James Douglas III came to Howard Payne from D-I Lamar University in the spring of 2025 after serving as a Cardinals’ wide receivers coach for two seasons (2023-2024).

At Lamar, Coach Douglas helped build the Lamar offense into one of the best in the conference while developing two 500+ receivers in one season.

He was also heavily involved in all aspects of the program, including working as a summer camp coordinator and recruiting assistant.

Before Lamar, Coach Douglas spent three seasons at Briar Cliff University as a receivers’ coach producing two of the top ten receivers in school history.

As a player, Douglas was recognized multiple times as an All-Conference receiver and return man. He was the NACC Offensive Player of the Year and a D-III All-Region honoree at Eureka College in 2019 and 2020. In 2024, he was a member of the 2018 football team that was inducted into the Eureka College Hall of Fame.

James holds master's degrees from Lamar University (2024) and Briar Cliff University (2022), and bachelor's degrees from Eureka College (2020) and Cornell College (2018).