Waxahachie ISD is expected to officially name defensive coordinator Lawrence Williams as the next head football coach at Waxahachie High School pending board approval at Monday's school board meeting.

Williams’ hire wraps up a brief search after the departure of head coach Shane Tolleson, who left to become the head coach at Denton Ryan.

Williams has served as Waxahachie’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons and has helped mold the Indians into one of the top defensive units in the state. Prior to coming to Waxahachie, Williams gained head coaching experience with five seasons as the athletic director/football coach at Blooming Grove where he posted a 22-29 overall record. He twice led the Lions to the playoffs with a high-mark being a 7-4 record in 2015.

The new Waxahachie head coach is a native of Pecos in Far West Texas. His early coaching career was spent in West Texas with stops as an assistant coach at Fort Stockton, Pecos and Kermit. He departed Blooming Grove after the 2018 season and landed as an assistan at DeSoto before comign to Waxhachie in 2022 where he was promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2024 season. 

Williams steps into a Waxahachie job that has high expectations heading into 2026 after a run to the regional finals in 6A-Division I a year ago. Waxahachie brings back a wealth of talent and will be on the short-list of state championship contenders in 2026, but the window for title contention could be limited as Waxahachie ISD will be opening up a second high-school (Waxahachie Creek High School) in August 2027.