By Keanu Haghighi (@KeanuHaghighi):
San Jose State head football coach Brent Brennan filled the defensive back coach vacancy by adding Aric Williams to the coaching staff.
Brennan had high praise for Williams as he said the following to SJSU Athletics, “His knowledge of Southern California and the recruiting world, his technique and knowledge will add a lot to the corners (CB) group.”
He added that Williams’ interview stood out compared to the rest of the candidates, “When he came for his interview, he did a fabulous job going over the details of his technique. He blew the competition out of the water in the interview process.
Williams kicked off his coaching career with the University of Montana, where he was an assistant coach for five years (2010-2014).
He spent the past three seasons at the University of Idaho coaching defensive backs. In 2016, the Vandals had one of their best statistical seasons in the secondary. The team snatched a program record 17 interceptions on their way to their third ever bowl victory under Williams.
Before that, the Los Angeles native played defensive back for Oregon State and was recognized on the All-Pac-10 first team in 2004.
He was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005 and played on the practice squad for the Washington Redskins.
Williams played the majority of his professional career in the Arena Football League with the Philadelphia Soul and Arizona Rattlers.
The Spartans desperately need help on the defensive side of the football as the team ranked 127th out of 130 in opponents’ PPG last year (41.7).
With this hire, SJSU hopes to stabilize its secondary and give up less points which will translate to closer games come 2018.