While USC football did need a new and better position coach in the secondary, the sendoff for Donte Williams from Trojan fans on Saturday was poignant, moving, and most of all, appropriate.
Donte Williams did give a lot to USC. He was there for the school in the bad times, when the Clay Helton era ended and the program was in the middle of a miserable and irrelevant period in its history. Donte Williams improved USC’s recruiting. He built relationships with a lot of players. He enhanced the program’s image in the West and on a national level.
Williams took on the difficult, unwelcome responsibility of being the interim coach after Helton was fired in September of 2021. It was a thankless task. Someone had to do it. No one who took on that role was likely to be successful. Williams was willing to be the guy who took the heat in press conferences and interviews. He carried USC through that painful 2021 season until Lincoln Riley came in November of that year. Riley was so impressed with Williams that he retained him on his staff instead of cutting him loose.
No, Donte Williams is not an elite coach of technique, but he did give a lot to USC, and that’s what fans remembered first and foremost when the news of his departure hit the headlines.
Here’s a sample of the reaction from USC fans: