Bobby Williams Position: Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator Experience: Fourth Year Alma Mater: Purdue, 1982

Bobby Williams is in his fourth season in Tuscaloosa after being hired as Alabama's tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in January of 2008. A veteran coach with both college and NFL experience, Williams is a member of Nick Saban's coaching staff for the fourth time in his career as they have worked together previously at Michigan State, LSU and the Miami Dolphins.

In 2011, Williams' tight end duo of Brad Smelley and Michael Williams have combined for 41 receptions resulting in 498 yards for the Crimson Tide. Smelley has recorded a team-best four receiving touchdowns, while Williams has tacked on another two scores this season. On special teams, Marquis Maze ranks 10th in the nation and third in the Southeastern Conference, averaging 12.4 yards per punt return with one touchdown. Those numbers earned Maze a spot on the All-SEC second team as a specialist. As a team, Alabama ranks 24th in the nation in kickoff returns with 23.7 yards per game. In addition, the Tide has allowed just 10 punts to be returned this season for a total of 50 yards.

Williams was instrumental in the development of Preston Dial in 2010 as the senior had a breakout season under his tutelage. On top of his exceptional blocking abilities, Dial hauled in a career-best 25 passes for 264 yards and three scores. Michael Williams also had an outstanding season as a dominating blocker on the edge in the UA running game while catching eight passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Williams returns for 2011, but Dial's departure opens up an opportunity for some of the younger players at the position this spring.

The veteran coach had to replace both kickers in 2010 with the losses of Leigh Tiffin and P.J. Fitzgerald. Two freshmen earned the kicking duties for the Tide in 2010. Newcomer Cody Mandell won the punting duties as a true freshman and averaged 39.2 yards per kick, knocking 13 inside the 20. Fellow freshman Cade Foster split field goal duties with sophomore Jeremy Shelley. Foster drilled seven field goals, including five over 40 yards while Shelley handled the closer attempts. Trent Richardson ranked 29th nationally in kickoff returns and Marquis Maze was 16th in punt returns.

During the National Championship season in 2009, Williams had to replace a pair of senior tight ends from the 2008 roster. The Alabama offense did not miss a beat as Colin Peek emerged as one of the team's top targets, earning second-team Associated Press All-SEC honors with 26 catches for 313 yards and three touchdowns.

Williams also oversaw 2009 Lou Groza finalist Leigh Tiffin at place-kicker, who earned first-team AP All-America status, as well as Javier Arenas, who set the SEC career record punt return yards and touchdowns. Punter P.J. Fitzgerald had a career season for the Tide by averaging 41.5 yards per kick with 19 inside the 20-yard line.

The special teams in 2008 were a big weapon for the Tide under Williams. Arenas broke two punt returns for touchdowns, Tiffin was a Groza Award semifinalist and connected on 20-of-29 on field goals while P.J. Fitzgerald had a then-career-best average of 41.1 yards per punt with 15 inside the 20. In addition, tight ends Nick Walker and Travis McCall combined for 23 starts had the best seasons of their career in terms of production.

Williams spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the running backs coach with the Dolphins. In his first season, Miami averaged 118.6 yards rushing per contest, the second-best figure by the team over the previous 21 years (1985-05).

In 2004, Williams served as the associate head coach/wide receivers coach at LSU where he coached a pair of future NFL first round picks in Craig Davis and Dwayne Bowe. Both Davis and Bowe ranked in the top ten in the SEC in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game that season. Prior to LSU, he had a one-year stint with the Detroit Lions as wide receivers coach in 2003.

Williams followed Saban as the head coach at Michigan State, and served in that post from 2000-02. He led the Spartans to a victory over Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl after the 1999 season, in his first game as the school's head coach. He also guided Michigan State to a 7-5 mark in 2001, his second full season as the team's head coach, one which culminated with a victory over Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Football Classic, as he became the first coach in Michigan State history to lead his team to victories in his first two bowl appearances.

He previously was an assistant on the Spartans staff from 1990-99, during which time he tutored the running backs under Saban. Spartan backs produced nine individual 1,000- yard rushing seasons in Williams' ten years in that post, a list which includes T.J. Duckett, Atlanta's first-round draft choice in 2002.

Williams got his start in the coaching profession as running backs/defensive backs coach at Ball State from 1983-84. He followed that with a five-year stop (1985-89) as offensive backfield coach at Eastern Michigan.

Williams is a 1982 graduate of Purdue where he earned his degree in general management and was a four-year letterman for the Boilermakers. He started his career at running back before moving to the secondary and starting in his final three seasons. A tri-captain as a senior in 1981, Williams was a part of three bowl teams as a player. He then served one year (1982) as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Williams and his wife, Sheila, have a daughter, Nataly, and a son, Nicholas, a wide receiver for the Crimson Tide.