Auburn lost one of its most loved and respected individuals Sunday night as former linebacker and longtime team chaplain died in an accident on Lake Martin, AL.com confirmed with the Alabama Law Enforcement agency. He was 61.

Williams was attempting to leave his 2005 Bennington 2575 RFS pontoon boat when he fell into the water near a dock at Kowaliga’s Restaurant on Lake Martin, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The accident happened just west of the Kowaliga Bridge in Elmore County at about 5:45 p.m. His body was pulled from the water at approximately 7:19 p.m. and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

Williams, known affectionately by many as “Brother Chette,” played for Auburn from 1982 to 1984. The Tigers won the Sugar Bowl, Liberty Bowl and Citrus Bowl while he was on the team, and Williams was teammates with Heisman Trophy-winning running back Bo Jackson.

Following his college football career, Williams became a licensed minister in 1987 and ordained in 1988. He served as the president of IMPACT Ministries, a ministry for at-risk kids in Spartanburg, South Carolina, from 1995-1999 before becoming Auburn’s team chaplain, a role he held for 25 years.

“Heartbroken to hear the news about Chette Williams. Brother Chette was a remarkable man who led hundreds of young people to the Lord through the years. He was the architect of the 2004 Hard Fighting Soldiers theme that turned into a national movement. His leadership has been a steady part of Auburn athletics for more than two decades. But more than sports, Brother Chette helped athletes understand that their purpose was much greater than anything they could ever accomplish on the field,” Alabama Senator and former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville on X (formerly Twitter).

“I am thankful that we recently had the opportunity to catch up. Auburn wouldn’t be what it is today without him. My thoughts and prayers are with Brother Chette’s family, along with those impacted by his ministry through the years. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on in the lives he touched.”

Tuberville was the coach who first brought Willliams back to Auburn in 1999 as team chaplain. The “Hard Fighting Soldiers” term Williams is often associated with was coined during Auburn’s 2004 season, describing the team’s closeness that many credited Williams for helping to develop.

“He was the rock we held on to,” Tuberville once said of Williams that season.

Along with serving as the Auburn football team chaplain, Williams was the Auburn campus director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the State Director for Urban Ministries for FCA.

Several other Auburn figures responded to Williams’ death with posts on X.

Williams authored a book titled “Hard Fighting Soldier: Finding God in Trials, Tragedies, an Triumphs,” telling the story of Williams’ personal journey to faith and out of a dark time at the beginning of his Auburn career.

“As a player in the 1980s, some of Williams’ Auburn teammates said he “wasn’t worth praying for.” He was a mean, bitter, angry young man, and when Coach Pat Dye kicked him off the team, nobody was surprised. With God’s help, Williams turned his life around and he vowed to help others to do the same,” part of the book’s synopsis read.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m