By: Michael Goss
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Describe your coaching style and how you interact with student-athletes:
"My coaching style has changed since I first came up. In the beginning of my career, I was trying to make a name for myself by getting these kids to do what I'm coaching them to do. But somewhere along the line, really when I went back to school and got educated to be a better leader, my coaching style quickly changed towards the kids and their needs instead of mine. Once I did that, I saw a tremendous turn around in my production and relationships with my players. I felt more comfortable being myself around them. Being open and let them know that you know the things that they've been through, because those are things that I've been through myself as a former student-athlete."
What attracted you to Kennesaw State and what excites you about this position?
"When Kennesaw State first started playing ball and had success, people feared them because of their style of football. They played with toughness on the field and were fun to watch. Looking at recruiting, the area and the campus are just beautiful. There has been a lot of success here and who wouldn't want to be a part of that? And now that the program is moving up to a higher division, I want to be a part of a movement. I want to be a part of the continuing success that Kennesaw State has laid the foundation for. And moving forward, I want to have a piece of that ownership in this program. Coach Bohannon and his staff have done a great job recruiting and maintaining the level of championship play. That was something that was intriguing to me and I am excited to be a part of it!"
What is something that Owl fans may not know about you?
"Well, if you don't follow me on social media, then people wouldn't know that I'm a big NASCAR fan. NASCAR has become my first love after football. Growing up I used to watch it, but at my first coaching job at Huntington, we would go to our head coach's house and watch the races and fellowship. Also, I am a big marketing guy, and I liked all the colors and schemes and companies that you see on the cars. To this day, if I see product on a car, I'm going to use it. I'm not a particular fan of any race car driver, I'm just a fan of the sport."
Have you been to any NASCAR races?
"Oh yes, I've been to Atlanta, Bristol, Daytona, Nashville and Talladega a couple of times."
Coach Williams and Bubba Wallace at Nashville Superspeedway in June of 2022.
How do you use your previous experience in the NFL to help your players?
"I teach my players that it is all about developing a good work ethic. Let's just be honest, everybody's not going to have the size or have the speed, but those are things that people cannot control. However, the one thing that everyone can control is their work ethic. There's a lot of hard working, less-talented guys in the NFL who are successful because of their work ethic. I feel like the work ethic that has already been instilled in this place and in this program would be the same message that I really would repeat to my guys. I get that it can be hard to listen to someone when they have not been to where you're trying to go, but with me, I've been where these guys are trying to go, and I know what it takes to get there."
When you were with the Giants, did you learn anything special from Michael Strahan?
"Absolutely. Michael Strahan told me something that I still to this day use when teaching about sacking the quarterback. He (Strahan) never sees the quarterback until he gets ready to sack him. If you think about that, where are his eyes? His eyes are focused on beating the guy in front of him first. We want to sit up here and work a move, but our eyes are in the backfield and are not focused on beating the guy in front of us. So, like Strahan says, he never saw the quarterback until he got ready to tackle him. That was one of the things that I took from him (Strahan) because that was a detailed tool. You have got to be able to play with your eyes and understand what's going on and beat the guy in front of you first."
What was Last Chance U like from your perspective?
"Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to all the cameras. They mic'ed us up every day, but it was just something that people were around with cameras. Our whole focus was on trying to win the game. We were trying to make sure that we were focused on whoever we were playing at that time and focus on getting our kids prepared. We really didn't put any emphasis on that show until after it came out. Then we were like, 'Wow!' The next season we had to do a better job of trying to minimize kids being out in front of the camera because they saw the success of the show. At the end of the day, we still had to win ball games and I had to stay focused as a coach. I thought it was a great experience once the episodes came out and the producers did a nice job of recording raw footage of what the junior college football world is like. I felt like it was very genuine."
Is there a favorite story you have that didn't make the show?
"I tell everybody all the time that the producers had some key people who had stories that they wanted to put out there for the show. But there were some guys off the field, like Ezekiel Rose, during that time who I recruited, and he played defensive end for us. He was a young man that came from a good home and had good grades, but just wasn't highly recruited out of high school. From year one to year two, his talent level and focus just changed and he ended up going to West Virginia. That's one of the unknown stories of Last Chance U for me because he was a really good kid, really good athlete, really good football player and ended up going to a Power Five school. That's what JUCO is for. Those guys who are under-recruited, need more development, and come in and after two years of hard work, end up in a Power Five program."
Favorite memory as a coach and favorite memory as a player:
"My favorite memory as a coach was in 2017. I lost one of my players before the national championship game in an accident. We all had T-shirts made and celebrated his life at that game and took a picture with his mom. We all surrounded his family and that meant a lot to me for all of us to come together and be there for his family. We also won the national championship that day. As a player, my favorite memory would be getting an interception versus Mississippi State in 2001. We ended up beating Mississippi State that year when I was at Troy and that was an awesome experience!"
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