ABILENE — ACU head football coach Keith Patterson recruited D.J. Williams to play for him at Utah State and Joseph Plunk to play for him at Texas Tech. Now, he's recruited both to join the coaching staff of the defending United Athletic Conference champion Wildcats.
Williams, who has spent the last two seasons as the cornerbacks coach at the University of Northern Colorado, will join the ACU staff as the cornerbacks coach / defensive passing game coordinator. Plunk, who just completed his playing career at Texas Tech, will join the defensive staff as an assistant working with the secondary.
"I'm excited about bringing DJ and Joseph to our staff," Patterson said. "I was fortunate to recruit them to Utah State (Williams) and Texas Tech (Plunk) when I was the defensive coordinator at those schools, and I'm glad to get them to Abilene. They'll both bring a tremendous amount of knowledge and enthusiasm."
A native of Smyrna, Tennessee, Williams played one season at the FCS level at Tennessee-Chattanooga before transferring to Independence (Kan.) Community College. Williams was a starting cornerback for the 2017 Indy team documented in the Netflix series "Last Chance U." He emerged as a Top-100 JUCO prospect by 247Sports after a year at Indy and was recruited to Utah State by Patterson, who was the Aggies' defensive coordinator in 2018.
In two seasons at Utah State (2018-19), Williams had 114 total tackles, 6.5 for loss, six interceptions, and 18 pass breakups. He was an honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference selection in 2018, and at the end of that season, he was the Defensive MVP of the Aggies' New Mexico Bowl win over North Texas. He spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at BYU (2022) before joining Northern Colorado as the cornerbacks coach.
"DJ was a great player for us at Utah State," Patterson said. "The same work ethic he had as a player at Utah State is the same work ethic that has helped him become a tremendous young coach. He's going to be a tremendous asset to our team."
Plunk starred at quarterback for two seasons at Amarillo Tascosa before playing safety and excelling on special teams as a walk-on at Texas Tech. Patterson recruited him to join the Tech program, and he played for five years, earning his roster spot with his effort on the scout team and then in the secondary and special teams.
As a senior at Amarillo Tascosa in 2019, Plunk ran for 2,546 yards and 33 touchdowns as one of the top option quarterbacks in Texas. He was named District 2-6A MVP and earned two Class 6A all-state nods: second team by the Associated Press Sports Editors and honorable mention by the Texas Sports Writers Association. He played at Tascosa for his father, Ken Plunk, who was an assistant coach at ACU in the early 2000s. Plunk will help coach the secondary at ACU.
"Joseph was a great high school player, and he's going to be a great coach," Patterson said. "He's a kid who's grown up around football and coaching and has an incredible football IQ. He will bring a lot to the table, and I'm excited to get him here and get to work."
