Willis moved on to play for Centre College, where he was the team's kicker and punter. He transferred to the University of Kentucky at the end of his first year. In 1986, he was redshirted. As a sophomore, he handled all of the team's kickoffs. The next season, he earned the placekicker starting job. As a senior, he registered a 77.3% average on field goal attempts, good for third in school history. He also set the school mark for points in a game and tied the school record for field goals in a game. He left as the school's most accurate kicker with a 70.8% average on field goals. He also made 29 field goals and had an 89% average on extra points. A Math major, he received Academic All-SEC honors three years in a row.
Willis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys after the 1990 NFL Draft. He earned the starting job over Luis Zendejas in preseason, becoming the first rookie to kick for the club since Efren Herrera in 1974. He set a franchise record for points by a rookie, surpassing the previous mark of 78 points held by Bob Hayes and Tony Dorsett. He finished seventh in the NFL with an 86% average on field goals. In 1991, he tied franchise records with 9 straight field goals, 27 field goals made and set one with four 50-yarders. He also finished as the NFC's second-leading kicker with 118 points and had a team record 39 attempts. He was left unprotected in Plan B free agency after accepting a $25,000 dollars advance on his salary and agreeing verbally with the Cowboys that he would not sign with any other team. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost Steve Christie in a similar situation, they targeted Willis as their replacement and convinced him to sign a two-year deal potentially worth more than $800,000 dollars, leaving the Cowboys scrambling for a kicker.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In 1992, after struggling and missing 3 critical attempts during a 7 games span, he was replaced with Eddie Murray and released on November 10.
On November 21, 1992, he signed with the New York Giants to replace an injured Matt Bahr. He played in 6 games and didn't miss a field goal or an extra point. The next year, he suffered a career-ending stress fracture in his left leg during training camp and was waived injured on July 27, 1993.
