MONTICELLO – University of Arkansas at Monticello head football coach Gwaine Mathews has announced the hiring of Troy Stubbs and Jafar Williams as offensive assistant coaches.
 
The hiring finalizes the UAM football staff after the promotion of Derek Warehime to offensive coordinator. Stubbs will coach quarterbacks and running backs, while Williams will coach wide receivers.
 
Stubbs joins UAM after spending one season at Davidson College in Charlotte, N.C. as the wide receivers coach under head coach Tripp Merritt. Before DC, Stubbs spent the 2007 season as an offensive graduate assistant at the University of Louisville. His main responsibilities there were working with tight ends, film breakdown and scouting reports.
 
The Cardinals ranked sixth in Division I FBS in total offense that season and fourth in passing offense, while ranking first in both categories among teams in the Big East Conference.
 
Stubbs began his playing career as a wide receiver at the Air Force Academy in 1996-97 before serving a two-year church mission. He transferred to the University of Alabama to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in 2002 with a double major of international finance and Russian. He worked four years at an investment firm in Memphis, Tenn., before getting into coaching at Louisville, where this past summer, he earned a master’s degree in sports administration.
 
He and his wife, Jenny, now reside in Monticello with their three children, Isaac (7), Elsa (3) and Lucas (1).
 
“Troy is going to bring a lot of insight into our offense and teach our players a lot of new things,” said Mathews at a luncheon announcing Stubbs’ hiring. “He’s also going to get (Scott Buisson) more fundamental in all aspects of the game. A lot of things Buisson did last year were on his own, so if we get his skills honed up, our offense is really going to be tough to stop.”

Williams joins UAM after spending two seasons as wide receivers coach at Illinois State University, a NCAA Division I FCS program in Normal, Ill., a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
 
Over his two seasons with the Redbirds, the Philadelphia, Pa. native coached two All-Missouri Valley Conference players, highlighted by Eyad Salem’s spot on the 2008 first team after catching 63 passes for 843 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2007, Williams instructed a second-team selection in Jason Horton, who racked up a team-high 40 receptions.
 
Prior to his time at Illinois State, Williams spent two seasons as wide receivers coach at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., where he also served as the minority recruiting coordinator for all of the Greyhound athletic teams. In 2005, he helped Moravian claim its first ever Eastern College Athletic Conference championship.
 
Before joining the coaching ranks, Williams was a standout wide receiver for Maryland, lettering from 2000-03. He currently ranks No. 13 all-time at Maryland in career receptions and receiving yards. He finished his playing career with a pair of touchdown catches in Maryland’s 41-7 win over West Virginia in the 2004 Gator Bowl. In 2003, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Maryland, majoring in health and human performance.
 
After his collegiate career, he spent time with the Washington Redskins before beginning his two-year coaching stint at Moravian College.
 
“We interviewed a bunch of candidates for this position because I wanted to find the best of the best out there,” said Mathews. “Jafar is a perfect fit for what we want to do offensively. He was a spectacular wide receiver at Maryland and has coached spectacular receivers every where he has been, so I am very confident he has what it takes to help keep UAM one of the top-notch offenses in the country.”

Photo taken at the luncheon announcing the hiring of the two new coaches and the promotion of Derek Warehime to offensive coordinator. From left to right: Derek Warehime, Troy Stubbs, Jafar Williams, Gwaine Mathews, UAM Chancellor Dr. Jack Lassiter, Donald Dykes.