James Edward Willis III (born September 2, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and a former coach in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and in the NFL. He was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the fifth round of the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Auburn. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at J.O. Johnson High School in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. He was the defensive assistant/linebackers coach for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the NFL until his termination on January 5, 2017. Willis also played for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, and

Birmingham Thunderbolts The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in ...

of the now defunct XFL.

Playing career

Willis was selected in the fifth round (119th overall) by the

in the

. Willis shares the record for the longest interception return in

history after scoring on a 104-yard interception against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in ; after intercepting

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he play ...

four yards into the end zone, Willis returned the pick 14 yards before lateraling to Troy Vincent, who returned the remainder 90 yards for the score.

Coaching career

Upon the dissolution of the XFL, Willis decided to retire as a player and returned to Auburn to work towards completing his college degree. He became a student assistant for the

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Confe ...

team in 2001 and became a defensive graduate assistant in 2003 under defensive coordinator

Gene Chizik Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who was most recently the defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defen ...

Rhode Island Rams

In 2004, Willis took his first coaching job as the

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordina ...

of the

Rhode Island Rams The Rhode Island Rams are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conferenc ...

Temple Owls

In 2005, Willis was hired for the same position by

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Auburn Tigers

In 2006, Auburn head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville (; born September 18, 1954) is an American politician and retired college football coach who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Alabama, a seat he has held since 2021. Before ...

hired Willis to return to his alma mater as the linebackers coach under new

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is a defensive analyst at the University of Georgia. He previously served as the Bulldogs' co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2022 ...

. When Muschamp left for

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, his replacement

Paul Rhoads Paul Robert Rhoads (born February 2, 1967) is an American football coach. He is currently a Defensive Analyst at Mississippi State University. A long-time major conference assistant coach and head coach, he is best-known for his seven-year tenu ...

kept Willis on staff. When coach Tuberville resigned from Auburn in 2008, the entire staff was initially released by new head coach

, however on December 26, 2008, Willis was retained to again coach linebackers.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Although initially thought to return to Auburn, Willis was hired by Alabama's head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

to be the Crimson Tide's associate head coach and outside linebackers coach on January 21, 2009. During his one season with Alabama, the Crimson Tide defeated the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

in the

2010 BCS National Championship Game The 2010 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and ...

Texas Tech Red Raiders

On January 13, 2010, Willis agreed to join head coach

to serve as the new defensive coordinator for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders football The Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University (variously "TTU"). The Red Raiders competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (for ...

team. Prior to the

2011 TicketCity Bowl The 2011 TicketCity Bowl was a college football bowl game played at Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The game was played on January 1, 2011, at 12:00 p.m. ET and was telecast on ESPNU. This game replaced the Cotton Bowl Classic, which moved f ...

, Willis allegedly left the program to pursue other career opportunities after a domestic disturbance call at his home.

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

On February 7, 2013, Willis agreed to become the new defensive coordinator for the Ragin Cajuns.

New Orleans Saints

On February 11, 2015, it was reported that Willis left the Ragin' Cajuns to become a defensive assistant/linebackers coach for the Saints. He was fired from the Saints on January 5, 2017

Northlake Christian

In 2019 it was announced that James would be the head football coach at Northlake Christian high school.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, James 1972 births Living people African-American coaches of American football American football linebackers Auburn Tigers football players Green Bay Packers players Philadelphia Eagles players Seattle Seahawks players Birmingham Thunderbolts players Rhode Island Rams football coaches Temple Owls football coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Hartford Colonials coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches Players of American football from Huntsville, Alabama 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen