Richie Williams turned a professional career that rose alongside MLS into coaching at club and national team level. A college player at the dominant University of Virginia, Williams won collegiate championships in 1989 and 1991. He began his pro career in the pre-MLS era playing indoors and for the Richmond Kickers.

With the arrival of MLS in 1996, Williams reunited with his college coach Bruce Arena at DC United. Williams spent five seasons in DC, winning three MLS Cups. He joined conference rivals the MetroStars in 2001, switching back to DC in 02 and finishing his MLS career with the MetroStars in 2003. Williams played an additional two seasons with the Richmond Kickers.

At international level, Williams appeared for the U-20 and U-23 squads making his debut for the senior side in 1998. He was a member of the 2002 Gold Cup winning squad.

Williams retired from playing following the 2005 season with Richmond, going into coaching as an assistant at the University of Virginia. He spent several seasons as an assistant with the MetroStars serving as interim coach twice. He moved to the youth national team setup in 2011 serving as U-18s and U-17s coach. Williams joined Real Salt Lake as an assistant in 2015. In 2017, he also began serving as an assistant with the USMNT. Williams took over as coach of USL club Loudoun FC in 2018, leaving to join the New England Revolution coaching staff. Williams is currently the coach of New England Revolution II.