James Willis
Class of 2026
James Willis’s path to college stardom, the NFL and distinguished coaching career began like most, with a dream. Those dreams started in the northwest Huntsville neighborhoods of Lakewood and Rolling Hills, as well as the Lakewood Rec Center where he and his friends would reenact NFL Films videos of greats like Walter Payton, Franco Harris and Herschel Walker.
“I wanted to be a combination of all the great running backs and I loved football so much that I even reenacted the slow motion parts of the films,” he recalls. Wanting to be like Franco and looking up to John Stallworth (Huntsville HOF class of 92) the Steelers were his favorite team. James played running back in the Lakewood youth leagues, but he outgrew the running back position in middle school and was switched to offensive and defensive line at Davis Hills Middle School. Moving on to Johnson High School, he started out as a lineman, but Coach Paul Parvin (HOF class of 96) moved him to linebacker early in his sophomore season, and that’s where he stayed.
“I was always ‘See ball, hit ball,’ but at linebacker I could run and chase and make even bigger hits,” Willis says. “My goal was to always have the most tackles on the team, as well as the city, region, or anyone else who was keeping stats.”
The move worked out well as he earned All-City, All-State and Parade All-America honors. College offers were plenty, but an official visit to Auburn in 1989 for the first Iron Bowl played in Auburn – “The atmosphere there that day was something I had never seen before” -- sealed the deal for him to continue his playing days there.
His Auburn playing days were just as impressive as high school: three-year starter, leading tackler for three years, Freshman All-SEC, Freshman All-America, and three-time All-SEC as well as Auburn All-Decade team of the 90’s. With all the success in college James opted for the NFL draft after his junior year and was selected by the Green Bay Packers.
He spent three years with Green Bay, then joined his former Packers’ defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes with the Eagles. “Playing in Philly was very influential in my life. It’s where I met my wife, got a big contract, and made the biggest play of my career, an interception of Troy Aikman for a 106-yard return for a touchdown.” He played on three division championship teams at Philadelphia and led the team in tackles all three years, before winding up his pro career with the Seattle Seahawks, then the Birmingham team in the USFL, where he was the league’s defensive MVP.
The what’s next part of the story reads like a Who’s Who of football. Willis had started several businesses, but Auburn assistant Joe Whitt called him about “Operation Follow-Through,” a program to help former players finish their degrees. “Coach Whitt asked me to come hang out with the football program and just share knowledge.”
Serving as a graduate assistant, Willis enjoyed an “aha” moment during spring practice. After helping a linebacker named Dontarious Thomas with some defensive cues, Thomas made a big play in a scrimmage. “He comes running straight to me on the sideline and gives me a big bear hug and said, ‘It worked!” I knew then that’s what I wanted the next chapter to be.”
After earning his Auburn degree, he took his first full time position at the University of Rhode Island with Tim Stowers (HOF 2010), then onto Al Golden’s staff at Temple. Then it was back to Auburn under Tommy Tuberville, Alabama under Nick Saban, Texas Tech with Tommy Tuberville, the USFL with Jerry Glanville, and in 2015 the New Orleans Saints with Sean Payton. After Payton’s departure in 2022, Willis wasn’t retained, but the Saints’ personnel director told Willis his son’s school, Northlake Christian School in Covington, La., was looking for a coach. Willis won that job and has been there ever since.
James’ great influence was his mother, Ann Willls, “the rock of my life. The ultimate example of grit and resilience.” James and his wife Shalane are parents of Jade, Jalen, a former played at Northwestern (La.) State and now a model in Los Angeles, Josselyn, a four-sport athlete at Northlake Christian, and Jordan, a senior at Northlake who has signed with Delta State to play football.
-- Robin Gaines
