Tre’ Williams has been waiting a long time for the opportunity to lead the Auburn defense.
It’s an opportunity that’s been presented in his junior season, just two years after he arrived on campus as the nation’s top linebacker recruit, according to 247sports.
“It went by fast, in the blink of an eye, but it’s a great feeling,” Williams said. “I’d pictured myself one day being the leader of the defense for the Auburn Tigers, and I’m there now. So now I’ve got to take the responsibility.”
Williams is tasked with leading a defense and, more specifically, a linebacker corp with many new faces — both on and off the field.
Auburn’s defensive coordinator and two of its three defensive assistants departed after the season for other jobs, leaving Auburn with its seventh defensive coordinator in the last 10 seasons.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn tabbed Kevin Steele to lead the defense, and the veteran has quickly become known as a “player’s coach.”
“He’s calm and collected at times, and he’s a hard coach at times, and that’s what we really need,” Williams said. “Sometimes if you do something wrong, he’ll yell at you, but then again, at the end of the day, you know he loves you.”
Travis Williams, who played linebacker at Auburn just over a decade ago, was promoted from defensive analyst to coach the linebackers after Lance Thompson’s departure, and he and Steele have their work cut out for them.
The position group has minuscule depth after the departure of three senior starters — Kris Frost, Cassanova McKinzy and Justin Garrett. Williams and graduate transfer T.J. Neal provide some experience at linebacker, but Auburn will need inexperienced players such as Deshaun Davis, Darrell Williams or even true freshman Tre’ Threat to contribute.
“They’re good students of the game. They’re just young and inexperienced,” Steele said. “We got to develop them fast, but that’s not something that has not been done before. I’ve been coaching linebackers long enough, and of course, Travis (Williams) is doing a great job with them. He’s a good teacher.”
A native of Mobile, Williams is familiar with Auburn and its tradition of solid defense. After several years of struggles on that side of the ball, he is now doing all he can to lead his unit — and his team — back to success after a disappointing 2015 season.
“I watched (last year’s seniors) do it, and growing up, I watched a lot of great linebackers do it,” Williams said. “They took ownership, not only of the defense, but they also had part of the team, and that’s just the responsibility that I’m trying to take at Auburn.”
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