Donte Antonio Williams (born September 1, 1982) is an
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
coach who is the defensive backs coach at the
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
. He previously served as USC's associate head coach under
Clay Helton
Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern Eagles football, Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC Trojans football, US ...
, and he became USC's interim head coach on September 13, 2021, after Helton was fired. After leading the Trojans for the final 10 games of the 2021 season, Williams remained at the school on the staff of new head coach
Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. Riley previously served as the head coach ...
. A coach with stints at
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, and
San Jose State
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
, Williams has established himself as one of the nation's top college football recruiters.
Williams played
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
at
Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College.
History
Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. It originally o ...
,
Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
, and Idaho State before playing professionally in the
AF2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...
.
Coaching career
Early career
Williams began his coaching career in 2007 at
Los Angeles Harbor College
Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) is a Public college, public community college in Wilmington, California. It is one of two community colleges serving the South Bay, Los Angeles, South Bay region of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. LAHC s ...
as their cornerbacks coach. He then went to serve in the same position at
El Camino College
El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park,Mt. San Antonio College as their cornerbacks coach.
Nevada
In 2010, Williams was hired as a defensive quality control coach at the
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...
.
Washington
In 2011, Williams joined as a graduate assistant at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
.
San Jose State
In 2013, Williams was hired to be the cornerbacks coach at
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
. In 2014, he was promoted to defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
Arizona
In 2016, Williams joined the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
as their cornerbacks coach.
Nebraska
In 2017, Williams was hired to be the cornerbacks coach at the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...
.
Oregon
In 2018, Williams joined the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
as their cornerbacks coach under head coach
Mario Cristobal
Mario Manuel Cristobal (born September 24, 1970) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach for the University of Miami. He previously served as the head football coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 200 ...
.
USC
In 2020, Williams was hired as the defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
(USC) under head coach
Clay Helton
Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern Eagles football, Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC Trojans football, US ...
. In 2021, he was promoted to assistant head coach.
On September 13, 2021, Williams was named USC's interim head coach following Helton's dismissal. Williams became the first Black head coach in USC's football history. On September 18, 2021, Williams made his head coaching debut and led the Trojans to a 45–14 victory over
Washington State
Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
. The Trojans went 3-7 under Williams during the program's worst season in 30 years.
Williams was retained on USC's staff by Riley in January 2022 as the Trojans' defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator.
Georgia
In December 2023, Williams left USC to become the defensive backs coach at the University of Georgia.