Former Wake Forest Football Player Dion Williams Joins the Deac2Deac Podcast
12/16/2021 12:00:00 PM | Football
Williams was a member of the Demon Deacon football team from 2000-2003.
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dion Williams was a two-year starter at inside linebacker for the Demon Deacons.
Williams was born in Germany to his father, a 20-year military veteran, Elmer and his wife Yolanda. The family lived in the central city of Wiesbaden for eight year before moving to Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Williams picked up football upon his arrival in the United States. He quickly became a highly touted recruit in the Atlanta area. Williams received numerous accolades by his senior year at Lakeview High School including All-Conference, All-DeKalb County, and DeKalb County Defensive Player of the Year.
After receiving many Division I offers from high level college football programs, Williams decided on Wake Forest University. Williams was recruited by former head coach Jim Caldwell, however he would only play one season under Caldwell before he was replaced by Jim Grobe after the 2000 season.
In his final two seasons in Winston-Salem, Williams was the starting inside linebacker for the Demon Deacons. In 2002, Williams would help lead the Deacs to their third winning season since 1990. Wake Forest ended the 2002 campaign with a memorable win over Oregon in the Seattle Bowl, their third consecutive bowl victory. Williams graduated from Wake Forest in 2004 with a B.A. in Communications.
Despite his success at the collegiate level, Williams decided against turning pro upon graduation. Williams had sustained numerous concussions over his years at Wake Forest and in high school. It is believed that the linebacker had roughly six concussions during his stint with the Demon Deacons. That was when Williams decided to pursue other opportunities.
Through a friend, Williams was contacted about becoming a pit crewman for the Hendricks Motorsports Team of NASCAR. Williams was first offered a chance to work for Bobby Knouse of the Bowman Gray NASCAR Circuit. However, Williams then received an opportunity to work for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005. Williams would also work for Sterlin Marlin of the Sprint Cup and Richard Petty Motorsports before returning to Hendrick Motorsports to work for Mark Martin. Under whom, Williams would record five Sprint Cup wins. In 2011, Williams was moved to Jeff Gordon's #24 car, where he would register 11 Sprint Cup wins. Williams was the first African American pit crewman for both Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon.
Today, Williams works with NASCAR as their Drive to Diversity Liaison. The Drive to Diversity is a developmental program designed to give women and minorities opportunities within the NASCAR industry.
Listeners are encouraged to send feedback and ideas to smithka@wfu.edu or @Deac2Deac on Twitter.
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