Just as Micheal Williams knew when to take a different career path – he was once a certified nursing assistant and industry chemist – he knew it was time to leave the prestige of coaching Texas high school football to take the reins of his alma mater's program.
Pine Bluff High School administrators introduced Williams as the Zebras' new coach Wednesday evening in the school's student center. He succeeds fellow Pine Bluff alumnus Rod Stinson, who resigned in March to join the staff at Marion.
Williams said he considered applying for the vacancy Stinson filled three years ago, but didn't think he was ready to move his family. He and his wife of 10 years, LaShawnda, raise a blended family of seven children, ages 8-24.
"To be honest with you, the money ain't the same, so I was like, I can't do that," he said. "Then, the job opened again, and I'm seeing the wins aren't there like I'm used to [them] being and the pride ain't there like it's used to being, so I need to come back and help my community. I need to come back and do something."
Three of Jefferson County's four high school football programs will go into the 2022 season with new head coaches. Watson Chapel hired Maurice Moody in December, and 5A state runner-up White Hall tabbed Ryan Mallett in February. Martese Henry is going into his fifth season leading Dollarway.
An eight-person committee including newly promoted PBSD Athletic Director and boys basketball Coach Billy Dixon, Student Support Services Director Cheryl Hatley and Superintendent Barbara Warren identified Williams as the next head Zebra from a pool of 10 candidates.
The discipline that Williams brings will help Zebras football move forward, said Dixon, who succeeded Hatley in his new role.
"He's disciplined. He's focused. He was extremely organized in his presentation to the community and he had a game plan that he could articulate and lay it out," Dixon said. "He did it verbally as well as doing it on paper. He brought a level of enthusiasm and energy I know this program needs at this particular point. That's what we saw in him."
Williams, a former running back, was named Hooten's Arkansas Football Sophomore of the Year in 1999 and combined for 2,700 total yards in his final two years. He also helped the baseball team reach the 5A state championship game in 2001.
Williams graduated from Dallas' Paul Quinn College with a degree in biology. In a 13-year coaching career, he has sent 77 athletes to college football teams, 32 of whom have played at the NCAA Division I level.
He previously was head coach at Dallas' W.T. White High School, where he also was assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and interim athletic director; wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Duncanville (Texas) High; and offensive coach and recruiting and academic coordinator at Wylie (Texas) East High.
The Rev. Jesse Turner, who leads a coalition of local pastors volunteering in Pine Bluff-area schools, gave Williams his first pep talk on his new job and also assured him expectations for the 2022 season weren't sky-high. Pine Bluff finished last season 2-7 and avoided the bottom of the 6A-East Conference with a season-finale win over Sheridan.
"Don't expect a miracle overnight," Turner said, eliciting an "Amen" from fellow preacher and Williams' father Michael Sr. "He has to build. We've got to walk with him as he builds. You've got to have a good foundation because if you build your house on sand, the rain and wind are certainly going to come. The criticism is certainly going to come. But you build a strong foundation, and whatever comes your way, you can withstand it."
The Zebras last posted a winning record in 2017 (11-2) under Bobby Bolding and have been 14-26 since. Williams doesn't guarantee the program's 24th championship (and first since 2015) in year 1, but assured supporters they can expect "something special" and that the players will do what student-athletes should do.
"I can guarantee that your son will go to class, that we will demand accountability, that they're going to pass all their classes so they won't have to see me, ... and that they're going to be very disciplined," Williams said. "We're going to start there first, then we're going to build to be a state championship team."