Carnell Williams joins B'ham Iron

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Cadillac Williams joins Birmingham Iron coaching staff

Updated Oct 9, 11:38 AM; Posted Oct 9, 11:21 AM

Birmingham Iron coach Tim Lewis has a coaching staff for the Alliance of American Football team's inaugural season, and it includes former Auburn standout Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

Williams will work with the Iron's running backs.

Other members of the staff named on Tuesday include Steve Logan, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks; Dave Magazu, offensive line; Ray Rychleski, special teams/tight ends; Martin Bayless, secondary/assistant special teams; and Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton, defensive line. Defensive assistant Steve Meyer will serve in a quality-control coaching role.

"This is a great group of coaches to be part of the first coaching staff in Birmingham Iron history," Lewis said in an AAF release. "They bring a tremendous amount of coaching experience at the NFL and collegiate level. Some of them have played at the highest level and enjoyed outstanding playing careers. We wanted our players to learn from the best, and that's what I believe we found in these Iron coaches."

Birmingham is one of the eight franchises in the Alliance of American Football, which is scheduled to kick off its inaugural season on Feb. 9. The Iron will play its home games at Legion Field in the 2019 season.

Williams was a three-time All-State player at Etowah High School, where he earned the Class 5A Back of the Year Award in 1999 and 2000 and received Alabama's Mr. Football honor in 2000. With Williams rushing for 2,640 yards, the Blue Devils' 1999 team went undefeated, never scored fewer than 32 points in any game and won the AHSAA Class 5A championship.

At Auburn, Williams ran for 3,831 yards -- second on the Tigers' all-time list behind Bo Jackson -- and scored 46 touchdowns, the most in school history.

Williams earned All-SEC recognition at running back in 2003 and 2004 and return specialist in 2004, when he was the conference's Special Teams Player of the Year. He also earned first-team All-American recognition from the American Football Coaches Association in 2004, when Auburn posted a 13-0 record.

The fifth player picked in the 2005 NFL Draft, Williams won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award by running for 1,178 yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Williams is currently the running-backs coach for the IMG Blue team at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

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A 37-year coaching veteran, Logan's stops included 11 seasons as the head coach at East Carolina. While with the Pirates, Logan helped make college-football history in Alabama when ECU lost to Marshall 64-61 in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile on Dec. 19, 2001, in the highest-scoring game in bowl history.

Also a 37-year coaching veteran, Magazu's positions have included 14 seasons in the NFL, most recently working with the Chicago Bears' offensive line in 2015 and 2016.

Rychleski moved to the NFL in 2009 after 28 seasons of college coaching and helped Indianapolis reach the Super Bowl in his first season as the Colts' special-teams coordinator.

Bayless spent 13 seasons as a safety in the NFL and during his coaching career has worked with seven NFL teams.

Hamilton played nine seasons at nose tackle for the New England Patriots and has since been the defensive-line coach for seven NFL teams.

Birmingham Iron building roster with in-state talent

The Birmingham Iron has the first opportunity among the Alliance of American Football's eight teams to sign former Alabama and Auburn players.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.