Will Windham was named defensive coordinator and safeties coach at South Alabama in Feb. 2024 after spending the previous three years coaching the team’s linebackers.
In his first season as defensive coordinator, Windham helped the Jaguars to a record of 7-6 with a victory in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl. It was South’s second-straight bowl championship in as many seasons.
South Alabama finished second in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing defense under Windham’s leadership, holding opponents to 142.8 yards per game on the ground. The Jaguars’ defense also intercepted 16 passes in 2024, the second-most in the conference and the most ever in a single season in South Alabama Football history.
Windham’s star safety in 2024 was Jaden Voisin who finished the season with 83 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions and five pass breakups. His five interceptions gave him 11 for his career, making him the school record holder for career interceptions. Voisin was a First Team All-Sun Belt selection at season’s end.
In the three seasons before Windham was promoted to defensive coordinator, he was part of a defense that allowed the fewest rushing and total offense yards since the program moved up to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2012. They also matched school season records with 15 interceptions and 25 total takeaways while recording the second-highest sack total in program history as well.
He came to South after working the last three seasons at Kent State, where he started as the program’s inside linebackers coach before shifting to safeties. His efforts helped the Golden Flashes to a five-win improvement in 2019 as they would end the campaign 7-6 after claiming the school’s first-ever postseason bowl victory with a defeat of Utah State in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl. KSU posted another winning season in 2020 after going 3-1.
Windham was a defensive quality control coach at Georgia for two years prior to his arrival in Kent, where he was part of a staff that helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2017 Southeastern Conference title and a berth in the College Football Playoff national championship game. His first season at UGA saw the Bulldogs win nine contests including the Liberty Bowl.
He began his coaching career at Saint Stanislaus Prep — where his efforts helped the Rocks win the 4A state championship in 2009 — before becoming a graduate assistant coach at Mississippi State. He has also worked as a graduate assistant coach at Penn State and was the defensive line coach at Davidson during the 2015 season.
Windham — who received his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State in 2007 and his master’s degree from the school in ‘12 — and his wife Whitney have two children, son Tyler and daughter Breckyn.
The Windham File
Born: March 21, 1985, in Tupelo, Miss.
Education:
Mississippi State ’07, bachelor’s degree in secondary education (math/social studies)
Mississippi State ’12, master’s degree in kinesiology
Coaching Experience:
Saint Stanislaus College — assistant coach, 2009-10
Mississippi State — graduate assistant coach, 2011-13
Penn State — graduate assistant coach, 2014
Davidson — assistant coach, 2015
Georgia — quality control assistant, 2016-17
Kent State — assistant coach, 2018-20
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2021-
Family: Wife, Whitney; One son, Tyler and one daughter, Breckyn
