Don James Coaching Tree Continues to Branch Out with Success

The current Super Bowl champion and college football national champs have connections, near and far, to the legendary UW coach and his attention to detail.

The impact of Don James continues to resonate in college and pro football, with a national championship decided and the NFL playoffs winding down, with connections leading to success.

Most visible is Nick Saban, the former Kent State defensive back and graduate assistant coach for James and who recently led Alabama to a sixth college title, and the seventh for him overall, counting LSU. 

Then there's Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, trying to bring back-to-back Super Bowls to his Midwest city. His Chiefs meet the Buffalo Bills this weekend for the right to advance to Tampa.

Reid never coached for James, the legendary University of Washington coach, but he learned from someone who did, Bob Stull, and he learned how James did things. Stull, another former Kent State player under James, was a Husky offensive coordinator.

When Stull became the head coach at UTEP in 1998, he hired Reid to join him in El Paso as his offensive-line coach. 

"Stull brought Reid on board and taught him the attention to detail that has helped make Reid one of the most successful NFL coaches in history," said Kent Loomer, who directed the unreleased film "The Dawgfather: the Legacy of Don James." 

And now Urban Meyer has returned to football, hired recently as coach of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. 

While much is known about his previous head-coaching stops at Utah, Florida and Ohio State, Meyer got his first full-time coaching job at Illinois State working for Jim Heacock. 

In 1988, Heacock moved from UW defensive-line coach for James to Illinois State heac coach. One of his first hires was Meyer as outside linebackers coach. 

The young coach got a full education on this staff. In 1989, Meyer became Heacock's quarterback and wide-receivers coach. He learned the James way of doing things. 

"Coach James changed countless lives off of the field, but here we are again where continues to impact the game of college football," Loomer said.