New Miami coach ‘T-Will’ is a rapper from Auburn. We sense a Hurricanes rap coming
One thing new Miami Hurricanes linebackers coach and former Auburn star/linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator Travis Williams has an understandable distaste for is the Alabama Crimson Tide — Auburn’s natural rival and the defending national champion that Miami opens its 2021 season against on Sept. 4.
One thing Williams loves is rapping.
Williams, 38, who played for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2006 and 2007, has a reputation as a talented coach and recruiter. He also is a popular, prolific rapper who goes by the name of T-Will and last May posted on Twitter a video of himself rapping about his former Tigers over the instrumental to Lil Baby’s platinum hit “Sum 2 Prove.’’
Al.com’s Auburn beat writer Tom Green broke down Williams’ rap, “line by line,’’ in a well-crafted synopsis in May.
Last September, after Auburn’s final scrimmage of fall camp, former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn asked T-Will to do some freestyle rapping.
Williams was asked Wednesday during a Zoom interview with Miami beat writers if he planned to compose a rap in celebration of the 2021 Canes-Alabama opener at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“I don’t know,’’ Williams said. “I’ve been getting that question a lot. Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. But that’s been like the common question. I guess I may be OK at it, huh? If I was pretty bad they wouldn’t [ask], right? We’ll see. It depends on the mood. I think the quarantine kind of got me used to sitting at the house kind of bored. We’ll see. I think this is the perfect place for it, but we’ll see.”
Added Williams: “I’m fired up to be here. Man, we’re at the U. We’re at the U. We got a national brand. This brand should be able to go all over the world .We’re excited about that. I’m excited about that. Hey, I’m just excited. I’m fired up.”
Williams was also asked how he got started rapping.
“I have a music background,’’ he said. “I just love music just like everybody loves music. It’s poetry. So it’s just one of those deals that I just kind of love to do.
“I don’t just be at the house in the studio rapping — that’s not what I’m doing. But I have a way with words and I just try to put words together. It started when I was playing for the Falcons. Most guys leave and they’ll go play golf. I was going to the studio just having fun in Atlanta. That’s kind of how I got started.”
As for that UM-Alabama opener, Williams, a 2004 first-team All-SEC linebacker, played it cool, despite his distaste for the Crimson Tide. After all, this was his first interview as a Hurricane.
“The good thing is it’s a long time before the first game,’’ Williams said. “Right now we just need to chop wood and get better and better as players and as a football team. Alabama is a returning national champion, a great team, great coach, all of that good stuff.
“So, if we just focus on ourselves and worry about ourselves, then as we get better that game will take care of itself and it’ll be here like that,’’ he said, snapping his fingers. “It seems like it’s a long ways away but if we can just keep getting better every day, just get better at the small things, do the things that help you win championships — that’s what we’re going to focus on.
“They are the giant. They are the team in college football and we’re going to respect them. And then in the first game we’re going to go out there and give it our best shot and we’ll see how it goes.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
