Joe H. Williams of Mobile is in his first season as head coach of the Spring Hill College Men's & Women's Cross Country teams.

Williams recently served as the Director of Physical Education at St. Luke's Episcopal School in Mobile where he also coaches track, volleyball and soccer.  While at St. Luke's, he played an instrumental role in establishing cross country as a CMSAA sport and organized the school's first track club.

"We are extremely excited that Coach Joe has gotten the opportunity to coach at the collegiate level," said St. Luke's Headmaster Palmer Kennedy.  "We know he has always dreamed of coaching in the college ranks.  It is also exciting for St. Luke's to know that we now have someone who is experienced in coaching at every level from Pre-K to college who will continue to be a part of our program."

From 2004 to 2008, Williams was an assistant track coach at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School where he also served as the junior varsity track coach.  He was an Activities Therapist with Mobile Mental Health from 1993 to 1999, and prior to that career, he was an assistant track coach at the University of South Alabama in 1986-87 where he worked primarily with sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers.

Williams holds a B.S. in Biology from Central State University in Edmund, Okla., and an M.S. in Physical Education from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo.  He ran both track and cross country at CSU.  Upon graduation, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in Track & Field at NMSU in 1981.