Jafar Williams - Football Coach

Jafar Williams

Title:
Wide Receivers Coach / Pass Game Coordinator
Email:
jafar.williams@temple.edu
Phone:
215-204-4694

JAFAR WILLIAMS
Hometown	Philadelphia, Pa.
College	Maryland, 2003
Family
	Children: Son Nylan

Coaching Experience
Year	School, Position
2022-	Temple, WRs / PGC
2019-21	Virginia Tech, WRs
2018	Maryland, RBs
2016-17	Rutgers, WRs
2013-15	Purdue, RBs
2011-12	Kent State, RBs
2010	Northwestern, STQC
2009	Howard, WRs
2007-08	Illinois State, WRs
2006	Moravian, WRs

Jafar Williams joined the Temple Football staff as wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator in February, 2022.

The Philadelphia native, who played his high school ball at George Washington where he was an all-city, all-metro and all-area selection as a senior team captain in 1998.

He played wide receiver at Maryland finishing his career with 90 catches for 1,301 yards (14.5 avg.) and seven TDs, including a 64-yard score in the 2002 Orange Bowl. His 20.07 yards per catch for the Terrapins in 2002, remains the third-best seasonal mark in school history.

Williams, began his coaching career as passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. in 2005, helping guide the squad to its first-ever conference title.

From 2007-08, he enjoyed a two-year stint as wide receivers coach at Illinois State where Eyad Salem earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 2008 after leading the squad with 63 catches for 843 yards and eight touchdowns.

In 2009, he coached wide receivers at Howard University, where WR Willie Carter earned second-team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference acclaim after leading the Bison with 46 catches for 630 yards with a team-high six total TDs.

After a one-year stint as special teams quality control coach for Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern (2010), he spent two seasons as running backs coach at Kent State (2011-12). The Golden Flashes went 11-3 in 2012 and earned the MAC’s East Division title with an 8-0 conference record. Williams coached one of the nation’s most productive rushing duos in Dri Archer and Traylon Durham, who combined to rush for 2,745 yards and 30 touchdowns for Kent State in 2012. Archer led Kent State with 1,429 rushing yards and also hauled in a team-high 39 receptions for 561 yards with four touchdowns, while returning 16 kickoffs for 591 yards with three TDs to earn consensus All-America honors. Durham finished with 1,316 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, as the team ranked 18th nationally in rushing offense (225.8 ypg).

As running backs coach at Purdue (2013-15), he helped Markell Jones set the school’s freshman rushing record with 875 yards in 2015. His 72.9 yards-per-game rushing average ranked eighth in the Big Ten, while his 10 rushing TDs led the Boilermakers.

Owning a diverse coaching background, Williams coached wide receivers at Rutgers in 2016-17. In 2016, Jawuan Harris led all Big Ten freshmen with 39 catches for 481 yards.

In 2018, Williams returned to his alma mater, Maryland, where he mentored a prolific rushing duo as Anthony McFarland (7.9) and Ty Johnson (7.7) ranked second and third respectively in the Big Ten in yards-per-carry average in 2018. Under his tutelage, McFarland led Maryland in rushing with 131 carries for 1,034 yards, breaking the school’s freshman rushing yardage record.

Williams then coached wide receivers for three seasons at Virginia Tech. Williams was responsible for the development of a young receiving group. Under his guidance Tre Turner, Tayvion Robinson and Damon Hazelton each earned All-ACC honors.

In 2022, Williams’ wide receiver room produced a new single-digit and a near 1,000-yard receiver. Adonicas Sanders made a quick impression on his coaches and teammates. So much so that he earned a coveted single-digit, despite being with the team just two months at the time. He became the first transfer to earn a single-digit in his first year since Rock Ya-Sin in 2018. Jose Barbon had a career season on the field. He was the first Temple receiver to post six 100-yard receiving games in the same season. He finished the year with 71 receptions for 910 yards, the third and fourth best marks, respectively, in school history. He finished his career with 137 catches, fifth on the all-time list, and 1,600 receiving yards, good for 14th in the Temple record books. His 13 catches vs. ECU in the season finale ranks second in the TU record books behind only Clint Graves' 15 against Rhode Island in 1972.