His 1991 Washington team won a share of the national championship after completing a 12–0 season with a decisive win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

[4] James was a graduate assistant for the Jayhawks at the University of Kansas under his former high school coach, Chuck Mather, and received a master's degree in education.

[6] In December 1974, James was hired by University of Washington (UW) athletic director Joseph Kearney to succeed Jim Owens as head coach of the Huskies.

Among them, starting quarterback Billy Joe Hobert had received a series of loans totaling $50,000 made by a friend's father-in-law.

[13][14] These led to charges that Washington exhibited "lack of institutional control" over its handling of recruiting funds for on-campus visits and a Los Angeles booster summer jobs program.

Though notably James and the coaching staff were not specifically cited as having broken any rules, James resigned from his head coaching position on August 22, 1993, in protest of what were considered unfair sanctions against his team for minor, unsubstantiated, or fabricated infractions.

[3] On October 10, 2004, James raised the Seattle Seahawks 12 flag before a game at Quest Field vs. the St. Louis Rams.

[26] In October 2017, the University of Washington unveiled a bronze statue of James in the northwest plaza of Husky Stadium in Seattle.