Rolland Franklin Williams (October 11, 1897 – April 5, 1968) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach. He played professional football 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) for the

Racine Legion The Racine Legion was a professional American football team based in Racine, Wisconsin, of the National Football League from 1922 to 1924. Its official name was the Horlick-Racine Legion. The team then operated as the Racine Tornadoes in 1926. ...

in 1923. He played football, baseball and basketball at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Williams was the head football, basketball, and baseball coach at

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

during the 1923–24 academic year. He served two stints as the head basketball coach at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, from 1929 to 1942 and again for the 1950–51 season. He was inducted in the

Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame honors distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. The Hall of Fame hosts several annual events, including an induction ceremony to honor new members, nomination luncheons, speaker series breakfasts an ...

in 1960.Rollie Williams
Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame. Williams was born in

Edgerton, Wisconsin Edgerton is a city in Rock and Dane counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 5,945 at the 2020 census, of which 5,799 were in Rock County and 146 were in Dane County. Edgerton was historically known as "Tobacco City U.S.A." ...

on October 11, 1897. He died on April 5, 1968, of a heart attack at his home in

North Liberty, Iowa North Liberty is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Iowa City and part of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 20,479. From 2000 to 2010, North Liberty was the ...

. Apart from a 40-month tour in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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).

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

External links

* 1897 births 1968 deaths American football halfbacks American men's basketball players Baseball players from Wisconsin Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball coaches Millikin Big Blue baseball coaches Millikin Big Blue football coaches Millikin Big Blue men's basketball coaches People from Edgerton, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Dane County, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Racine Legion players Wisconsin Badgers baseball players Wisconsin Badgers football players Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1890s-stub