Aric Williams, a former all-Pac-10 selection for Oregon State University, has been hired as the cornerbacks coach at the University of Idaho.

“Aric was a great player at Oregon State,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “He will be a great recruiter for us in southern California. He is one of the top young coaches in college football.”

Williams comes to Idaho from the University of Montana, where he spent five years as the Grizzlies' cornerbacks coach. His player consistently were among the Big Sky's best and in 2010 and 2010 Trumaine Johnson was a multiple All-American selection as well as a first-team all-conference choice and a third-round NFL pick.

“Aric did a great job at Montana,” Petrino said.

Williams' coaching success mirrors the successes he had as a player.

Williams was a standout cornerback at Oregon State and four-year letterman  from 2001-04. He was a first team All-Pac-10 selection for the Beavers as a senior (2004), when he had 56 tackles, five interceptions, and 14 pass break-ups. He was a second team all-conference pick his junior season at both cornerback and as a kick-off returner. His junior year he had 39 tackles, four interceptions, and 12 pass deflections.

Following his playing days at OSU, he played for the Philadelphia Eagles for a season (2005), and then played in NFL Europe for the Cologne Centurions (2006). After that he played two seasons of Arena Football for the Philadelphia Soul (2007) and Arizona Rattlers (2008).

He then turned his attention to coaching. He spend one season as an assistant at his high school alma mater, Diamond Bar. From there, he headed to Arizona State where he oversaw defensive quality control and assisted with cornerbacks and special teams.

Williams earned his B.A. degree at OSU in fine arts with an emphasis in graphic design in 2005.