The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Clark Adds Two More To UAB's Offensive Staff
2/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 18, 2014
 Mike Bennefield |  Cornelius Williams |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- UAB head football coach Bill Clark has announced two more additions to his offensive staff. Cornelius Williams will coach UAB's wide receivers, while Mike Bennefield will take over offensive line duties.
Williams and Bennefield join offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent and assistant head coach/running backs coach Jody Wright, who were each announced last week, on the Blazers' offensive staff.
Williams comes to UAB after spending one season as wide receivers coach at Jacksonville State under Clark. While with the Gamecocks, he helped lead the second-ranked offensive unit in the Ohio Valley Conference, which averaged 442 yards of total offense and 202 passing yards per game during the 2013 season.
Under his guidance, wide receiver Josh Barge earned Phil Steele All-America honors. Barge ranked sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference in receiving yards per game (59.0 ypg) and receptions per game (3.9).
Following a brief stint at North Alabama in 2012, Williams spent the 2011 season at Murray State, working as wide receivers coach for the Racers. His receivers were part of an offense that led the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense at 37.1 points per game, total offense with 460.9 total yards per game, and passing offense at 308.6 yards per game through the air.
Williams was an offensive graduate assistant coach at South Alabama in 2010, while Clark ran the USA defense as the Jaguars' defensive coordinator. In his only season with the Jaguars, he was a part of a USA offense that averaged 439 yards and 41.3 points per game.
A standout prep star at nearby Hoover High School, Williams was a four-year letterman at Troy, where he helped lead the Trojans to four-straight Sun Belt championships and three bowl game appearances as a wide receiver. He finished his Trojan career with 63 receptions for 764 yards and seven touchdowns.
"Cornelius was a great player at Hoover High School and in college at Troy," Clark said. "He is not too far removed from playing the game and he brings a lot of expertise with him to our program. He was a graduate assistant for us at South Alabama, so I have gotten to watch him evolve into a great coach. I am very pleased and fortunate to have him on our staff."
Bennefield brings more than 20 years of coaching experience at the high school level to UAB and previously served on Clark's staff at Prattville High School. Most recently, Bennefield served as the offensive line coach at Jacksonville State under Clark for one season.
In the 2012 season with the Gamecocks, Bennefield's offensive line powered the Ohio Valley Conference's top rushing attack, leading the conference with 240.3 rushing yards per game.
Prior to Jacksonville State, Bennefield served as the head football coach and athletic director at Slocomb (Ala.) High School for two seasons. In his first season in 2011, he led his team to an 8-2 finish and the school's first appearance in the state playoffs since 2008. For his efforts in 2011, he was named the Wiregrass Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Bennefield spent the 1994-99 seasons as the defensive coordinator at Oneonta High School and helped lead the team to two consecutive Blount County and Class 3A, Area 11 Championships in 1996 and 1997. Previous to his stint at Oneonta, he started his coaching career at Tuscaloosa County High School, where he coached defensive ends and served as the special teams coordinator from 1992-1994.
Bennefield served in the United States Military for eight years, where he earned veteran status during Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and completed eight years of active reserve in April 1994. In 1991, he was honored with the Army Commendation Medal for job performance.
"Mike and I go all the way back to when we were at Tuscaloosa County High School in 1992," Clark said. "He coached with me a little while in the high school ranks and then went on to be a successful high school coach in this state. He helped us break a ton of school, conference and national records last season at Jacksonville State, and I am excited to bring him here to UAB."
For more information on the UAB football team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Football), on Facebook (UAB Blazers Football) and on the web (www.UABSports.com).
