Dr. Bob Frederick Sport Leadership Lecture Series
Reflections
“Going into the lecture I thought it would be nothing but sports talk. It was more than that. Williams made good key points that I can relate to in my career and current job. His presentation was amazing on how far he went to achieve his goals.”
- Jerelle Davis, Business Administration
“I really enjoyed Al William’s speech. He is a great speaker and is really intriguing. Al taught us how to put yourself into a position so that you can succeed. No matter where life takes you, life always falls into place. If you end up someplace where you don’t know what the next move is, just let life take over because it always falls into place. Everybody in your program has an important role. Even if it is minor, it is important. The small things in life make up the big things.”
- Jacob Whitaker, Kinesiology
Leadership in Intercollegiate Athletics
Al Williams
Director of Athletics
North Idaho College
Coeur d'Alene, ID
About Al:
Appointed athletics director at North Idaho College in 2003, Al Williams has more than 20 years of management-level experience in financial administration and more than 17 years experience in coaching and athletics administration.
Prior to NIC, Williams served as the men's assistant basketball coach at the University of Denver where his responsibilities included recruiting, scheduling, sports camps, and monitoring student-athletes' academic success. While at the University of Denver, he also held the position of assistant director of athletics development from 2001 to 2002. In that role, he managed all athletic fund-raising activities, developed community development programs for minority groups, managed booster groups, and coordinated special events.
Williams earned an associate's degree in business from NIC in 1979 while playing basketball for NIC's nationally-ranked team that finished 26-6. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Idaho, where he played basketball, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. Williams served as basketball coach at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago for four years and honed his skills in executive-level management positions in healthcare, internal audit, international mining, and nonprofit corporate sectors before entering the higher education arena.
During Williams' tenure, the Cardinals have experienced exceptional success on a national and regional level. From 2011-13 four Cardinal programs have been ranked #1 in the nation in the NJCAA polls: Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Volleyball and Wrestling.
-Bio and photo courtesy of NIC Athletics