Former Good Hope coach to enter Walker County Hall of Fame:
JD Williams coached Good Hope FB to greatness in the late 1990s:
GDW Analysis:
JASPER: JD Williams is remembered by Good Hope football of taking a program from 1 win in 2 seasons to greatness with 39 victories in a 4 year span in the late 1990s.
That was not the only place where Williams laid down a foundation of success.
At Parrish High School near the Jasper area, Williams saw the Tornadoes go from 2 & 8 his first year 1989 to winning 42 of 52 games the following four seasons.
Williams will enter the 2025 Walker County Sports Hall of Fame Sunday. The ceremony will be held at Jasper High School.
Williams has a Walker County background for playing at when the school was known as Walker High.
He was the MVP of the football team his senior season.
Williams entered coaching the game as a head coach at Lynn High School in 1986, then two seasons at TW Martin in Walker County.
Parrish would be next in line with Williams seeing the Tornadoes go 35 & 6 between 1990 to 1992 and finish 2nd in Class 1A in '92 with 12 victories in 15 decisions.
Good Hope then went in pursuit of Williams. At the time, Good Hope was under direction of Gene Raburn, another person with a legacy from Walker High School.
The Raiders won a single game in 1994 then failed to enter the victory role the following year.
But in 1996 the Raiders changed their culture and would collect 7 victories in 12 games and a berth to the 2nd round of the AHSAA 3A playoffs.
In 1997, the Raiders rolled to their best season in Good Hope history.
Thirteen wins, 10 in the regular season and just seconds away from reaching the state championship for the first time.
However, Colbert County scored a TD in the closing seconds to send the Raiders out of the postseason by the final of 27 to 25.
Williams would lead the Raiders to another 10 & 0 mark in 1999 before they would be upset in the first round in the postseason.
Williams holds the mark for the most consecutive winning seasons at Good Hope, 4, from 1996 to 1999.
He is 2nd in double digit wins in a season with 2 while current coach Alan Scott has 3.
The 13 & 1 record is the best in Good Hope history as the school will celebrate its 55th year on the gridiron this coming season.
Williams joins Good Hope legends Murray "Stubby" Trimble, Billy Joe Pugh, Wayne Weissend as football coaches with Hall of Fame honors.
His all time record on the gridiron is 106 wins & 99 losses. His combined marks at Good Hope and Parrish are impressive with 84 victories, 40 at Good Hope and 44 at Parrish. The two schools accounted for a combined total of 8 winning seasons.
Photo of the Walker County Sports Hall of Fame program with photo of JD Williams on the bottom row to the right.
Photo courtesy of the Walker County Sports Hall of Fame.
