Arizona solved part of its puzzle on the defensive side of the ball Sunday as the Wildcats announced the hire of former San Jose State secondary coach Donté Williams to the staff as a defensive assistant. Williams is a noted recruiter and has help produce some of the Mountain West’s top classes in recent years.
He spent three seasons at San Jose State serving as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator over the last two. Prior to that he spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Washington where he worked with cornerbacks and linebackers. Williams was also an assistant linebackers coach at Nevada in 2010.
In addition to his time at the FBS level he was previously a coach at the junior college level as well. The Idaho State grad also spent time at Syracuse in his playing days.
“I am excited to bring Coach Williams on staff here at Arizona,” UA head coach Rich Rodriguez said in a statement. “He is a bright, young coach that is an outstanding evaluator of talent and someone who has shown he can develop players. He will bring an energy on and off the field that will have an immediate impact on our program.”
Arizona has continued to search for a new defensive coordinator and two more assistant coaches after it parted ways with its entire defensive staff this offseason. Jahmile Addae was promoted to an on-field position previously and now Williams joins him as the second addition to the defensive staff at UA. Both are noted recruiters.
At this point there has been no official word on which groups each coach will be in charge of, but Arizona is still on the search for a defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
