Auburn football: Gus Malzahn’s defensive coordinator hired by Arkansas

Travis Williams, a former Auburn football linebackers coach and now former UCF defensive coordinator alongside Gus Malzahn, will be taking the DC job for Arkansas to work alongside Sam Pittman.

The Razorbacks went 6-6 after high preseason expectations in 2022, closing out the season in disappointing fashion — dropping three of their final four games, including losses to Hugh Freeze’s Liberty Flames and Missouri. Of course, Arkansas handed Auburn football its fifth loss of the season and served as the final straw of the Bryan Harsin era. AU dismissed Harsin following the loss.

Williams will aim to fix an Arkansas defense that ranked in the bottom 10 nationally during the 2022 season.

Many Auburn football fans were hopeful for Travis Williams

Auburn football alum Travis Williams was a desired defensive coordinator target for Hugh Freeze’s first staff on the Plains — and was even floated as a potential head coaching option by the Opelika-Auburn News — but Freeze decided to go in a different direction with the hiring of Baylor’s Ron Roberts.

Roberts, himself a former college linebacker at Tennessee-Martin, has 19 years on Williams when it comes to coaching experience, though he didn’t play at nearly the same level collegiately as the former Tigers bruiser. Roberts also spent 10 years as a head coach, splitting time between Division II program Delta State and Southeastern Louisiana of the FCS.

Ultimately, Williams will end up in a position at Arkansas he will more than likely look to parlay into something bigger, which is something Roberts and offensive coordinator/former Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery are also doing.

If the Hogs can improve on this past season’s record, Williams stands a chance to do it quickly. If things don’t get better, he could end up regretting Gus Malzahn’s UCF staff right before a program-shifting move to the Big 12 in 2023.