Davern Williams was not unfamiliar with the spotlight.
The new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive line coach signed with Auburn in 1998 and played briefly in the Southeastern Conference before transferring to Troy, where he starred for three seasons and lined up alongside DeMarcus Ware, who went on to a decorated NFL career. Williams was a seventh-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and competed in 2004 for the New York Giants, but it wasn't in the nation's largest market where he became most famous.
Instead, it was in his role the past four seasons as East Mississippi Community College's defensive line coach - a role popularized almost overnight when Netflix released its inaugural, six-episode season of the documentary series "Last Chance U" in August 2016.
It has been a different world for Williams ever since, as evidenced by his trip to the American Football Coaches Association convention last month in Charlotte, N.C.
"I'm at the airport getting my baggage, and (Kentucky's) Mark Stoops walks up to me and said that his wife loved the show," Williams said. "He introduced himself, and I'm like, 'Coach Stoops, I know who you are.' He said, 'Can my wife have a picture with you?'
"I said, 'Sure,' so she came over and we took a picture."
It was at that convention where Williams was interviewed by second-year UTC coach Tom Arth, who has yet to see an episode of "Last Chance U." Williams had a connection to UTC, having been a Troy teammate and roommate of Shelton Felton, who is in his second year as the Mocs' outside linebackers coach.
Arth spent so much time conducting interviews in Charlotte, he didn't get to witness the popularity of Williams there, but that changed as soon as the hire was made and the two went on recruiting trips together.
"You walk into a high school, and you've got teachers and students coming up to him and asking him for pictures," Arth said, beginning to laugh. "You go to a basketball game, and you can't get to your seats because people are flocking to him. You go to dinner, and it's the same thing. Everywhere we would go, we would have to plan for an extra half-hour for all the pictures that people wanted to take with Davern.
"It's every demographic of the human race - old women to young girls to high school boys. It's crazy."
Williams helped East Mississippi Community College coach Buddy Stephens win junior college national championships in 2014 and again last year, but it was the 2015 and '16 seasons featured on "Last Chance U." EMCC's 2015 season, which Netflix aired in 2016, was canceled before the playoffs due to a brawl against Mississippi Delta at the end of the regular season.
Ronald Ollie was a defensive linemen during the 2015 season at the junior college in Scooba, Miss., before moving on to Nicholls State - like UTC, a Football Championship Subdivision program. There was an episode that included a shirtless, 310-pound Ollie rolling on a steamy artificial turf field at EMCC from the back of one of the end zones all the way to the back of the other.
"It was very hot, and that's why we did it," Williams said. "Ollie missed breakfast check that morning, which is from 7 to 7:55 before 8 o'clock class. Then he missed class, and then he was late to my meeting and missed half of it. Turns out that he was asleep."
There was a time Williams was just like Ollie and some of the other lackadaisical players he had to mold. It was when he was in the NFL.
"I didn't put my best foot forward, and that's been a sour spot in my life," he said. "I was young and had a lot of money, and I didn't do some things that I was supposed to when I was on injured reserve to keep that professional mindset. I was too busy partying, and I'm talking every night of the week.
"I don't want the guys under my tutelage to go through that same thing."
Williams believes he grew significantly as a coach during his time at EMCC, which could be great timing for Arth, who already has seen much more in Williams than dizzying rock-star status.
"When he walks into a room, he looks the part," Arth said. "He's a former NFL D-lineman, and he just has a presence about him. He's confident, but he goes about it in a very quiet and humble way, and that really impressed me.
"He has a lot of knowledge on the defensive line and has a strong belief in fundamentals and how you build a successful defense."
Netflix moved "Last Chance U" out of EMCC after two seasons, filming this past season at Independence Community College in Kansas. Williams said he hasn't discussed the show with his new group of players, focusing instead on the challenges ahead.
Williams and the show are no longer at EMCC, but the show and EMCC will forever be a part of Williams.
"I would do it again," he said. "I think it's a great opportunity to let the world see that side of college football, because not that many people understand it. There is a negative stigma about Mississippi junior colleges, and the bigger the headache those guys gave me, I still loved them. It was tough. It was hard-nosed, and there was a lot of language. There were a lot of egos and tempers flaring, but there was also a lot of winning.
"Scooba was a great place. It was quiet, and I actually miss that about it, but there are a lot more things to do here, that's for sure."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.