Rolland Franklin Williams (October 11, 1897 – April 5, 1968) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Racine Legion in 1923. He played football, baseball and basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Williams was the head football, basketball, and baseball coach at Millikin University during the 1923–24 academic year. He served two stints as the head basketball coach at the University of Iowa, from 1929 to 1942 and again for the 1950–51 season. He was inducted in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1960.[1]
Williams was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin on October 11, 1897. He died on April 5, 1968, of a heart attack at his home in North Liberty, Iowa. Apart from a 40-month tour in the Navy during World War II, he spent 42 years at Iowa as an assistant coach (1924–1929), head coach (1929–1942 and 1950–1951) and assistant athletic director (1945–1966).[2]
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millikin Big Blue (Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference / Midwest Conference) (1923) | |||||||||
| 1923 | Millikin | 4–5 | 4–4 / 1–0 | T–11th / T–7th | |||||
| Millikin: | 4–5 | 4–4 | |||||||
| Total: | 4–5 | ||||||||
Basketball
| Year | School | Record | Conference | Big Ten Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929–30 | Iowa | 4–13 | 0–0* | 10th |
| 1930–31 | Iowa | 5–12 | 2–10 | 10th |
| 1931–32 | Iowa | 5–12 | 3–9 | T-8th |
| 1932–33 | Iowa | 15–5 | 8–4 | T-3rd |
| 1933–34 | Iowa | 13–6 | 6–6 | T-5th |
| 1933–35 | Iowa | 10–9 | 6–6 | 6th |
| 1935–36 | Iowa | 9–10 | 5–7 | T-6th |
| 1936–37 | Iowa | 11–9 | 3–9 | T-8th |
| 1937–38 | Iowa | 11–9 | 6–6 | T-5th |
| 1938–39 | Iowa | 8–11 | 3–9 | 10th |
| 1939–40 | Iowa | 9–12 | 4–8 | 8th |
| 1940–41 | Iowa | 12–8 | 4–8 | 8th |
| 1941–42 | Iowa | 12–8 | 10–5 | T-2nd |
| 1950–51* | Iowa | 15–7 | 9–5 | 3rd |
| Totals | 139–131 (.515) | 69–90 (.434) |
References
- ^ Rollie Williams. Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame.
- ^ "Williams, Former Iowa Coach, Dies". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Waterloo, Iowa. Associated Press. April 7, 1966. p. 50. Retrieved March 8, 2018 – via Newspapers.com
.
External links
- Career statistics from Pro Football Reference