Nebraska Football: What a Donte Williams Hire Means for the Huskers
Plenty of smoke has been billowing that points to Nebraska football head coach Mike Riley bringing on former Arizona Wildcat defensive backs coach Donte Williams to fill the spot left by Bruce Read. There would be some fairly large shockwaves sent out across college football recruiting if Williams is the next Cornhusker coach.
Let’s take a moment to remember back to what happened after year one of the Riley Era. Then-defensive line coach Hank Hughes hadn’t been pulling his weight as a coach or recruiter and was promptly relieved of his duties. Year two isn’t even over and Read, a long-time friend of Riley’s, hadn’t been earning his paycheck or doing much on the recruiting trail?
He’s gone.
Former Nebraska football player John Parrella filled the spot left by Hughes and got every ounce of effort he could out of his defensive line. Worries abounded during the preseason about the front four being an open door for running backs. Instead, Nebraska ranks No. 36 in national rush defense now that the regular season has concluded.
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If Williams is hired, the question becomes where his presence will be when coaching. Brian Stewart already coaches cornerbacks and defensive coordinator Mark Banker took control of the safeties this year.
It’s possible that Banker could go back to strictly coordinator duties while Stewart and Williams work with the secondary. This would allow Tavita Thompson to come on as Nebraska football’s tenth coach once the position is approved by the NCAA in April.
In the meantime, Arizona fans aren’t very happy about losing Williams.
Why?
He’s a young, energetic recruiter that has quite a few in-roads across Pac-12 territory and wouldn’t you know it? Nebraska happens to be working a number of recruits in that area.
Some of the players that Williams has developed relationships with surely known by Nebraska recruitniks include running back Nathan Tilford, cornerback/wide receiver Darnay Holmes, cornerback Elijah Blades, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and athlete Greg Johnson. Tilford and Johnson are both currently Arizona commitments.
If you haven’t noticed by now, this Riley cat isn’t messing around about bringing Nebraska back to prominence. A Williams hire would only continue to add evidence to that.
Next: Recruiting Roundup First Frost Edition
Updated 12/2/16 2:37 p.m. CST: Per Huskers Illustrated, Williams’ duties would be “defensive passing game coordinator, where he would continue to work with the secondary and be heavily involved as a national recruiter.”
Updated 12/3/16 2:20 p.m. CST: Williams has been officially hired according to 247Sports.