Marquette Williams coached Marquette to a 25–10 record in the
2008–09 season, where they lost to the
Missouri Tigers in the second round of the
2009 NCAA tournament. He coached Marquette to a 22–12 record in the
2009–10 season, which ended with a close loss to the 11th-seeded
Washington Huskies in the first round of the
2010 NCAA tournament. During the
2010–11 campaign, Williams led the Golden Eagles back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since
2003. His team went 22–15 including a 9–9
Big East Conference record. They lost in the quarterfinals of the
2011 Big East men's basketball tournament to
Louisville. Marquette received an at-large bid in the
2011 NCAA tournament. There they defeated
Xavier in the second round (formerly the first round) and
Syracuse in the third round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they were defeated by No. 7-ranked and No. 2-seeded
North Carolina. Williams'
2012 team returned to the
NCAA tournament after finishing second in the
Big East regular season, finishing 14–4 in conference play. As a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they defeated
BYU and
Murray State to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. There, they lost to No. 7-seeded
Florida. After winning a share of the
Big East Men's regular season championship,
Marquette received an at-large bid in the
2013 NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed. There, they earned come-from-behind victories over
Davidson in the second round and
Butler in the third round. In the Sweet Sixteen, the school's third straight under Williams, they defeated ACC regular season and conference champion
Miami to earn a trip to Williams's first Elite Eight, where they lost to
Syracuse. The
2013–14 season was Williams' worst at Marquette, finishing 17–15 with a loss to
Xavier in the
Big East tournament.
Virginia Tech Williams was named the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech on March 21, 2014, replacing
James Johnson. The move had critics questioning why he would leave Marquette for Virginia Tech, "one of the country’s toughest rebuilding projects." Williams left behind a program at Marquette, which had only nine scholarship players – none taller than 6'7" – for new coach
Steve Wojciechowski. The
Hokies began the
2016–17 season with an 11–1 non-conference record and won their first ACC conference game against No. 5
Duke in Cassell Coliseum on December 31, 2016. On January 29, 2017, Williams earned his 200th career win as a head coach with a win against
Boston College in Blacksburg. After going 5–6 in their first 11 ACC games, the Hokies defeated No. 12
Virginia in double overtime, marking Williams' fourth victory over a top-15 team in the past two years. The Hokies parlayed their success with a trip to the
NCAA tournament for the first time since
2007. As the No. 9 seed, they lost in the first round to
Wisconsin. The
2017–18 team had similar success, finishing the regular season with a 21–11 record and a 10–8 ACC record. Williams led the Hokies to their second consecutive NCAA tournament berth but lost in the first round to
Alabama. The
2018–19 team entered the top 10 for the first time since the 1995–96 season. Before the season started, freshman
Landers Nolley (Top 100 recruit, 2017-2018 Georgia Player of the Year) was deemed ineligible due to his ACT score being suspiciously high, casting doubt on its validity despite his high school coach describing Nolley as an "Ivy League-type guy". ESPN's Jay Bilas tweeted that this was "another example of why the NCAA should get out of the eligibility business. It's just wrong". In addition, senior leader Chris Clarke was indefinitely suspended prior to the start of the season. During conference play, Justin Robinson sustained a toe injury that kept him out of over half of the Hokies' conference games. Despite these major setbacks, Williams led the Hokies to a 23–7 regular season with 12 wins in the ACC, the most in program history. In addition, Virginia Tech received the fourth seed in the east bracket of the
2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, tied for the highest seed in program history. After the Hokies defeated
Saint Louis University in the first round and
Liberty University in the second round, Williams earned a bid to the Sweet 16, the program's first bid since 1967. In their Sweet 16 matchup the Hokies faced ACC rival Duke, a team they defeated earlier in the season. Duke prevailed over Virginia Tech after a missed last second shot by senior
Ahmed Hill.
Texas A&M On April 3, 2019, it was announced that Williams would be leaving Virginia Tech to take the same position at
Texas A&M. In his
first season, Williams took the Aggies to a 16–14 (10–8 SEC) record, and earned SEC Coach of the Year honors by the
Associated Press with a strong finish to the regular season. As the team was about to tip off against
Missouri in the SEC Tournament, the season was abruptly ended by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was known for Williams's trademark defense, but the transition to a new offensive scheme proved difficult, culminating in an average margin of victory just slightly over 8 points by season's end. The
next year A&M had a promising season marred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and canceled a majority of their games on their way to an 8–10 (2–8 SEC) record. In his
third year as coach, the team found some success and went 20–11 (9–9 SEC) in the regular season. The team also fought all the way to the SEC championship game in the
SEC tournament, defeating
#4 Auburn and
#15 Arkansas along the way before dropping the title game to
#9 Tennessee. Though expected by many to make the
NCAA Tournament, an 8 game losing streak in the regular season was the deciding factor against their entry. Earning a top seed in the
NIT, Williams led the Aggies to the championship game in
Madison Square Garden before falling to
Xavier, finishing with a final record of 27–13 (9–9 SEC). Williams's
fourth year was a roller coaster of sorts, but was nonetheless successful. Ranked in the Top 25 early in the season, out of conference losses to
Murray State and
Wofford within the first few weeks led to some early doubters. The team would turn it around, however, finishing the regular season with victory over #2
Alabama and a 23–8 overall record, 15–3 in conference, the most conference wins in Texas A&M history. The successful turnaround earned Williams his 2nd SEC Coach of the Year award in 4 years. The team's won 7 of 8 at the end of the season and into the
SEC tournament before falling in the championship game to Alabama. Likely due to their early-season losses, A&M was given a 7-seed in the
NCAA Tournament, despite being ranked 17th in the Top 25. This led to a difficult match-up against a hot
Penn State team, who defeated the Aggies in the first round 76–59. For the
2023–24 team, Williams led the Aggies through another roller coaster season. Ranked as high as #12 before conference play, the team then proceeded to go on hot and cold streaks throughout the regular season, finishing with an overall record of 18–13 (9–9 SEC). Winning their way to the
SEC tournament semifinals, including defeating #9
Kentucky, they earned an at-large bid into the
NCAA Tournament as a 9-seed. The team defeated
Nebraska in the first round before falling to #2 ranked
Houston in overtime, concluding their season with a 21–15 record. The
2024–25 team maintained a presence within the Top 25 all season long, culminating in a regular season final record of 22–9 (11–7 SEC). An early loss to
Texas in the
SEC tournament led to the team earning a 4 seed in the
NCAA Tournament, where they would go on to defeat
Yale in the first round, but fall to Big Ten tournament winner
Michigan in the second round, ending the season with a record of 23–11.
Maryland On April 1, 2025, Williams accepted an offer to become the head coach at
Maryland. The Contract is worth a total guaranteed income of $30.3 million for 6 years, not including moving expenses ($75,000), monthly car allowance ($2,400) and monthly cell phone ($120). ==Head coaching record==