Tag: D.J. Williams

Saints assistant Jordan Traylor has a new assignment in 2024

New Orleans Saints assistant coach Jordan Traylor has a new assignment in 2024: working with the quarterbacks

The New Orleans Saints are hiring within their own staff as Jordan Traylor has been promoted to the assistant quarterbacks coach, replacing D.J. Williams, per 247 Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Traylor played college football at Texas A&M as a quarterback, and has been with New Orleans for five years now. He spent two years as a scouting assistant before joining the coaching staff as a defensive assistant. He switched to offense last season and will now move up to his new role for 2024. It’s clear that he has made a name for himself in New Orleans as he will stick around among a lot of offensive turnover on the staff.

Traylor will work closely with recently hired quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. It’s a positive that the Saints were able to find at least some continuity within the offensive staff as Janocko remains an up-and-coming coach at just 36 years old. Janocko could leave for a promotion of his own if Derek Carr makes rapid progress in the fall. Developing in-house replacements like Traylor is a key to sustaining success.

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Falcons add former Saints assistant to offensive coaching staff

#Falcons hire former Saints assistant D.J. Williams as assistant quarterbacks coach, per report

The Atlanta Falcons have added another name to their coaching staff, hiring Saints offensive assistant D.J. Williams as the team’s new assistant quarterbacks coach, Rod Walker of The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported on Friday.

Williams served as an offensive assistant coach for the Saints from 2019-2023. The son of NFL legend Doug Williams, D.J. Williams played quarterback at Grambling State from 2011 to 2014 before beginning his coaching career.

The Falcons have already hired most of their coaching staff under Raheem Morris. Williams will work under offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates.

“Williams worked closely with the passers and was someone Derek Carr spoke of highly last season,” wrote Saints Wire editor John Sigler.

Saints lose assistant coach D.J. Williams to the Falcons

The Saints are losing assistant coach D.J. Williams to the Falcons. He was a big supporter of Jake Haener, having coached the QB at last year’s Senior Bowl:

Good luck out there D.J. Williams — you’ll need it on the Atlanta Falcons. Rod Walker first reported for the Times-Picayune | Advocate that Williams, the longtime New Orleans Saints offensive assistant coach, will be leaving to join the Falcons under head coach Raheem Morris. He’ll take over as as their new assistant quarterbacks coach after initially being offered a different role on staff in New Orleans.

A standout college quarterback himself at Grambling State, Williams worked closely with the passers and was someone Derek Carr spoke of highly last season. He had been with the Saints since the 2017 season. He also represented the Saints at the 2023 Senior Bowl coaching quarterbacks on the National Team roster; a group which included Jake Haener, who the Saints traded up to draft in the fourth round last offseason. With Williams leaving town, Haener is losing a big supporter.

So why let him go? Incoming offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is expected to sign his contract and be formally introduced by the Saints after his San Francisco 49ers are finished competing in Super Bowl LVIII, and he must have someone else in mind for the job as an offensive assistant working with the quarterbacks. That’s the job his brother Klay has held with the 49ers but it’s unclear whether they would block a move to join the Saints as an assistant. We’ll get a better idea of who Kubiak wants on his staff after he’s officially hired next week.

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Auburn among top group for elite running back Nate Frazier

Auburn is looking to add a second running back to its 2024 recruiting class.

Auburn has already landed one top running back in [autotag]J’Marrion Burnette[/autotag] but the Tigers are not done, with running backs coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] looking to add two running backs in the 2024 cycle. On Tuesday they got some good news as they made the top group for one of the best in the country.

[autotag]Nate Frazier[/autotag], a four-star prospect, included the Tigers in his top eight schools. They are battling Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oregon, Nebraska, Miami and Tennessee for the Santa Anna, California, product.

While the Tigers made the cut, they have some work ahead of them to land the 5-foot-11, 208-pounder, as he has yet to visit the Plains. He has already officially visited Oregon and Alabama and taken several trips to Georgia.

He is the No. 51 overall player and No. 4 running back in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the No. 4 player from California.

Auburn currently has 10 commits in the 2024 recruiting cycle and Frazier would become the highest-ranked one if they can reel him in.

The Tigers have not landed multiple running backs in one class since 2019 when they added [autotag]Mark-Anthony Richards[/autotag] and [autotag]D.J. Williams[/autotag].

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Saints assistant D.J. Williams to participate in 2023 Quarterback Coaching Summit

New Orleans Saints assistant D.J. Williams to participate in 2023 Quarterback Coaching Summit:

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The New Orleans Saints will be well-represented at the 2023 Ozzie Newsome General Manager Forum and the Quarterback Coaching Summit, what’s become an annual offseason event for coaches and front office personnel around the NFL: offensive assistant D.J. Williams will be in attendance at the league’s Los Angeles office, participating in seminars and panels alongside other current and former coaches.

This three-day symposium works in partnership with the Black College Football Hall of Fame to offer “peer-to-peer professional development and networking opportunities” for candidates for promotion in coaching circles. The Saints have been involved with similar events before; last winter, football administration vice president Khai Harley (best known for his work managing the salary cap) participated in the NFL Front Office Accelerator program to help raise his standing around the league.

Williams, a former standout quarterback at Grambling State and the son of Washington Commanders executive Doug Williams (who won Super Bowl XXII as Washington’s starting quarterback) who joined the Saints back in 2017 as a coaching staff intern. He was promoted to a full-time position in 2019 and has worked closely with the quarterbacks ever since. This is a great opportunity for him to get more experience from his peers in the NFL.

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Get to know the QB prospects the Saints will be coaching at the Senior Bowl

Several Saints coaches will work closely with QB prospects Malik Cunningham, Jaren Hall, and Jake Haener at Senior Bowl practices. Get to know them better:

The New Orleans Saints will have several coaches on the ground at the upcoming Senior Bowl, with passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry and offensive assistant D.J. Williams both tabbed to join the National Team coaching staff; Curry is the offensive coordinator, and Williams is the quarterback coach. That’s going to put them in close proximity with several quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL draft for a week of practices and classroom work, giving the Saints an early look at each of these promising passers.

And it’s an interesting group. All three National Team quarterbacks are listed at similar heights and weights in the 6-foot-1 and 200-pound range, though we’ll get a better idea of their athletic profiles once the Senior Bowl announces weigh-in results next week. Either way, unless something drastic appears they should pass the bar for New Orleans. The Saints have their prototypes but they aren’t about to pass on good players just because they’re a few pounds underweight. Let’s get to know each of them better:

Former Auburn player finds third NCAA home

This former Auburn running back is continuing his transfer journey by heading out west.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that it’s not about the destination, but the journey — and for one former Tigers player, that statement rings final in both respects.

Running back [autotag]D.J. Williams[/autotag], who previously played at both Auburn and Florida State, has found a third college home with the Arizona Wildcats. Williams’ trek to Tuscon, Arizona, will be the last of his career, as he was a redshirt junior in 2021.

Williams’ trip around the country began at the Plains, where he played 19 games and rushed for 599 yards and five touchdowns over his two years with the Tigers from 2019 to 2020. He got far more playing time in the former year than the matter, getting 84 attempts in 2019 and only 38 in 2020. After that, he transferred to the Florida State Seminoles where he barely had any playing time — he only managed 10 carries across six games in the 2021 season.

His landing spot with the Wildcats will be one he hopes can deliver him the production he’s been seeking over his entire college career. This will also be the furthest west the Florida native has played, so perhaps a change of scenery will benefit the senior running back as he tries to find stability after his career with the Tigers.

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D.J. Williams on choosing FSU: ‘Just having a relationship with people’

The former Auburn running back had a successful freshman season in 2019 but found himself battling injuries this past year.

D.J. Williams chose to get closer to his hometown when he decided to transfer to Florida State after two years at Auburn. He also made his decision on how connected he felt to the program.

“It was really a process of just having a relationship with people. So that made it really easy to make my selection,” Williams said, per 247Sports.

Williams did not see a lot of playing time for Auburn in 2020 as he battled injuries and was third on the depth chart behind Tank Bigsby and Shaun Shivers. On 38 attempts, the sophomore rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns. It was a letdown from what seemed to be a promising future following his freshman campaign in which he ran for 400 yards and two scores on 84 attempts.

He will join former Auburn assistant Kenny Dillingham in Tallahassee.

“I just trust in his process and what he does,” Williams said. “He runs the football, and I just trust in the process.”

Gus Malzahn updates status of Tank Bigsby ahead of Iron Bowl

Our friends over at Auburn Wire shared an update on the status of Tigers running back Tank Bigsby ahead of the upcoming Iron Bowl.

This story was originally published on Auburn Wire.

Auburn will need full hands on deck this Saturday when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 1 Alabama.

One of the players that may not be available is star freshman running back Tank Bigsby who suffered an injury during the first quarter of Saturday’s victory against Tennessee.

Bigsby’s injury came on his second run of the game when he was slammed down by a Tennessee defender. He returned for one more carry before being pulled for the game.

If he is not able to go, the Tigers will rely on Shaun Shivers and D.J. Williams to carry the load at running back.

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Malzahn updates status of D.J. Williams and Shedrick Jackson

Auburn may be without two offensive pieces on Saturday for their always entertaining matchup with LSU Saturday.

Auburn may be without two offensive pieces on Saturday for its always entertaining matchup with LSU Saturday.

The Auburn Tigers could be without running back D.J. Williams and receiver Shedrick Jackson as both are battling injuries.

Williams, Auburn’s third-leading rusher this season behind Tank Bigsby and Bo Nix, carried the ball just once against Ole Miss. The run gained 8 yards but proved costly, as he left the field one play later hobbling and may be unable to go against the Bayou Bengals.

“It’s really hard to say, as far as being able to play,” Gus Malzahn said. “I’d probably need to get to Thursday before giving a more direct answer. We’re hopeful, but he did get banged up.”

Thankfully for Auburn, junior running back Shaun Shivers returned last week and looked like his normal shifty self, running for 60 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

With Williams potentially down, it will be up to Shivers and Nix to continue to compliment Bigsby, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in three consecutive games and has emerged as one of the top backs in the country as a true freshman.

Jackson, the team’s top blocking receiver, missed his second game of the season last week against Ole Miss.

Malzahn described his stats as, “questionable, probably, at best.”

Jackson has just five catches in his Auburn career but brings value as a downfield blocker.