California high school football team hires former NFL coach Tom Williams

A former linebacker with NFL coaching experience will lead a California high school football team. Bellarmine College Prep announced on X that Tom Williams will be the next head coach, replacing former NFL player David Diaz-Infante.

Williams captained the Stanford Cardinals in his final year (1992). Following graduation, he remained at Stanford as a graduate assistant. He formerly served as the defensive coordinator for the Fujitsu Frontiers of the Japan X-League before taking on the same post at the University of Hawaii. The Texas native previously coached linebackers for the Rainbow Warriors.

We’re excited to welcome Tom Williams to Bellarmine as the new Head of Program for Football!

He’s coached high school, college, NFL, and international teams… and he’s excited to dive into the next chapter of Bellarmine football. See you on the 50 yard line, Coach Williams! 🏈… pic.twitter.com/W4NSQulisl

— Bellarmine Football (@bcpfootball) January 28, 2026

Tom Williams also coached at the University of Washington before returning to Stanford in 2002. After his second stint as a Cardinals coach, he was hired as San Jose State’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Williams moved on to the NFL, where he worked as a defensive coach and assistant special teams coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then he obtained his first head coaching job with the Yale Bulldogs. Williams finished 16-14 in three seasons at Yale.

After coaching the Bulldogs, Williams moved on to the University of Texas at El Paso as the safeties coach. He previously coached linebackers at Florida International University before becoming the head coach at Texas’ Greenhill High School.

Williams will take over a California high school football team that concluded the 2025 season 2-8. Bellarmine Prep began the season by winning two of its first three games. Unfortunately, they lost seven consecutive games to Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, Saint Francis, Valley Christian, St. Ignatius Prep, Archbishop Riordan, Junipero Serra, and Archbishop Mitty, in that order.

The Bells’ last winning season was in 2022, when they finished 8-7. Since then, they have won only four of their next 26 games. Bellarmine has won eight Central Coast Section championships, 20 West Catholic Athletic League titles, and two CIF NorCal titles.