Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham announced on Saturday that Macen Williams retired from football. However, the defensive back’s father says otherwise.
He blamed his son’s decision to walk away from the team on the coaching staff!
Williams is no longer listed on the Sun Devils roster, which indicates his departure. We know that for a fact. Everything else — the truth — is caught somewhere in the middle of two different accounts.
On one end, Dillingham declared the rising fifth-year senior as retired after a scrimmage. On the other end, his dad rebutted the retirement.
Maxzell Williams Sr. claimed that Macen did not retire. Rather, the coaching staff pushed him to leave by messing with his psyche. Enough was enough so he had to go.
Unfortunately, Williams did not provide any tangible evidence of the aforementioned “games” and gave no further context. We don’t know what he was referencing. We don’t know if it is a legitimate cause for concern in Tempe or if it is another disgruntled parent speaking out in defense of his own son.
Either way, there is obviously more to the story with Macen Williams.
He totaled 27 tackles in 33 games during his three-year playing career at Arizona State. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound defensive back was in position to earn many of the starting reps at the nickel spot in 2024. An ongoing competition at the position began during spring practices and continued into the summer.
Williams was firmly in the mix. Cole Martin and he split first-team reps during the first two weeks of fall camp. And then he bounced.
Kenny Dillingham put blame for Williams’ departure on the player. The player’s father put the blame on the coaches without providing any clarification on what actually went down.
It is very cryptic. Did he actually retire? If Williams is not retired like his dad said, will he seek another opportunity elsewhere?