administrator Williams was honored by Concord University by being inducted in the Concord University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. He was in turn honored by Marshall University by being inducted in the Marshall University Sports Medicine Hall of Fame in 2004.
Williams completed his career at Marshall University by serving as the Director of the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Research and Economic Development.
Williams is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Clara; two sons, Steve (and wife Mary) Williams of Huntington, and Marc (and wife Nancy) Williams also of Huntington; two grandsons Benjamin Williams, a senior at Tulane University, and Wyatt, a student at Meadows Elementary; three step grandchildren, Nikki Urban of Fremont, Mich., Laura Urban of Charlotte, N.C. and Alex Spiegelberg, a student at St. Joseph High School in Huntington; numerous nieces and nephews; and, his only sister, Peggy Pruitt, of Tyler, Texas.
Visitation will be held at Klingel-Carpenter Mortuary, 328 6th Avenue, Huntington on Sunday, December 8 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Allen Reasons at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington on Monday, December 9 at 12 noon.
