USC interim head coach Donte Williams reveals devastating off-field news

USC interim head coach Donte Williams revealed on Tuesday that his father passed away last Monday, while discussing the tragic passing of Utah defensive back Aaron Lowe.

“I know what death in general can do to anyone,” Williams said on Trojan Live. “I mean, I hate to speak on it like this but last Monday I lost my dad. So I know what it feels like to have that kind of tragedy and you still have to almost push through. Because the world doesn’t stop right away just because you’re dealing with something. Everyone’s dealing with a different thing internally and it sucks because you can’t just stop and put everything on pause. You have to figure out a way to fight and push through and I know that they’ll be on an emotional high and they’re going to come out here ready to play but I can’t put that into words.”

Though it comes with an interim tag, Donte Williams is in his dream job, having been named the head coach of the USC Trojans after Clay Helton’s firing in week two. Williams is a Los Angeles County native and played his high school football at Culver City.

He originally left his role as cornerbacks coach at Oregon in 2020 to become the cornerbacks coach and pass game coordinator at USC to be closer to his family. In his goodbye note to Oregon, Donte Williams cited his father’s age and health as his reason to leave the Ducks after just two seasons.

“Due to my fathers aging/failing health, I’m lucky Coach Helton, Coach Orlando and Mr. Bohn are giving me an opportunity to come home and make a decision where I can put my immediate family first and become head of MY household,” Williams had stated in his goodbye note to Oregon.

Since taking over as interim head coach, Donte Williams has led USC to a 2-1 record with wins over Washington State and Colorado, and a loss to Oregon State.

On Saturday, USC takes on a Utah team that is dealing with their second loss of a team member in nine months. Following the Utes’ win over Washington State, defensive back Aaron Lowe was unfortunately shot and killed the following morning.

Lowe was high school teammates and best friends with running back Ty Jordan, who passed away from a gunshot wound in December. After Jordan’s passing, Lowe had switched his jersey number from No. 2 to No. 22 and was the first recipient of the Ty Jordan scholarship.

Lowe was in his third season with Utah’s football program. He debuted as a freshman in 2019 and played in 19 games through three seasons, all on special teams.