Co-Director Jared Williamson
Co-Director: Jared Williamson was named Illinois Wesleyan's head football coach Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 after a 15-year tenure leading the programs at Robert Morris University (Ill.) and Roosevelt University. The 2025 season will mark the first season with Williamson at the helm of the Titans.
No stranger to Titan football, Williamson served on staff at Illinois Wesleyan under legendary head coach Norm Eash from 2006 until 2010. After two years as a graduate assistant coach, Williamson was IWU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for his final two seasons. During that time, he helped guide the Titans to the 2007 and 2009 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship. The 2009 season was a special one for the Green and White, as Illinois Wesleyan posted 10 wins and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoff before finishing the year ranked ninth nationally.
Williamson was hired in June 2010 and was tasked with building the Robert Morris University (Illinois) football program from the ground up, serving as the only coach the NAIA program ever knew, before transitioning the program to Division II as part of the institution's merger with Roosevelt University in 2020. For the past five seasons, Williamson has led the Lakers as a member of one of Division II’s premier conferences, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, after leaving the NAIA level ranked 10th in wins amongst active head coaches at the time. Over the course of his 15-year tenure in the Windy City, Williamson compiled a career record of 73-68.
Through building a program from scratch and then seeing it through a transition, Williamson guided his teams to two league championships and garnered top-25 rankings in nine out of their 13 seasons at the NAIA level. Williamson's teams posted 15 wins against NAIA and NCAA top-25 opponents and three victories over top-five programs.
On the field, his players have accumulated a number of postseason accolades, including more than 152 All-League selections, eight All-American honorees, six NAIA National Player of the Week awards, 47 Mid-States Football Association Conference Player of the Week awards, and two MSFA Conference Player of the Year selections. Williamson has been named Conference Coach of the Year twice (2012 & 2016).
Away from on-field competition, Williamson’s teams have excelled in the classroom. He has coached more than 150 academic all-conference selections, 71 NAIA Scholar-Athlete honorees, and 11 Academic All-America award recipients. In 2013, Williamson coached running back Lamont Wims to Capital One College Division Academic All-America of the Year honors. Two years later, his 2015 squad was recognized as an NAIA Scholar Team after posting a team cumulative grade point average of 3.04.
Williamson earned his undergraduate degree in secondary education as a double major in social science and physical education from Maryville State University in North Dakota. A three-time captain of the Comets football team from 2001 to 2006, Williamson set the single-season passing records for total yards, completions, and touchdowns. As a three-year starter for MSU, he was a two-time All-Dakota Athletic Conference quarterback. He later earned his master’s degree from Illinois State University in 2007.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Williamson is the son of a United States Air Force veteran which resulted in several moves throughout his childhood. He and his family lived all over the world including Germany, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Alaska, where he lived in Eagle River and graduated from Chugiak High School.
Williamson and his wife Kelsey have five children, Abigail, Gloria, Isaiah, Samuel, and Evelyn.