Williams Named Football Coach at Palmdale High

Palmdale High on Wednesday made an in-house hire to fill its football head-coaching vacancy, naming assistant Jeff Williams to succeed Kent Bothwell.

Williams, 31, has served as an assistant at the school since 1988. He becomes the third Palmdale coach in five years and the fourth in the past eight.

The 1977 Palmdale graduate played at Antelope Valley College in 1982-83 and was a defensive back at Purdue from 1984-85. He served in the Air Force from 1977-81.

The selection concludes a nearly three-month search to replace Bothwell, who stepped down to coach the baseball team.

Palmdale was 4-7 (2-3 in Golden League play) and lost in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs last season.