Jackie Williamson, Vicksburg High’s offensive coordinator, gives instructions to, from left, Walter Warfield, Jonathan Wilson and Maurice Taylor during the Gators’ game at Madison Central on Oct. 12.(The Vicksburg Post/C.TODD SHERMAN)

[10/18/01]Vicksburg High coach Alonzo Stevens sits in the fieldhouse, watching a tape of the Gators’ next opponent when he notices something the other team does on defense.

“Where’s Little Spurrier?” he asks.

Seconds later, Jackie Williamson makes his way into the office and watches the film again.

Williamson, 29, doesn’t wear a visor and he doesn’t whine and make facial contortions like University of Florida coach Steve Spurrier. But he does lead a Gators’ offense that has been putting up astronomical numbers.

“I know he doesn’t want to run the score up on anyone,” Stevens said when asked how his assistant earned his nickname. “He has that Spurrier mentality. He’s going to attack, attack, attack in so many different ways.”

Before a rain-soaked shutout at No. 3 Madison Central, Williamson’s innovative offense was averaging 35 points and more than 400 yards of offense per game.

“I don’t like some things about Spurrier, the whining and such,” Williamson said. “But I think he’s a great quarterbacks coach and I respect him for that.

“One thing about him that I respect is that he demands perfection like me. I demand everything to be done right.”

With an insatiable appetite for football, Williamson spends hours dissecting film, looking for anything that will give his Gators an advantage.

He spends Sundays in the fieldhouse, sometimes for eight, nine, 10 hours or more. His game plans are a two-sided sheet of formations that look more like mathematical equations than football formations.

He puts that offense in the hands of a junior quarterback nicknamed “Cadillac.” So far, the results have been like a smooth luxury ride.

“When he first introduced the offense, we were like, What? Nobody runs an offense like this,'” said Justin Henry, the county’s top passer. “After running a few plays, though, it’s like, oh yeah.’ ”

Using motion, four receivers, five receivers and sometimes two tight ends, the Gators’ offense causes fits for opposing defensive coordinators. With a mammoth offensive line and a relay team at wide receiver, it’s little wonder the Gators are putting up such impressive numbers.

While Spurrier has the Fun-n-Gun offense, Williamson refuses to name his. He likes for the production to speak for itself. He’s adopted the new style of football seen around Mississippi with much more emphasis on the passing game.

“The talent has gotten bigger and stronger and that forces you to be more multi-dimensional,” Williamson said. “Colleges like the passing attacks and that has made high schools go to it more. If your goal in the business is to win a state championship, you can’t be one dimensional.”

An uncharacteristic night two weeks ago where heavy rain caused sloppy field conditions and even sloppier execution in a 10-0 loss in a key region game, left Williamson stewing. Not at the loss as much as the number of dropped passes and turnovers.

“They’re explosive,” Clinton coach David Bradberry said.

“They had chances to beat Madison Central, but they weren’t quite able to do it.

“They have so much team speed. They get a 5- or 6-yard pass and turn it into a 50-yard gain. You can’t key on just one guy.”

Williamson occasionally takes his work home.

“I have a very understanding wife,” Williamson said. “We always say that during this time of the year, we are divorced. Then, after the season, we are back on our honeymoon.”

Williamson’s wife, Lee Ann, learned early to be a dedicated fan and a good listener.

“You learn to be a sounding board, to keep your mouth shut,” Lee Ann Williamson said. “On the morning after a bad game, he won’t speak for about an hour. But then he’ll start talking and rambling and I’ll hear about it for an hour or so.”

Lee Ann Williamson, a Vicksburg High teacher, goes to all the games and she was a trainer for the team.

“I learned to be patient and know that he’ll be home in November,” Lee Ann Williamson said with a chuckle. “Maybe December, if we’re lucky.”

The Gators haven’t made it to the second round of the playoffs since Jackie Williamson got to Vicksburg in 1997. But, at 5-2 and 2-1 in Region 2-5A, the Gators are poised to make a run.

That was one of the reasons Stevens had little doubt about whom to promote to offensive coordinator after taking over as head coach this season.

The two developed a professional and off-the-field relationship, acting as non-titled co-offensive coordinators before Stevens’ promotion.

“We’ve always been able to work so well together,” Stevens said. “We stay in sync.”

A native of Benoit, Williamson played quarterback at Bayou Academy until his senior year. At 5-foot-6, though, Williamson moved to wingback where, “I could help out more.”

During his playing days, Williamson was a coach on the field and a career in the field was the natural path to follow.

In 1994, Williamson was hired to resurrect an anemic Natchez High offense. The team won six games in the four years prior to his arrival. Two years after he got there, the Bulldogs had nine wins.

Two years at Vicksburg working with the quarterbacks and seeing mixed results had Williamson looking for other opportunities. When Stevens was hired as head coach, Williamson had a change of heart.

That turned out to be Stevens’ gain.

All the while, though, Stevens knows that the more exposure the Gators get and the more numbers the offense puts up, the more interest Williamson will generate.

“Coach (Houston) Markham told me that if you have coaches on your staff that aren’t ever going to be head coaches, it’s time to recheck your staff,” Stevens said. “He’s going to be a tremendous coach somewhere hopefully down the line a while.”