Travis Williams[1] (born January 20, 1983) is an American football coach and a former linebacker. He is the defensive coordinator for the University of Arkansas, a position he has held since 2023. He played college football for Auburn and professionally for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He also coached for Auburn, Northern Iowa, Creekside High School, and UCF.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive coordinator |
| Team | Arkansas |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 20, 1983 Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2001–2005 | Auburn |
| 2007 | Atlanta Falcons |
| Position(s) | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2009–2011 | Auburn (GA) |
| 2012 | Northern Iowa (LB) |
| 2013 | Creekside HS (GA) (DC) |
| 2014–2015 | Auburn (def. analyst) |
| 2016–2018 | Auburn (LB) |
| 2019–2020 | Auburn (co-DC/LB) |
| 2021–2022 | UCF (DC) |
| 2023–present | Arkansas (DC) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
Early life
editWilliams played at Spring Valley High School.
Coaching career
editFollowing his playing career, Williams returned to the Auburn Tigers as a graduate assistant under head coach Gene Chizik in 2009.[2] Chizik was Auburn's defensive coordinator during Williams' collegiate career. Following the 2011 season, Williams left Auburn to coach Northern Iowa as the Linebackers coach. Williams was defensive coordinator at Creekside High School for the 2013 season before returning to Auburn in 2014 as a defensive analyst. Williams was promoted to Auburn's linebacker coach following the 2015 season.[3]
On February 17, 2021, Williams reunited with Gus Malzahn to serve as the defensive coordinator at UCF.[4]
In December 2022, Williams was announced as the new defensive coordinator at Arkansas, replacing the departing Barry Odom.[5] In Williams first years at Arkansas, he helped defense end Landon Jackson have a break out year. In the summer of 2024, Williams went viral for his rapping skills. During Week 4 of that year, he would be given a game ball for his coaching performance in a win against Auburn.
Music career
editWilliams is also a musician and rapper. He has released many demos and songs including the unofficial pump-up song of the Auburn Football team, "Tiger Walk" [6]
External links
edit- ^ "AUBURNTIGERS.COM Travis Williams Bio :: Auburn University Official Athletic Site Auburn University Official Athletic Site :: Football". Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ For Travis Williams, Auburn where the heart is. AuburnUndercover.com. August 11, 2009
- ^ Auburn promotes Travis Williams to linebackers coach. Al.com January 7, 2016
- ^ "New UCF DC Travis Williams jumped at chance to join Knights - Orlando Sentinel". February 17, 2021.
- ^ "Former Auburn player and coach to be named Arkansas DC - Sports Illustrated". December 17, 2022.
- ^ Tiger Walk by T-WILL ft Knuck - Download Tiger Walk on iTunes. Itunes.apple.com (2009-11-20). Retrieved on 2011-08-22.