OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Auburn men’s golf assistant coach Chris Williams was named the recipient of the 2024 Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Monday.
Williams is just the third coach from the Southeastern Conference to win the award since 2016. He joins Corey Maggard (2018) as Auburn’s second awardee. Head Coach Nick Clinard was announced as the Dave Williams DI National Coach of the Year earlier this summer.
“I’m humbled just to be considered for this award and equally humbled to be named the Jan Strickland award winner,” Williams said. “To join the long list of winners is an honor I will cherish for the rest of my coaching career. I’d like to thank the GCAA and the Auburn family for giving me the opportunity to continue my career on The Plains. I accept this award on behalf of everyone that is a part of Auburn golf.”
The Strickland Award is presented annually to the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, or NJCAA assistant coach who, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.
Other Division I finalists for the 2024 Strickland Award included Bo Andrews (Tennessee) and Noah Goldman (North Carolina).
In his third season with the Tigers, Williams helped guide Auburn to the program’s first National Championship and fifth SEC Championship. Along the way, the Tigers also doubled the previous school record for wins in a season with 10, picking up seven in a row to close out the year.
Williams and Clinard led Brendan Valdes and Jackson Koivun to a pair of First-Team All-American seasons, Auburn’s first time with a pair of first-teamers since 1995. As a rookie, Koivun became the first player in the history of the sport to win all three national Player of the Year awards, as well as the national Freshman of the Year award.
“Coach Williams deserves major credit for helping us be elite in every phase of our lives all season long,” Clinard said. “He’s a great coach and a great person. The Jan Strickland Award is perfect for coaches like him. I cannot wait to watch him progress in his abilities as he prepares to lead his own program someday.”
Williams returns for season four on the Auburn coaching staff as the Tigers look to open the year with an eighth consecutive win at the Inverness Intercollegiate, set for Sept. 9-10 at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio.