B
efore Carla Williams played her first organized basketball game, she was playing pickup football games against boys in the sandlots of LaGrange, Ga. It was there that she listened to University of Georgia games on the radio with her father and grew to love football.
Carla Williams
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA,
DEPUTY ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Even though it was a basketball scholarship that took her to Georgia, Williams’ appreciation for football never left her.
“Football has always been a big part of my interest in sports,” said Williams, now the deputy athletic director for the Bulldogs. My family loves it, and it’s a natural for me.”
One of the challenges that women often face in the pursuit of athletic director jobs is making the case that they can administrate football — that they know the game. Williams is already doing that. Georgia AD Greg McGarity gave Williams the responsibility of being the lead administrator for football when he got to Georgia in 2010, and working side by side with former coach Mark Richt and current coach Kirby Smart has been among her chief duties.
Williams has excelled in the role in part because of her background as a competitive athlete as well as being an assistant women’s basketball coach for the Bulldogs under her mentor, Andy Landers.
“I took the coaching job because I thought coaching and recruiting would help me as an administrator,” Williams said. “I never expected to stay in coaching, but having that background as a player and then a coach has really helped.”
That has led to other responsibilities, as well, like guiding a $30 million indoor practice facility project and renovations to Stegeman Coliseum, where she used to play.
— Michael Smith
