Report: Auburn hiring Vontrell King-Williams as new defensive tackles coach

Auburn is expected to hire Vontrell King-Williams as its next defensive tackles coach, according to reports.

King-Williams was previously on the Tigers’ staff as an analyst in 2023, but previously held the defensive tackles coaching job at Eastern Michigan and was a staffer on Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze’s staff at Liberty.

He played his college football at UTSA (2015-16), which helped him land his role at EMU through coach Neal Neathery. King-Williams’ coaching career began with the Roadrunners directly after graduating in 2017 as well, where he was brought onto the staff as a defensive line intern.

During King-Williams’ stay with Freeze at Liberty in 2021, King-Williams helped lead the Flames’ defense to rank 14th nationally in tackles-for-loss at 7.2 per game and 11th in the FBS in red zone defense allowing just 22 touchdowns in 40 trips. 14 Liberty defenders recorded a sack that season, and 27 recorded at least one TFL.

He was on staff during the previous season in 2020 to see Liberty finish the year ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll — both the highest-ranked finish to a season in program history. Overall, he was on staff to see the Flames tie the program record for wins in a season with 10.

During the 2020 season, Liberty experienced its first-ever national ranking, its first win over an ACC opponent, an 8-0 start to the season — the best in school history — first-ever win over a top-25 FBS program, and was the first time the program had emerged victorious in back-to-back bowl game wins.

Now, King-Williams has been elevated to new defensive coordinator DJ Durkin’s official staff, who had previously spent the last two years coaching under Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M.

From a scoring defense perspective, Durkin led Texas A&M to two top-40 finishes. Opponents scored just 22.1 points per game against the Aggies this season, following up on a 21.2 PPG from 2022. Tons of talent were on the roster for Durkin to work with, having a defensive line full of elite recruits.

While Auburn wound up at a similar number, the final three games of the season were tough. New Mexico State, Alabama, and Maryland scored an average of 29.7 points. The Tigers finished with a losing record and Freeze decided drastic changes were needed. Durkin, and in turn King-Williams, are there to make those changes.