Fred Williams (basketball, born 1957)

Last updated
Fred Williams
Florida Gators
PositionAssistant coach
League SEC
Personal information
Born (1957-02-08) February 8, 1957 (age 68)
NationalityAmerican
Career information
College Boise State (1976–1979)
Career history
Coaching
1995–1997 USC (women's)
1998 Utah Starzz (assistant)
1999–2001Utah Starzz
2003–2004 Charlotte Sting (assistant)
2009–2012 Atlanta Dream (assistant)
2012–2013Atlanta Dream
2014–2018 Tulsa Shock / Dallas Wings
2019–2022 Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)
2022 Los Angeles Sparks (interim head coach)
2022–2025 Auburn (women's) (associate head coach)
2025–present Florida (women's) (assistant)
Stats at WNBA.com

Fred Williams (born February 8, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is currently the assistant coach for the Florida Gators women's basketball team. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Career

Williams served as an assistant coach at the University of Southern California from 1983 to 1990 and as head coach from 1995 to 1997. Williams coached the Utah Starzz (now the San Antonio Stars) of the WNBA from 1999 to 2001 and later served as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Sting. Williams coached the San Diego Siege of the NWBL, before joining the Atlanta Dream as an assistant coach in 2009. [5]

Williams took over as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA on August 27, 2012, when the team fired Marynell Meadors. [6] The Dream lost their first game under Williams, falling to the Tulsa Shock 84–80. [7] However, the team rebounded, winning six of their next seven, and qualified for the playoffs.

In his first full season as head coach, the Dream got out to a 10–1 record, which at the time was the best in the league. However, forward Sancho Lyttle went out with a fractured foot, and the Dream struggled to finish the season, ending with a 17–17 record. Nevertheless, the Dream got hot in the playoffs and earned their third trip to the WNBA Finals in four seasons, losing in three games to the Minnesota Lynx.

Despite guiding his team to an Eastern Conference championship, it was announced at the end of the season that Williams' contract would not be renewed. [8] [9] On January 23, 2014, the Shock announced his hiring as their third head coach since the franchise moved to Tulsa, replacing Gary Kloppenburg. [4]

Coaching record

Legend
Regular seasonGGames coachedWGames wonLGames lostW–L %Win–loss %
PlayoffsPGPlayoff gamesPWPlayoff winsPLPlayoff lossesPW–L %Playoff win–loss %
TeamYearGWLW–L%FinishPGPWPLPW–L%Result
UTA 1999 281315.4636th in WestMissed Playoffs
UTA 2000 321814.5635th in WestMissed Playoffs
UTA 2001 1358.3843rd in WestLeft Before Playoffs
ATL 2012 1073.7003rd in East312.333Lost in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
ATL 2013 341717.5002nd in East844.500Lost in WNBA Finals
TUL 2014 341222.3535th in WestMissed Playoffs
TUL 2015 341816.5293rd in West202.000Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals
DAL 2016 341123.3245th in West----Missed Playoffs
DAL 2017 341618.4714th in West101.000Lost in 1st Round
DAL 2018 311417.4525th in WestMissed Playoffs
LAS 2022 24816.33312th in WestMissed Playoffs
Career308139169.4511459.357

References

  1. "Fred Williams Joins Florida Women's Basketball Staff". floridagators.com. Florida Gators Athletics. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  2. "Veteran WNBA coach Fred Williams joins Auburn women's basketball staff". auburntigers.com. Auburn Tigers Athletics. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  3. "LA Sparks Part Ways with General Manager/Head Coach Derek Fisher". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Shock hire Fred Williams as coach", Associated Press at ESPN.com, January 23, 2014.
  5. WNBA Biography
  6. Atlanta Dream Name Fred Williams Head Coach and General Manager
  7. "Hodges, Johnson help Tulsa end road skid". Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  8. Fred Williams out as Dream head coach/GM
  9. Atlanta Dream won't renew coach Fred Williams' contract