Ex-Auburn football RB coach/AHC Cadillac Williams had long-standing interest in NFL before Raiders hiring

Ex-Auburn football running backs coach/associate head coach Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was hired by the Las Vegas Raiders to be their RB coach on February 17, per The War Rapport's Mike Gittens -- and as Gittens tells me, this was something the Gadsden native had in the works for a while.

"It’s my understanding the NFL was his ultimate goal," Gittens said of Williams landing an NFL job.

Gittens added that Williams had tunnel vision for an NFL spot; being unwilling to listen to just about any college coaching offers that be offered to him.

"Unclear on whether he got any college offers but even if he did im not sure he would’ve accepted," Gittens told me. "My sources told me he had his eyes on the pro ranks for a while."

Cadillac Williams leaves Auburn football unwilling to find another Power Five job

Williams left AU with eyes only on the NFL after spending four years of his playing career and five years of his coaching career on the Plains. While he had experience at Division II Henderson State and West Georgia, he never coached at another Division I program besides his alma mater.

And he may never again if he could stick with the Raiders or a future team in his NFL journey.

That's romantic in many ways, and ideally, there'd be room for a reunion down the line should Williams work his way up the ranks at the professional level. That's also too many what-ifs to think about at this moment, though, with the Hugh Freeze era set to enter a critical second year, armed with a No. 8 recruiting class raising Auburn's external expectations; especially since many 2024 recruits could be, and are expected to be, part of the two-deep come the fall.

The Tigers and Cadillac have gone their separate ways physically, but as he already knows, while you can leave Auburn, it will never leave you.