Ask him a year ago — before he led the program he loves into the stadium where he became a star that magical night againstAggies, before the speaking engagements and the extra recruiting visits, before he fueled and united a longing fanbase — well, ask him a year ago and Carnell ‘Cadillac’ Williams would say he’d never even thought of it.

Even now, with months to reflect back, and he’ll still say he’s walking on air.

“Yo, like I tell people, I am living life,” Williams said Tuesday. “I’m living the dream. Let’s call a spade a spade, I never grew up saying I want to be the head coach at Auburn. Even when I got done playing and I got into coaching, it never crossed my mind to be the head (coach). It never crossed my mind to be a head coach.”

After a career Auburn where he rushed for more than 3,800 yards and a plaque on College Street, Williams was brought back in 2019 under Gus Malzahn as the running backs coach. Last season, Williams took over as the interim head coach after Bryan Harsin was first. Auburn played its most exciting football of the season over the four games led by Williams, including his memorable first victory over Texas A&M. Then, Auburn hired Hugh Freeze as the full-time head coach and kept Williams on staff as the associate head coach as well as the running backs coach.

He carried the full weight of Auburn then. It’s not gone from his shoulders now as a position coach, but maybe just a little lighter.

But now he’s had time to think about it all — about the job he never thought he’d have.

As the head coach, Williams said he had “tunnel vision.” There were practices to run, games to coach, media availabilities and recruiting trips and Williams said yes to them all.

Every second was worth it, Williams said, because he saw the hope he brought people.

“I got the opportunity to go out and recruit and go to high schools and read letters from different fans and people and it literally broke me down to just not myself but how much joy that we brought people,” Williams said. “How much hope that we brought not only the Auburn family but people around the country. It was just crazy to hear.”

Williams discussed using the speaking events an Auburn head coach gets slated for as a chance to talk about his faith and about Auburn.

Sure, he’d also call himself an introvert, but in the moment that didn’t matter. He was living out this moment he’d never planned on.

“To be in that role and for the powers that be at Auburn to have trust in me at the time and they called me, it makes me — it brings joy to me that somebody would think so much of me to lead this program,” Williams said.

The end of the 2022 season was that joyride for Williams, even if Auburn only went 2-2 under his lead.

Auburn seemed to play inspired football after Harsin was fired on Halloween. Down 21 points multiple times in Williams’ first game leading the program, Auburn came back to take the lead on the road against Mississippi State before ultimately losing in overtime.

The legend reached a pinnacle the next week against Texas A&M when Auburn won 13-10 in front of one of the most energized crowds Jordan-Hare Stadium had seen in years.

“When you’re united, you’re pulling together, magic can happen,” Williams said. “I’m still on cloud nine about it. Nobody can ever take that away from us, that 2022 team. Those 24 seniors. We had a blast. Like, a blast. Us explaining it and us telling you all how it was, it’s not doing it justice. Guys, we had a blast.”

Still an associate head coach, Williams can now focus on what he was brought to Auburn to do in the first place, coach the running backs. He’s on a staff with other former Auburn players with championship rings like Zac Etheridge, a team captain on Auburn’s 2010 national championship team — Williams having only won an SEC title pounded the table with jealousy during his meeting with the media Tuesday.

Now he has one of the deepest running back rooms Auburn has had in years.

That’s what Williams had when we played for Auburn, and sure, he joked about the NIL deal for Cadillac cars if he could have played now.

Now he’s on the other side of it as a coach. That too, is more than he could have asked for.

“Let me tell you something: instant gratification to be honest with you,” Williams said. “Again, to see these young men in that room, I say to go back, really honing in and the things that we, from Coach Freeze’s vision of this team, from Coach (Montgomery) handling offense, to me being the leader in that room, for those guys to buy into that and have that concept of they are going to put team first and they gonna continue to work their tail off.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]