Dale Williams - Football Coach - Syracuse University Athletics

Dale Williams

Title:
Offensive Line
Email:
dwilli78@syr.edu

Dale Williams, a veteran offensive line coach with more than 25 years of coaching experience, enters his second season with the program in 2025.

In his first year, he led a unit that paved the way for the nation's most prolific passing offense. The unit protected Kyle McCord to set a new ACC passing record and lead the country in the category, on the way to finishing top-10 in Heisman Trophy voting. Williams' unit also blocked for LeQuint Allen Jr. to cross the 1,000-yard threshold on the ground. Two offensive linemen - Savion Washington and Jakob Bradford - earned All-ACC honors for their play in 2024.

Williams joined the Orange from Louisville, where he served as the Cardinals’ Senior Quality Control Coach, in a season that saw the program make its first trip to the ACC title game in program history.

Prior to that, he spent six seasons at Purdue as the team’s offensive line coach, where he helped lead the Boilermakers win the 2022 Big Ten West title and two bowl victories, defeating Tennessee in the 2021 Music City Bowl and Arizona in the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl.

While in West Lafayette, Williams helped Purdue post some of its best offensive seasons in program history. The offensive line’s protection helped the Boilermaker quarterbacks set single-season passing records for yards (4,620), completions (407), completion percentage (.708) and passing first downs (221) in 2021. The team’s 355.4 yards per game through the air that season was fifth in the nation and second in the Big Ten that season. Gus Hartwig, Greg Long and Tyler Witt were selected to the All-Big Ten team.

His 2020 unit paved the way for the Boilermakers to average 390.5 yards of total offense and lead the Big Ten in passing yards (309.0 yards per game). Hartwig, Long, Grant Hermanns and Spencer Holstage were all named honorable mention Big Ten from his unit.

Williams’ line helped Purdue average 393.2 yards of total offense in 2019, 443.9 yards per game in 2018 and 403.1 yards per game in his first season with the program in 2017. Matt McCann (2018 and 2019), Kirk Barron (2017 and 2018) and David Steinmetz (2017) earned all-league honors over that span.

Prior to his stint at Purdue, Williams was the offensive line coach at Western Kentucky in 2016. The Hilltoppers’ high-powered offense scored 45.5 points per game, racked up 523.1 yards of total offense and 336.8 yards per game passing in his one season there. The line surrendered just 22 sacks on 471 passing attempts, and offensive tackle Forrest Lamp was named a Third-Team All-American and was a First-Team All-CUSA selection under Williams’ tutelage. Lamp was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers. The 2016 Hilltoppers squad finished the season with a victory over Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Previously, Williams has stops at Florida Atlantic, Findlay, Gardner-Webb, North Greenville College and West Virginia. He also spent four seasons coaching at Lake Worth and Olympic Heights high schools between college stops.

Williams was at FAU from 2005-11, where he helped transform the Owls into a postseason regular. In 2007, Florida Atlantic were co-Sun Belt Champions – sending them to the program’s first-ever bowl game – where they won the New Orleans Bowl. A year later, the team won five of their final six contests and went on to win the 2008 Motor City Bowl. In each season, the Owls finished in the top-15 nationally in fewest sacks allowed, protecting QB Rusty Smith to win Sun Belt Player of the Year honors in 2007. Three linemen – John Rizzo, Jarrid Smith and David Matlock – earned All-Sun Belt accolades over those seasons.

His unit also paved the way for the first 1,000-yard back in program history in 2008, as Charles Pierre ran for 1,009 yards. A year later, running back Alfred Morris shattered the program record, rushing for 1,392 yards behind Williams’ line. He also neared the 1,000-yard mark in 2010, finishing with 928 yards.

Williams spent five seasons at Findlay from 2000-04, starting as the offensive line coach (2000-02), before adding offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator to his duties for his final two seasons there. His 2002 squad finished ranked 25th nationally with a 9-2 mark. The offensive line allowed just 15 sacks in the 11 game schedule, while also paving the way for Robert Campbell to run for 1,564 yards. Two years later, the line blocked for Michael Sampson to set a then-school record with 1,659 rushing yards for the Oilers.

Prior to Findlay, Williams spent three seasons, from 1997 to 1999, coaching the offensive line at Gardner-Webb following two seasons at North Greenville College. Williams got his start in the coaching profession during a three-year stint as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, West Virginia.

A three-year letterman and two-year starter for the Mountaineers, he was named the team’s best lineman during its run to the 1994 Sugar Bowl. He earned his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia in 1994, and his master’s degree from the school in 1996.