Coach Q&A: Meet SMU's Hunter McWilliams

Hunter McWilliams is one of the many faces of the SMU football staff who handles multiple tasks behind the scenes. As SMU's offensive analyst, he's charged with a responsibility many would love to have on their plates -- help a high-powered offense become even more potent.

McWilliams arrived at SMU in March of last year, and he helped an SMU offense become a national top-10 unit in both total offense and scoring. Prior to that, he coached at Navarro College, where he served as the offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach for four years.

Coaching has always been in McWilliams' blood, as he is the son of former Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach David McWilliams. To add, the younger McWilliams was at Cal when Sonny Dykes was head coach there, and he also spent time under Dykes as a graduate assistant at Louisiana Tech.

The HillTopics' "Coach Q&A" series continues with McWilliams, who discussed everything from life on the football field to life at home being a father.

We've had coaches come on during the quarantine, and they've spoken about becoming better fathers, better cooks, better gamers ... what's been your go-to or objective during the pandemic?

It's definitely been the dad thing. I've got three little girls, so being a dad has been great. Getting to prepare meals and cook has been a lot of fun. I guess with my girls, I've also caught up with my Disney lingo. I've transformed our garage into Zombieland, which is their favorite movie right now. I've had my hair painted green, pink, you name it.

I also love fishing. I grew up fishing with my dad. He was a coach, so on our vacation time, maybe a week or two in July, we would fish. I hadn't upgraded my tackle in about 15 years. With the quarantine life, I've kind of gradually gotten back into the water and fished.

What's your specialty?

Around here, bass and crappie. When I can get to the coast, I may try to do some tarping. I caught around a 180-pound tarpon down in Port O'Connor. I had no business doing it, but it was a blast. If I wasn't coaching, I think I'd be trying to do something in that industry.

As offensive analyst, what is the toughest job for you?

This is something I've done seven years now, going on my eighth year. My biggest struggle is to remain patient and to remind myself I have an opportunity to work with incredible coaches. It's all about being patient and continuing to grow and learn in my role. I can focus my attention on studying other offenses. The biggest thing I try to do is find ways to make things more efficient. That's kind of what my role has been.

I've been around some great offensive coordinators and great assistant coaches, and I'm trying to take a piece from all of them. I'm getting a chance to work with [Ra'Shaad] Samples now in the running backs room. I'm getting to watch how he relates to the kids and the recruiting aspect from it. In his role, you have to find ways to grow and to learn. When your time comes, you have to be prepared.

Working with Sonny Dykes, what's that been like? And what's he like as a person?

He's great. It gets thrown around all the time, but it really is like family up there. He's so laid back, but he'll straighten up when it's time to straighten up. He'll put his foot down and slam his fist, but you always know where you stand with him. With him, if you've got your work done, go home and see your family. That's the greatest thing for me with Sonny. The schedule and environment he creates is a bonus.

From a football standpoint, he's got so much experience. Look at all the guys he cut his teeth under. First of all, there's his dad. Spike is a legend. He has direct lines to what his dad's philosophy was. Then you've got the [Mike] Leach and [Hal] Mumme trees and all the other coaches he's been around. When we have clinics and seminars, and when high school coaches come and ask about things, Sonny can easily spend an hour on one thing. He's just got so much knowledge.

When we're in a staff meeting, he'll stick his head in and ask what we're talking about. He'll get on the board and say, "We used to do this back in Kentucky" or, "At Arizona, Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] used to dominate on this play." He'll drop a marker and then walk out, and we're like wow. He can come in and drop Mike Leach, Hal Mumme and Gronkowski in the same concept he drew up on the board. We should probably write that down.

He's great to work for, and his wife Kate does so much for the staff and for our wives and kids to make us all feel comfortable. These times going on right now are unprecedented, and my wife has received so many texts from Kate. Sonny has reached out to me multiple times and talked to other guys on the staff. They're reaching out to all of us. It's family, and that's why I worked for him at Louisiana Tech and Cal and will be here for as long as he'll keep me.

Working with the SMU offense can mean working with magic. What's that like at SMU when everything is on all cylinders?

When things are going well, it's fun calling plays. You've got Shane [Buechele] at quarterback, and you had Reggie [Roberson Jr.] and [James] Proche, who will be hard to replace. You have talent at running back. Just call something and let them play ball. That's such a better feeling than the opposite, having to scheme up how to get five yards on a play. Now, we can throw darts on a board and have Shane and those guys operate. It all starts with the quarterback. You feel great when you know you have a quarterback who can move the ball down the field.

I think there's a lot of pressure on you when you know you're that explosive. It's a perspective that's unspoken, but when you have that good of an offense, you're expected to score. But the guys know what they're capable of. That's why it's so important to have the older guys around and have that kind of culture. When you know you're talented and you're struggling, that pressure starts to mount because you know you're better than that. I think that's where [strength and conditioning coach] Kaz [Kazadi] and those guys have done a great job in creating adversity in the weight room. They understand that things happen, but you just have to overcome it. Just keep playing ball.

Recruiting has really peaked for the program during the month of May. What's your recruiting pitch to athletes?

Why leave Dallas? Why leave this city? And for those not in the city, why not come to Dallas? Look at our campus. Look at our education. You've met our staff and how genuine we are. Why go anywhere else when you've got everything you need right here? I think more guys are catching on to that.

The energy of this city, winning, is in. You come here, you get a great education, you're in the middle of Dallas, Texas, and you've got multiple Fortune 500 companies after you graduate. By the way, you're rubbing elbows with sons and daughters of NFL owners and Fortune 500 company owners. Those are people you can be cutting your teeth with.

Moms and dads, do you not want them coming here and handling business? We can coach them here and do them right.

TRACKING THE HILLTOPICS' COACH Q&A SERIES

Feb. 16: Co-offensive coordinator/OLs coach AJ Ricker

Feb. 23: Co-offensive coordinator/QBs coach Garrett Riley

March 1: Defensive coordinator/LBs coach Kevin Kane

March 8: DLs coach Randall Joyner

March 15: TEs coach Josh Martin

March 22: WRs coach David Gru

March 29: Safeties coach Trey Haverty

April 5: RBs coach Ra'Shaad Samples

April 12: CBs Kevin Curtis

April 19: Director of recruiting relations and community engagement Scott Nady

April 26: Assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Chris Brasfield

May 3: Assistant director of football operations Bret Grant

Today: Offensive analyst Hunter McWilliams