Steven King enters his second season as running backs coach in 2013.
In 2012, the Seahawk running game, keyed by junior Dominique Williams’ 1,228-yard season, helped key the first Northeast (NEC) Football Championship in school history, a 9-4 affair that included a first round victory over Colgate in the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
Following the season, Wagner became the first NEC school to finish ranked in both Major Top 25-Polls, as the Seahawks were 21st in the FCS Sports Network Poll and 22nd in the Coaches FCS Poll.
With King tutoring Williams, the elusive and durable South Jersey product delivered consistently-high performances, reaching the 100-yard mark eight times during Wagner’s 13-game season. His top rushing game was a 177-yard day vs. Holy Cross (11/10), which helped spark a 31-30 Wagner comeback win.
For the year, the 5-9,200-pound Williams totaled 1,228 yards on the ground, placing him seventh on the school’s all-time single-season list, just 10 yards behind the sixth-highest mark of 1,338, which is also held by Williams, a figure he tallied in the 2011 season.
The 105.6 yards per game rushing average posted Williams ranked third in the NEC through the end of the regular season while his 133.3 all-purpose yards per game also ranked third in the conference. Nationally, Williams’ 102.54-yard average (NCAA computes stats based on entire season) ranked 25th.
A native of Hempstead, NY, King currently handles recruiting throughout Long Island.
King arrived at Wagner after spending the 2011 season as wide receiver coach at Nassau Community College on Long Island. At Nassau CC, which competes in the Region XV Conference of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA),King tutored wide receiver Mark Thomas who went on to earn All-Conference honors after leading the conference in receptions and receiving yards.
Prior to his time at Nassau, King served as the running backs and defensive backs coach at East Meadow (NY) High School from 2007-2011.During his five-year stint there, he coached and develop two players who won the Thorpe Award, presented annually by Newsday to Long Island’s Most Outstanding Player. He also coached six All-County selections, four All-Conference choices and two All-Long Island athletes.
Before joining the coaching ranks, King played for four years at the University At Buffalo where he was a student from 2002-2007.
After earning the Bulls’ Most improved Player Award as a sophomore, King led the team in rushing yards his junior season, and in rushing touchdowns in both his junior and senior seasons. As a senior in 2006, King was named a team captain.
King is currently pursuing his Masters in Business Administration at Wagner.
