From Marauder to NFL Coach

There are over 40,000 American football coaches in the United States. Roughly 700 of those coaches are employed by a team that plays in the National Football League (NFL), and Marquice Williams (’08), in his role as special teams coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, places himself securely in the highest tier of the top 1% of his profession.

After playing for the Marauders and graduating in 2008, Williams began his journey into coaching, making stops at Winona State University and the University of Central Oklahoma before landing his first full-time coaching position at the University of South Dakota.

As a member of the University of South Dakota’s coaching staff, Williams participated in a program called the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship.

Impressed by his football acumen, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions offered internships to Williams, and in 2016, Williams accepted an offer from the San Diego Chargers to become an assistant special teams and defensive coach. Later, while working again for the Detroit Lions, he became their interim special teams coordinator, which gave him the experience for his current position, which he began in 2021 and continues to oversee under Raheem Morris, the Falcon’s new head coach in 2024.

Professional sports often requires players and coaches to spend all of their time on game preparation, but Williams finds it crucial to strike a balance in his daily life. To do so, he points to the values instilled in him while at the University of Mary. “I believe the Benedictine values helped me in many ways,” Williams says. “Having a healthy community to grow as a scholar-athlete really allowed me to grow as a servant-leader in the profession that I’m in.”

Williams manages his players’ on-field performance, but he’s also working
to ensure the quality of their lives off the field as well. While serving the Falcons, Williams has begun directing the team’s fellowship program with the support of his wife, Elizabeth (‘08), and their four children.