Kansas City Chiefs offensive assistant Dan Williams now has another ring to add to his jewelry box after the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Williams was also on the Chiefs’ staff during the 2019 season, when they won Super Bowl LIV. He was an intern working closely with quarterbacks and tight ends at the time.
Williams, a former quarterback at Stevenson University, started his coaching career in Owings Mills following an illustrious career. Williams graduated as the program’s all-time leader in passing yards (7,139), passing touchdowns (61), completions (277) and passing attempts (449). He became a coaching intern on the Mustangs’ staff after completing a degree in communications.
Williams credited then-offensive coordinator Ryan Larsen for pushing him toward coaching.
“When I went to Stevenson, I majored in communications and I was always about just getting my degree and finishing up my career and enjoying as much time as I possibly could,” Williams said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 22. “But once I got hurt at Stevenson … Ryan Larsen told me, ‘Hey, stick around the program, stick around our young guys, just be as much of an asset as you possibly can.’ And it was at that point in time, my sophomore year, where coaching really kind of came to me as a possible profession because I was really enjoying giving back to the game, not just a player.”
Williams is not the first member of his family to take the coaching route in football. His father, Ted, spent more than 20 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Ted worked as the tight ends coach (1995-1996, 2013-2014), the running backs coach (1997-2012) and as a pro scout (2015-2016). From 1999-2012, the elder Williams worked under Andy Reid, who has been Dan’s boss the past several years.
Ted’s connections throughout the years helped Dan land an opportunity in the NFL. The father-son duo reached out to NFL coaches John Harbaugh, Matt Nagy, Doug Pederson and Reid to get started.
“At the beginning, my dad was like, ‘Are you sure? Like, there’s a lot of hours into this, there’s a lot of commitment, you’re going to be away from your family a lot,'” Williams said. “But he was like, ‘If you want it, we’ll make it happen. We’ll make the calls and the necessary adjustments and figure out the best possible spot for you.'”
The best possible spot has resulted in two rings for Williams thus far. Though his father worked under Reid for a long time, Williams says he has a separate bond with the head coach.
“Coach Reid has been in my life since I was about two and a half, three years old there when he got to Philly in 1999,” Williams said. “So, he’s known me since I was a child. To me, he was always like an uncle. Just like when you see Coach Reid, say hello and he would say hello back. And I’ve known his kids my entire life.
“So, when it came time for the communication to happen with about a possible job, it never felt like I was necessarily interviewing, but I was just making a connection with an old friend and an old friend of my dad. And I think that’s what really allowed us to make way into a possible internship and then a coaching position.”
Williams is a native of Sicklerville, N.J., a little less than 30 minutes away from Philadelphia. He said a lot of the people he grew up with were happy for him after this year’s Super Bowl, even though a lot of them are Eagles fans.
Williams himself grew up an Eagles fan with his father being on the staff for so long. His parents were on the championship parade float when the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017 despite his father no longer working for the team. He said his family’s passion for the Eagles runs deep because it is rare to stay on the same NFL coaching staff for 20-plus years.
With Williams now finding his own success, he was asked what being called a Super Bowl champion means to him.
“I think it’s surreal,” Williams said. “I mean, I couldn’t have pictured this when I first started at Stevenson. I couldn’t have pictured this when I first got to Kansas City. It’s absolutely surreal and it’s a blessing just to be here and work with phenomenal athletes like Pat Mahomes, Travis Kelce and be able to learn from Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy and those types of guys just because all the knowledge and experience that they bring to the table is just so important for a young guy like myself.”
Mahomes has been thought of as one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the league since he debuted as a starter in 2018. His abilities are crucial to the Chiefs’ success. He is already a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP at the age of 27.
Williams was asked what it is like to coach a player like Mahomes.
“He’s one of the most dedicated athletes that I’ve ever been around, from the preparation he puts in from Monday to Saturday,” Williams said. “And I think once you hit Sunday, he knows what to do. Sometimes needs a little reminder here and there about something he already knows about, and it will pique his interest. But for the most part, he’s pretty good about taking coaching and wanting to be coached, so any little tidbit of information you can give him, he’s always ready to listen.”
For more from Williams, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and Sabina Moran/Stevenson Athletics