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Troy University graduate Davern Williams was hired on July 6 as the new defensive ends coach at Kennesaw State University.

Williams, a Montgomery native, helped lead Jeff Davis High School to a Class 6A State Championship in 1996 and signed with Auburn University out of high school. He transferred to Troy following his freshman season and ended his Trojan career with 164 tackles, 19.5 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks during his time at Troy.

Williams was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft, but missed his rookie season due to an injury. Williams played for the New York Giants in 2004 and recorded one start and seven tackles in three games.

Williams started his college coaching career as defensive line coach at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, on the staff of former Trojan Mike Turk. He joined former Alabama coach Mike DuBose’s staff at Millsaps College in 2008 as a defensive line coach before coaching the defensive line at Jacksonville State from 2009 through 2012.

In 2013, Williams coached at Murray State and then joined the staff of East Mississippi Community College (EMCC), where he is most known for being on the staff during the filming of the first two seasons of the Netflix series “Last Chance U.”

Williams was part of a staff at EMCC that won a national championship in 2017 before taking over as defensive line coach at Chattanooga in 2018. Williams returned to his alma mater in 2019, joining Neal Brown’s staff at Troy and remained there until 2021. Williams’ defensive line at Troy ranked second nationally in sack percentage and No. 6 in tackle-for-loss percentage in 2021.

Williams has been at UAB since 2022, serving as assistant director of player relations.