'Negative atmosphere' drove ULM golf coach out

Walt Williams came to ULM with the best of intentions. In the back of his mind, he thought it might even be his last job.

That proved to be far from the case when Williams resigned as ULM men’s golf coach back in early July to become the men’s and women’s golf coach at LeTourneau University, a Division III school in Longview, Texas.

Williams said as time went on he became more and more disenchanted by what he called the overall “negative atmosphere” at ULM that led to his departure.

“I went there to retire basically,” Williams said. “I loved my team and I loved working for (ULM athletic director) Brian (Wickstrom). He’s trying to up the profile of ULM but I just don’t think the university cares about athletics. Obviously, I don’t know the priorities of everyone in the administration, but athletics seemed like just a necessary evil to them.

“Most of the places I’ve worked at everyone has been a team but I’ve never worked in a place so negative. I’ve been coaching for 25 years and I’m not going to stay in a job I don’t enjoy.”

ULM president Nick Bruno said he had no discussions with Williams, but the university was in the process of redoing his contract. Bruno and Wickstrom had agreed to wait until October to submit the contract to the UL System Board to work out details in the new agreement with the ULM Athletic Foundation.

“A couple weeks later I heard he had taken another job, and that’s the extension of my contact — none with Walt as it relates to him changing positions,” Bruno said. “I did know that Walt from what I was told did not enjoy fundraising, but as far as any other details from his decision to leave I don’t have any. Brian came to me and told me he was leaving and that was the end of it.”

Williams came to ULM well aware that the athletic department’s financial situation made his new job more challenging than some of his previous coaching stops, but he said constant micromanagement from university personnel outside of athletics made getting things done impossible.

“I knew it was going to be a struggle but I didn’t realize it was going to be as much of a struggle as it was when you have to pack up and move to a hotel room down the road because someone is fretting over $5. Who does that?” Williams said.

“It was the worst micromanagement I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s not supposed to be this way but I’m used to having a budget and operating within it but (at ULM) instead you have oversight into everything you do by someone who doesn’t understand what’s going on in athletics.”

Williams was hired by ULM in August 2013 after spending two years at Western Texas College. A native Texan, Williams also spent six years as the men’s and women’s golf coach at Sam Houston State.

Between stints at Sam Houston and Western Texas, Williams was the head coach at Washington State for 13 years, where he was Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2002.

“I’m not trying to place blame on anyone, and I’ve never burned a bridge but I decided the best way to fix this was I needed to go,” Williams said. “I felt like if you aren’t going to give me the freedom to do that job then why did you hire me?

“I don’t need that, and I don’t want it either.”

Follow Adam on Twitter @adam_hunsucker