PEA RIDGE -- The School District is looking for a new football coach for the second time in less than a year.
Jeff Williams, who spent one season as the Blackhawks' head coach, was named the new athletic director at Siloam Springs School District this week. Prior to taking the Pea Ridge job last spring, Williams was the longtime football coach at Fort Smith Southside High School and the son of longtime Pocahontas High School football coach Dave Williams.
"When you hire good people, other people are always trying to get them," Pea Ridge athletics director Tony Travis said of the departure of Williams on Tuesday right after it was announced he had been hired as Siloam Springs' athletics director.
"I've been coaching a long time," Williams said. "It hit me (Tuesday) ... I have been on a sideline since I was 4 years old, either on a Friday or Saturday night."
Williams was a coach at El Dorado High School before landing the job at Southside, where he replaced the legendary Barry Lunney Sr. Williams led Southside to the Class 7A state championship in 2006.
Southside reached the finals in 2008 and 2009 and state semifinals in 2012 and 2014. Overall, Williams was 109-95-2 as a head coach.
Travis, who was also a highly successful coach for the Blackhawks, said Williams had a big impact on the program in his short time.
"We have nothing but good things to say about Jeff," said Travis. "When we hired him, we thought he'd help us in our move up to Class 5A and he did that.
"We wish him nothing but the best and appreciate the work he did for us and the time he invested in our kids."
The Blackhawks were hit hard by covid-19 issues in Williams' only season. Multiple games were canceled and the team was 1-6 overall with one 5A-West Conference win.
Travis said he'll begin the search process with the hope to have a new coach in place by March's School Board meeting, but that wasn't the deadline.
"It would be awesome to get this done by March. Right now we are going to accept applications and phone calls to gauge interest," Travis said. "Then we will sit down with our superintendent and start having conversations to see who's just feeling it out and who has an actual interest."
Travis said last season there were 60 to 65 players in the football program in its first season in Class 5A.
Williams replaces former Siloam Springs athletic director Ken Harriman, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
"I've been looking forward to going in a different direction," Williams said of the career change. "I think it will be a lot of fun. Siloam's a great place and there's a lot of great people over there.
"I've got a lot of experience and seen a lot of different situations come up. I've won a state championship and fought and clawed to win three or four games to get in the playoffs. I think I can help mentor coaches as far as different situations come up because I've probably either seen it or heard it. I've coached in different parts of the state, El Dorado, Southside and Pea Ridge. My network's pretty good as far as knowing coaches in a lot of sports. I've got colleagues in basketball, baseball and track. I'm a sports fan. ... Siloam Springs has always been a first-class run organization and that starts at the top and works its way down."