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‘I’m truly living the dream’: ASU football alumnus joins Sun Devil Athletics as associate athletic director

‘I’m truly living the dream’: ASU football alumnus joins Sun Devil Athletics as associate athletic director‘I’m truly living the dream’: ASU football alumnus joins Sun Devil Athletics as associate athletic director

By Lauren Fountain

When Marcus Williams joined Sun Devil Athletics in February, it was a sort of homecoming for the Arizona State University alumnus and Tempe, Arizona native.

“It means the world to me,” Williams said. “You know, people say they’re living the dream. I’m literally living my professional dream because I get to wake up and do what I can to serve and to be present here in Sun Devil Stadium and Sun Devil Athletics.”

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Williams completed a bachelor’s degree in justice studies from ASU, where he was a member of the 1997 Rose Bowl and Sun Bowl teams alongside the likes of quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer and linebacker Pat Tillman.

Williams and his teammates are stitched into the fabric of ASU football history. The 1996-97 team led ASU football to its fourth undefeated regular season, culminating in the Sun Devils being crowned Pac-10 champions.

During his senior season, Williams averaged 43.6 yards as a punter, earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors. After graduating from ASU in 1997, Williams pursued a professional football career by competing in training camps with the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, playing with the Rhein Fire in the NFL Europe and the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws.

After two years working toward a professional roster spot, Williams transitioned from playing to teaching and coaching back in Arizona. Williams climbed the ranks of secondary education and athletic administration, serving at Marcos de Niza High School, Williams Field High School and Perry High School in the East Valley before transitioning into a district-wide role with the Chandler Unified School District.

Now, Williams has returned to the school that built him.

In his new role as associate athletic director, Williams will work with football, track and field, cross country and lacrosse. He will team with others on the student-athlete code of conduct along with overseeing the student-athlete drug education and testing policy.

“I always had a plan to either go over to the AIA [Arizona Interscholastic Association] and be one of the leaders there or come back to ASU and help serve the student-athletes and the university that helped serve me when I was a student-athlete here,” Williams said. “It was exciting, and it was very challenging at first to wrap my mind around it...but it was a no-brainer because something that I always wanted to do was end up here back home at ASU.”

Starting a new role during COVID-19 meant Williams met most of his coworkers through Zoom or wearing a mask, but he did not let the unique work environment put a damper on his excitement.

“One of the things that helps me get pumped up and motivated every single day is Structure 5 back then, the Stadium Structure today, was where I parked or was, in essence, the main crossing point going to the ICA [Department of Intercollegiate Athletics] aka the Carson Center back when I was a student-athlete,” Williams said. “So, even this morning when I parked in the Stadium Structure, walking across the street I automatically looked up and I saw the pitchfork and I saw the stadium and I’m like, ‘man, this is the coolest thing ever.’ I really try to live in that moment. It’s a daily practice and it just gets me excited to start the day.”

Williams signs his emails “O2V,” which true Sun Devil fans will recognize as “onward to victory” from the school’s fight song. For Williams, this one line summarizes the culture and tradition of excellence within Sun Devil Athletics — a culture that Williams could not turn down when he was offered the chance to return to ASU.

“Culture wins,” Williams said. “Culture is everything. That’s what we try to strive for every day, if it’s excellence in the classroom, if it’s trying to be a leader in the community, if it’s competing and practicing as hard as you can every single day and you have to work at it. You have to practice it every day and you have to understand that you’re a part of something that is bigger than yourself.”

This football season is special to Williams not only because it is his first season at the university in a professional role, but also because it marks the 25th anniversary of the 1996-97 Sun Devil football Pac-10 champions and ASU’s last Rose Bowl appearance.

The Arizona State University Alumni Association and the Sun Devil Club will celebrate the silver anniversary of the team at the Legends Luncheon on Oct. 29.

“The brotherhood is the most important thing,” Williams said. “The relationships, the connections, the brotherhood, the life lessons in my five years here is just something that has always been definitely special, and it’s been a part of my life for my whole life. I learned what friendship was, I learned what adversity was, I learned what commitment was, I learned...being committed, taking things one at a time. The beauty of that is that we had teammates together that truly believed in all of that and acted upon it...and we all saw the fruits of that labor, if you will.”

Williams said he stays in contact with many of his former teammates weekly if not daily.

“It’s just been awesome to maintain the relationships and to reconnect with friends and brothers that I’ve had for decades,” Williams said.

Outside of the university, Williams is a family man who emphasizes the importance of work-life balance. Williams’ wife, Jamie, is a fellow educator who is currently serving as the principal of Auxier Elementary School in Chandler, Arizona. His daughter, Mikaila, is continuing the Sun Devil tradition as she pursues a degree at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Written by Lauren Fountain, a graduate student working for Sun Devil Athletics in the Public Relations Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Originally from Chandler, Arizona, Fountain is a lifelong Sun Devil and will graduate in May 2022.