Williams interviews at Stanford

Yale football coach Tom Williams, a captain on Stanford's 1992 football squad, confirmed that he has spoken with Stanford's Director of Athletic Bob Bowlsby about the vacant head coaching job at his alma mater.

Williams, while he admitted he is a candidate for the job which became available when Jim Harbaugh took the head coaching gig with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, said he is committed to his duties at Yale.

"You know how these things work," Williams said. "I think a lot of people put 2 and 2 together. It's only a natural reaction (to be interested in coaching at his alma mater). I’ve had conversations (with Bowlsby) but I love it here at Yale and I appreciate that (Yale athletic director) Tom Beckett took a chance on me and gave me this opportunity."

The San Jose Mercury News reported that Williams and current Stanford assistants David Shaw, Vic Fangio and Greg Roman have all interviewed at Stanford. ESPN reported that Boise State coach Chris Petersen interviewed for the Stanford job but turned the job down.

Williams was a linebacker at Stanford from 1989-92 and was a team captain of the 1992 squad. He was a graduate assistant at his alma mater from 1993-94 and after a stint coaching in Japan and stops at Hawaii and Washington, Williams returned to the Cardinal in 2002 as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was the associate head coach at Stanford before spending the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the co-defensive coordinator at San Jose State and had a two-year run as a defensive assistant with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

Williams also spoke with Bowlsby back in 2007 before the Cardinal hired Jim Harbaugh
and said Bowlsby was merely practicing "due diligence" in reaching out to Williams and speaking to him about the Stanford job.

Williams is 11-9 in his two seasons with the Bulldogs including a 7-3 record this past season at Yale was in contention for the Ivy League title up until the final week of the season.

Williams is planning to be on campus this weekend when Yale welcomes between 20-25 prospects on campus for a big recruiting weekend for the Bulldogs.

Reading between the lines, which is not hard to do with a straight shooter like Williams, I am getting the sense that he is a candidate but not THE candidate for the job which word is could be filled by week's end. It won't surprise me if Williams heads to a major college team or even back to the NFL but he needs a little more seasoning since he has just two years as a head coach under his belt. I also believe him when he says that he and his family are extremely happy at Yale and in no hurry to leave. That being said, if Bowlsby turns around and offers the job to Williams, I would imagine it would be a tough choice for him since he does have a lot of passion for the Stanford athletic community.