Texas A&M has made another addition to their staff with the hiring of former Arkansas DC Travis Williams as linebackers coach, who was dismissed by Bobby Petrino earlier this year. Williams is widely considered a rising star in the profession, despite a rough year in Fayetteville this past season— understandable with some of the personnel limitations, of course— and carries with him a top-shelf rep as a recruiter.
This is an elite addition to this Texas A&M staff, without a doubt. Elko has done a great job identifying and bringing in talent not just for the roster, but for the staff as well, and this is another example of that.
Texas A&M adds former Arkansas DC Travis Williams to staff as LBs coach
A South Carolina native, Williams spent quite a bit of time at Auburn, where he played from 2001-2005, under Gus Malzahn, playing a huge role in some of the top recruitments that that Tiger staff was able to pull off— including guys like Owen Pappoe and Smoke Monday. Under his tutelage, the Tiger linebackers excelled and became perennially one of the best units on that side of the ball.
He followed Gus to UCF before making the jump back to the SEC at Arkansas in 2023. The defense immediately took a huge jump from the 120s up to the mid-60s, but the regression this year led to interim coach Bobby Petrino dismissing Williams early on in the season.
Even so, the Arkansas linebackers were still the bright spot for the defense, which is Williams' area of specialty. The departing DC and linebackers coach for the Aggies, Jay Bateman, is known as a top recruiter— Williams brings that same aspect as well as some very proven production at the position he'll be coaching in College Station.
This is a master stroke by Elko as he continues to fill out this Aggie staff with top-level analysts and position coaches. The increased salary pool for assistants that Elko negotiated as part of his previous contract is already paying off.