Arizona Wildcats assistant coach and ace recruiter Donté Williams on Friday was weighing a higher-paying offer from Nebraska and leaning toward accepting it, according to multiple reports and Star sources.
If Williams, the UA cornerbacks coach, decides to leave, he would be a one-and-done at Arizona. Williams joined Rich Rodriguez’s staff in January from San Jose State, where he built a reputation as one of the top young recruiters in the nation.
Williams’ departure could have a significant ripple effect if he is able to persuade some of Arizona’s commitments to join him at Nebraska.
Rodriguez replaced the entire defensive staff last offseason in part to boost recruiting. He also has been using the incoming recruits as a selling point after a 3-9 season.
HuskerOnline.com, a Rivals.com recruiting website, first reported Williams’ possible hiring at Nebraska. Multiple sources within the Arizona program were unaware of Williams’ intentions as of Friday afternoon. Separate sources outside the program indicated that Williams was more likely to leave than stay. Messages left with Williams were not returned.
Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley on Sunday fired special-teams coach Bruce Read, creating a staff opening. Read made $450,000. Williams made $215,000 in his first year at Arizona. The lowest-paid full-time Nebraska assistant makes $250,000. HuskerIllustrated.com reported that the Nebraska offer includes a “significant pay increase.”
Aside from coordinators Marcel Yates and Calvin Magee, all UA assistant coaches have one-year contracts.
Williams quickly has become a favorite among UA players for his energetic approach and hands-on style. The youngest coach on Arizona’s staff, Williams turned 34 in September.
Despite inconsistent play on the field, Arizona’s cornerbacks regularly raved about Williams. “No matter what happens this will be my guy till the grave!” veteran cornerback Dane Cruikshank tweeted.
The Wildcats have been firing on all cylinders this recruiting cycle, getting 26 verbal commitments for 2017 before this season even ended. What would Williams’ departure mean?
Well, Arizona hired Williams in part because of his well-known recruiting prowess, particularly in Southern California. It was a hiring that paid immediate dividends when Williams was the leader in securing four-star athlete Greg Johnson in March, surprising many.
Since, the Wildcats have 12 commitments for 2017 from Southern Californians, and Williams was one of the lead recruiters for at least eight of them, including Johnson and four-star running back Nathan Tilford. Williams also helped the Wildcats bring in a few of the higher-rated recruits in Arizona’s 2016 class, even on short notice. Those included safety Chacho Ulloa and cornerback Lorenzo Burns.
Going forward, this is a move that could put a dent in Arizona’s recruiting efforts. For one, Johnson immediately becomes a candidate to flip to Nebraska, whom he visited earlier this season.
Other recruits to keep an eye on: Tilford, safety Scott Young, safety Xavier Bell, receiver Warren Jackson and safety Rhedi Short. Jackson has been receiving heavy interest from Washington State, and Short visited Illinois late in the season.
Arizona’s season ended Nov. 25. Williams and the other UA coaches were on the road recruiting the next morning, last Saturday. On Wednesday, Williams and Yates visited linebacker commit Joshua Brown in Long Beach, California.
Even more than current commitments, Williams’ reported departure for Lincoln, Nebraska, might impact the Wildcats most with some of the players they are targeting. Arizona already was competing with Nebraska for five-star receiver Joseph Lewis. Lewis was teammates with Johnson at Augustus Hawkins in Los Angeles, and it’s long been believed they’d like to play together. Lewis has visited Nebraska’s campus multiple times.
Williams also was the lead recruiter in Arizona’s pursuit of four-star cornerback Thomas Graham of Rancho Cucamonga, whom Arizona had been considered the favorite for a while; and four-star corner Ambry Thomas, from Detroit, who in August tweeted that Williams is “one of the best corner coaches in the country if not the BEST.”
Williams also had been making headway on a number of highly ranked players in the 2018 recruiting class.
Asked before the season finale against Arizona State why no one had de-committed from Arizona amid a nine-loss season, Williams told the Star the following:
“It’s hard to break up a family. The class that’s coming in, it wasn’t like a couple guys just committed yesterday; they’ve been committed for a while. Those guys grew together. Then on top of that, they know a lot of guys on our team. … We’ve been recruiting them for months on months on months. So the relationship is built there. Once the relationship is built, it’s a family. They look at themselves as already being here, even though they’re not yet.”
If Williams does leave, Yates could coach the cornerbacks. He played defensive back and coached DBs before coming to Arizona, where he coaches linebackers. In that scenario, the UA would add a linebackers coach. The NCAA also is considering adding a 10th full-time assistant coach for FBS programs.
