ALMetro360

hette Williams, campus director and football team chaplain at Auburn University Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is celebrating his 20th year. He has had a pro- found influence among players and coaches alike — players like Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, Aundray Bruce and many more, and coaches Tommy Tuberville, former Auburn coach who hired Chette as the team chaplain in 1999, Gene Chizik, whose relationship with Chette began when he was hired as the defensive coordinator and now head Coach Gus Malzahn, who has continued the programwith the football team in spite of groups that would like to see it go away. Chette has been right where he needed to be to help these men in times that were good and in times that were bad. He shared recently at the FCA Fellowship Annual Banquet, “For 20 years I have tasted and seen that God is good in the good and in the bad. It’s been 20 years and I don’t know how many more we got, but this past 20 years has been amazing.” Tuberville hired Chette when he took over as head coach at Auburn University. He had experience with having a team chaplain at Ole Miss and knew the ben- efit to the players and the coaches of having someone there that had played football and understood what student athletes go through. So, after finding out that his team chaplain at Ole Miss could not come with him, he started looking for someone that could fit the requirements. Someone told him about this guy in Atlanta who had played at Auburn and had given his life to the Lord at Auburn. It was Chette. Tuberville recently said, “God blessed us with Chette and, wow, what he has done!” Ronnie Brown shared his feelings about Chette at the FCA banquet “because Bro. Chette is transparent.” And asked the question of Tuberville, “Why was it critical to have someone like Chette?” Tuberville re- sponded, “Because you need a positive influence in football.” After hiring Chette, Tuberville set aside 30 minutes on Friday nights before the games to allow players who wanted to participate in a faith-based meeting to get to know each other. Chette had convinced him that players needed to know each other in order to play better as a team. When the defense is just focusing on their jobs and the offense on their jobs, you can miss the interaction needed to play together for the same purpose. And, at these meetings guys were getting open with what was going on in their families that might be affecting them. “Guys would share things going on in their life. And, I learned a lot about my team members through having these meetings,” Tu- berville said. “Chette would start the meetings, but the guys would take over.” Chette Williams: Faith, Family, Football B Y L YNN C OX P HOTOS PROVIDED BY T ODD V AN E NST A UBURN A THLETICS P HOTOGRAPHER T HIS DAY AND TIME WHEN YOU HEAR OF SOMEONE WHO HAS ACHIEVED A MILESTONE OF BEING IN THE SAME LEADERSHIP POSITION WORKING WITH COLLEGE ATHLETES FOR 20 YEARS , YOU MARVEL . I T JUST DOESN ’ T HAPPEN ANYMORE . C OACHES COME AND GO , ATHLETIC DIRECTORS COME AND GO AND PLAYERS COME AND GO . A ND YET , AT A UBURN U NIVERSITY THERE REMAINS SOMEONE WHO HAS ACHIEVED THIS MILESTONE WORKING AND HELPING TO DEVELOP THE BOY ATHLETES WHO COME INTO THE PROGRAM AND LEAVE AS STRONG MEN WHO STAND STEADY FOR THE FUTURE . T HIS SOMEONE IS C HETTE W ILLIAMS . 18 AL/ Metro360 www.almetro360.com C SPOTLIGHT 360................................................................................................................................