Donte Antonio Williams (born September 1, 1982) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). 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. He was previously the head coach of USC from 2015 to 2021. Helton has also been an assistan ...

, 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. He previously served as the head coach ...

. A coach with stints at

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, Williams has established himself as one of the nation's top college football recruiters. Williams played college football at Pasadena City College, Syracuse, 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 ru ...

Coaching career

Early career

Williams began his coaching career in 2007 at

Los Angeles Harbor College Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) is a public community college in Wilmington, California. It is one of two community colleges serving the South Bay region of Los Angeles. LAHC serves mainly students from Harbor City, Carson, San Pedro, Ga ...

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 two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as 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 land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

Washington

In 2011, Williams joined as a graduate assistant at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

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 in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

. 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 land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

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 land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

Oregon

In 2018, Williams joined the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

as their cornerbacks coach under head coach

Mario Cristobal Mario Manuel Cristobal (born September 24, 1970) is head football coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team at the University of Miami. Cristobal previously was the head football coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 2007 to 20 ...

USC

In 2020, Williams was hired as the defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach at the

(USC) under head coach

. 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 Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the 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.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

*
USC Trojans profile

Syracuse Orange profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Donte 1982 births Living people Sports coaches from Los Angeles Players of American football from Los Angeles Coaches of American football from California American football defensive backs Pasadena City Lancers football players Syracuse Orange football players Idaho State Bengals football players Rio Grande Valley Dorados players Arkansas Twisters players El Camino Warriors football coaches Mt. SAC Mounties football coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Arizona Wildcats football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches USC Trojans football coaches