A Carmichaels classic: Williams guided Mikes to 512 wins
Carmichaels coach Don Williams (right) barks instructions to his players during a timeout in against Chartiers-Houston at Carmichaels on Feb. 8, 2019. The Mikes won, 64-57, in overtime, giving Williams his 512th and final win of his career. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ
Rob Burchianti | Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ
Carmichaels coach Don Williams directs his team against Chartiers-Houston during his final game as head coach on Feb. 8, 2019, at Carmichaels. The Mikes won, 64-57, in overtime, giving Williams career win No. 512.
Carmichaels coach Don Williams shouts instructions to his team during his final game against Chartiers-Houston at Carmichaels on Feb. 8, 2019. The Mikes won, 64-57, in overtime, giving Williams career win No. 512. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Carmichaels head coach Don Williams (left) and assistant coach Tim Jones talk to their players during a timeout in a game against Chartiers-Houston at Carmichaels. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Don Williams roamed the sidelines coaching Carmichaels High School boy’s basketball for 44 seasons before stepping down as head coach after last season. He claims retirement is going well.
“I’m actually enjoying it,” Williams offered. “I’ve been out watching several other high school teams play and it’s fun to go sit in the stands and you don’t have any pressure on you. You just enjoy the game.”
Williams was destined to coach basketball. He played high school basketball under the tutelage of Hal Weightman at Connellsville High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s on teams that posted records of 15-7 in 1968-69, 9-13 in 1969-70, 6-16 in 1970-71. He tallied 337 points during his career with the Falcons and averaged 13.3 ppg as a senior.
“We couldn’t beat Uniontown and Laurel Highlands,” Williams recalled. “They had some really good players at that time and we always stumbled against them.”
Williams did not play college basketball. He was a physical education major at Slippery Rock.
“I was going into phys ed which I taught for 36 years at Carmichaels,” Williams said. “Coaching was in the back of my mind, and I always liked basketball and I always watched basketball and paid attention to basketball. Yes, coaching was in the back of my mind.”
Coaching came to the forefront when Williams graduated from Slippery Rock in 1975.
“Actually to be the head coach right out of college was a surprise,” Williams explained. “When the (Carmichaels) athletic director Fred Stuvek asked me if I was interested in coaching I said I would gladly be an assistant. He said how about being the head coach? I said I don’t have any experience and he said I can help you. That’s how I became the head coach at Carmichaels in 1975.
“I was from Connellsville and I really didn’t know where Carmichaels was at, but a friend of my father, Alan Jones, had actually told my dad that they were looking for a physical education teacher. I interviewed for the phys ed job and got that and then the basketball job came about a month later.”
Williams replaced Jeff Cree as head coach of the Mikes and the rest is history.
In 44 years coaching the Mikes Williams compiled a record of 512-452 with five section championships, and his teams made the WPIAL playoffs 19 times.
Williams is on a short list of WPIAL coaches with more than 500 wins, along with such legends as Ed McCluskey, John Miller and Chuck DeVenzio. Williams is one of only 19 coaches in more than 100 years of WPIAL basketball to win 500 games.
“Carmichaels had athletes,” Williams said. “Basically throughout my career we didn’t have the basketball player, but I had athletes. The kids always played hard. It’s a tough community and the parents were always very supportive, the parents worked hard and the kids worked hard.
“I always had the support of the school board and the school administration. That makes it much easier.”
Man-to-man defense was the bedrock of Williams’ program at Carmichaels.
“Yes, it was a staple with us,” Williams said. “My assistant Tim Jones was very instrumental in that defense.”
Jones was Williams’ able assistant for 28 seasons also retired when Williams stepped down.
“Jones was a player for me and then an assistant,” Williams explained. “He played on the first three teams that I coached. I couldn’t say enough about what he did to help me and the program over the years.”
A highlight for Williams was the 1995-96 season, when the Mikes made it to the WPIAL semifinals. The Mikes went 22-6 advancing to the WPIAL Class A semifinals before falling to Rochester 69-56. Carmichaels notched the first two wins in school history in the PIAA playoffs before a talented Coudersport team beat them 54-34. The 22 wins were a school record for the Mikes.
“That was a dream season for us,” Williams explained. “To go that far in the WPIAL playoffs and then be that successful in the PIAA playoffs, that was definitely a dream season. I had some good athletes on that team and I had some kids that could shoot the basketball. I didn’t have a starter over six feet tall.”
Williams was a bit of a throwback as far as encouraging multi-sport athletes.
“Some coaches today stress don’t participate in another sport,” Williams stated. “There at Carmichaels most of my career we shared the athletes. They were good football, they were good baseball players and they were good basketball players. Now days you have coaches who say don’t play another sport. I think that hurts the student-athlete because those kids don’t go on to play in college, let them enjoy themselves in the high school atmosphere.”
Williams also was a teacher for 36 years at Carmichaels before retiring nine years ago.
“I’m pleased with what I accomplished as a coach and an educator,” Williams said. “I still keep in touch with some of my former players and it’s still nice to reminisce with them. Those are the memories and it’s great to see how they are doing with their lives today.”
Williams, 66, resides in Uniontown with his wife of 31 years Diane. They have three daughters Kara, and twins Dawn and Taylor.
“I can’t say enough about how supportive my wife was throughout my coaching career,” Williams said. “She is just a great person.”
Williams left the Mikes in the good hands of two of his former players, head coach Ian McCombs and his brother, assistant coach Sean McCombs.
“They are both very good young men,” Williams said.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Monday editions of the Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.