James became the Head Coach at Kent State in 1971. He remained there through the 1974 season. He left to accept the Head Coaching job at Washington. James led the Huskies for 18 years. Washington and the Miami Hurricanes ironically shared the 1991 National Championship.
The irony of the shared National Championship is that the Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Dennis Erickson grew up in Washington. He went to high school 25 miles north of Seattle.
James was a star quarterback at Miami in 1952 and ’53. He set numerous passing records in 1952. Those included the Miami Hurricanes records for attempts, completions, passing yards and completion percentage.