What to expect from Cadillac Williams as an Auburn recruiter
AUBURN — Gus Malzahn's running backs coach move from veteran presence to young up-and-comer will be graded on the recruiting trail.
Tim Horton served as Auburn's running backs coach since 2013. On Wednesday, program legend Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was named his replacement. The initial reaction from running back targets about whether Williams was seen as a good hire: duh, it's Cadillac Williams.
Williams spent his most recent coaching stop at IMG Academy, where he got to work with two elite 2019 running backs Noah Cain and Trey Sanders. Both of those running backs praised Williams during their recruitment, though at the time, Cain — who was heavily courted by the Tigers — said Williams didn't do much to push him one way or the other.
Still, Williams' voice is one top-tier running back recruits want to hear.
"I listen to everything he says. Why wouldn't you when he's done the things he has?" Cain said after an Auburn visit in the spring. "He's a top-5 pick. He's been successful in college, in the pros and as a coach. Coach 'Lac has all that useful knowledge to help get where I want to go because he's done a lot of the things I want to do."
Those experiences and Williams' name recognition will help the relative coaching newcomer adapt to heated SEC recruiting battles.
If there's a knock on the hire, it's his inexperience. He got his first coaching job in 2016 as a West Georgia offensive grad assistant. He took the IMG Academy running backs job after that. Williams was named the Birmingham Iron running backs coach in the Alliance for American Football league before jumping on the Auburn running backs coach opening.
This recruiting inexperience shouldn't be cause for concern, says former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville pointed to IMG Academy's reputation as one of the most fertile recruiting programs in the country as the primary reason why. For a couple years now, Williams has seen the top programs in the nation come by his school to recruit his players
As Tuberville says, this will speed up Williams' development process as a recruiter.
"You learn a lot in a very short period of time at IMG Academy. You see people come in there and what they say and what they do," Tuberville said. "He’ll do fine because Carnell has a personality that will sell itself. These kids like to take to guys like, ‘Hey, I played at Auburn. I played running back. I went to the NFL. I was the No. 5 pick in the draft. I can tech you how to play running back in college to take you to the next level.’ Those are all kinds of personal selling points that he’ll have. Who will know better about Auburn University than Carnell Williams? It’ll be a little bit of a learning curve, but he’ll do just fine. He’s young. He knows Auburn like the back of his hand. I think it’ll work out really good."
Tuberville isn't his only Auburn-related supporter.
Williams' partner-in-crime during his playing days doesn't expect the learning curve to be too tough either. Ronnie Brown, who is also back at Auburn as part of the Auburn Sports Network's broadcast team, pointed to many of the same characteristics as Tuberville.
Williams has the name recognition. And more importantly than anything, like Cain said earlier in the spring, Williams has experienced all of the things prospective running backs want to accomplish through their college journeys.
"The thing about it for him is he has instant credibility going into homes, especially in the southeast and Alabama, him being former Mr. Alabama football, him playing running back, not only at Auburn, but also at an elite high level in the NFL," Brown said. "For him to go in and talk to a guy’s parents and talk to the kid about what it takes to be successful, I think their eyes and ears are going to be open wide, especially for a guy that’s been in the trenches and can teach from the perspective of a player. I think that gives him an advantage because he’s been in that moment and he understands why guys make certain decisions in the heat of the moment."