Aric Williams Hired as Head Football Coach at Willamette University
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Aric Williams has been hired as the head football coach at Willamette University and will begin his duties immediately. Williams, who played cornerback at Oregon State University and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, has been an assistant coach at several NCAA Division I universities, and was most recently the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the past two seasons at Montana Tech.
"We are excited to have Aric joining our Bearcat family and leading our football program", said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Rob Passage. "He has experience as a player and coach at programs throughout the West and has a history of helping programs improve. His energy and vision for the program really resonated with everyone during the entire interview process".
Williams began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for quality control at Arizona State University in 2009. He was an assistant coach at the University of Montana from 2010-14, where he coached cornerbacks, kickoff returners, punt returners, and the punt team during his time with the Grizzlies, in addition to serving as the team's academic coordinator. From 2015-17,Williams worked as an assistant coach at the University of Idaho, focusing on defensive backs, kickoff returners, and punt returners. He was the cornerbacks coach at San Jose State University from 2018-21, before becoming the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Montana Tech in 2022.
"I saw the opportunity to be part of a prestigious and high academic university, and being able to lead young men that understand the importance of doing well in the classroom, but also have a passion to play a sport that demands a lot of you," Williams said about his interest in coaching at Willamette. "Another thing that interested me was the location! I am a huge fan of the beautiful state of Oregon and the location of Salem. What a great place, with its proximity to Portland as well as the coast. It's definitely a place where I can recruit quality student athletes to come and compete."
He is starting his first head coaching job as he joins the Bearcats this offseason.
"I am thrilled for this opportunity," Williams commented. "I'm especially thrilled that I get this opportunity at such an amazing university. I have been preparing for this for 15 years. I am chomping at the bit to get started!
His extensive and varied coaching experiences have allowed Williams to develop a wide range of coaching skills. At Montana Tech, he was able to focus on the overall defense as the defensive coordinator while focusing on the linebackers as their position coach.
"The strengths I plan to utilize at Willamette are structure, accountability, discipline, and a winning-competitive nature," Williams stated. "This is who I am at my core, and I will coach and teach this team how to strengthen these qualities within themselves."
As he begins his first head coaching job, Williams has developed a plan for the type of players he wants to recruit to Willamette.
After achieving success as a college football player and competing as a professional athlete, Williams has many of his own playing experiences to call upon as a coach. He's played for great coaches and he has been an assistant coach under highly-regarded coaches.
"As a player early in my college career, I caught the coaching bug." Williams recalled. "One of the older players taught me how to see and understand the game on a different level, as well as the legendary coaches I was able to play under, Dennis Erickson and Mike Riley. They were both great coaches but very diverse in their leadership approaches. This taught me at a young age that there are multiple ways to achieve success."
His years at NFL camps, competing in NFL Europe, and playing in the Arena Football League added to his knowledge of the game, how to play, and how to coach.
"I am fortunate to have worked under some amazing and successful head coaches," Williams added. "I have taken many things away from each experience -- things I want to implement into my head coaching style and things I don't. I have seen what is effective in winning and turning programs around, and I plan on implementing those elements into this program. I've had the opportunity to be part of taking teams with losing records and turning them into conference champions. I plan to do that again at Willamette."
Being hired as the head football coach is an important moment for Williams, and it's also a key time for his family.
"I can not express enough how excited my family and I are to be part of the Willamette University family as well as the Salem community," Williams said. "I am excited for what the future has in store for us."
Williams competed at Oregon State from 2000 through 2004. He was named Second Team All-Pac-10 as a cornerback in 2004, and was chosen Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 in 2003. He also was a kick returner for the Beavers. At the end of the 2004 season, he intercepted a pass in the Insight Bowl to help Oregon State defeat Notre Dame 38-21. He also played in the East-West Shrine Game. Williams graduated from Oregon State in 2005 with a Bachelor in Fine Arts and an emphasis in Graphic Design.
He was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League, and participated in the Eagles' camp in 2005 and at the Washington Redskins' camp in 2006. He played for the Cologne Centurions in NFL Europe in 2006. He played in the Arena Football League with the Philadelphia Soul in 2007 and with the Arizona Rattlers in 2008.