MSU Baseball Feature: Football Fathers Turned Baseball Dads
5/16/2023 3:30:00 PM | Baseball
Michigan State baseball players Harrison Cook and Christian Williams have never been afraid to go against the status quo. Despite having fathers that have worked in professional football, Cook and Williams never felt any pressure to follow in their footsteps.
Alan Williams and Brent Cook both played college football. Brent had a short-lived NFL career, while Alan went into coaching, working his way up to defensive coordinator with the Bears.
"My dad was always supportive of really whatever we wanted to do," Williams said. "He said you could play trombone, you could play football, you could play cricket for all I care; just do the best you can and you know I'll be happy."
Although Cook didn't feel any pressure from his dad to play football, he claims his biggest regret in high school was missing out on the sport.
"I always loved it," junior pitcher Cook said. "His love was football, but I gravitated more towards basketball and baseball just because I was better at those sports. I'm not as physical as he is. He's a big guy."
Cook pursued baseball and basketball in high school, but baseball was his main focus. Williams, on the other hand, was recruited for baseball and football in high school, forcing him to make a decision.
"I was kind of on the fence for a long time about it, and then I really sat down to think about what I really wanted about my life and my future and where I wanted to go," redshirt-sophomore catcher Williams said. "Once I really started to think about it, the decision became pretty easy."
Alan admits he would have loved for his son to pursue football, but didn't put pressure on him when it came time to decide. He was just proud of the hard work put in that got him there.
"I have three sons, and I've always allowed them to, with some guidance, make their own decisions, when it came to how long they wanted to play, how much they wanted to play and at what level they wanted to play," Alan said.
Flash forward three years, Williams is now in his third season with the Spartans, while Cook transferred to MSU before his sophomore year and is in his second season with the Green & White.
Both Alan and Brent make it a point to get to every game possible to see their sons play. Alan's job makes it difficult to get to every game, but he makes the best of every opportunity he gets to watch his son.Â
Williams admits it can be a little difficult for his father to keep his role as a dad and a coach separate. After every game, he comes prepared with a list of questions to ask, wanting to gather more information on the X's and O's of the game.
"It'd be like, hey, you did this really well," Williams said. "This I don't know. You could probably work on this. I had a question on this play here. Why did this happen? Why did you do this? Why did the other person do this? Then kind of have to be in touch and I like to walk them through it. These are the rules. This is what you kind of have to do. This is how the game is played or there was a mistake here and that's why this happened."
However, Alan claims he's made progress in this area.
"I've learned to turn the coach part off when I'm watching him and enjoy just being Alan Williams the dad and not Coach Williams, so I've been much, much better with that, being able to just relax and watch him play ball," Alan said.Â
Brent has traveled to every game this season, including a stint in the Southwest United States, in his RV, having found a new pastime in his son's collegiate career. He said he is "playing the game of baseball vicariously" through his son, because he wanted to play the sport growing up but was unable to due to working on his family farm during the summers.
"When I started getting into it was when he was like dead set on baseball," Cook said. "I actually had breakfast with him this morning, and he was telling me how glad he was that I played baseball because it's really a newfound love for him."
In addition to discovering a new passion, Brent is also happy that baseball has allowed Cook to gain crucial skills that he'll keep with him even after college.
"I know that however far he goes in baseball, he'll be fine to get out into the world and be a success because of his ability to connect with people," Brent said. "I think that's a valuable lesson that he gets from team sports, and I'm just very proud of him and the young man that he's become."
Head coach Jake Boss Jr. can relate to Alan and Brent, being a parent and a coach himself. He, like Alan, had to miss some of his son's games in high school while he was coaching the Spartans.
"You want to try to take advantage of the time that you have and watch your son play at, whatever level they're at, and it's just something special to sit there and watch your son play at a high level," Boss said. "There's a lot of parents that come all over the country to watch us play, so it's pretty special."
Â
Alan Williams and Brent Cook both played college football. Brent had a short-lived NFL career, while Alan went into coaching, working his way up to defensive coordinator with the Bears.
"My dad was always supportive of really whatever we wanted to do," Williams said. "He said you could play trombone, you could play football, you could play cricket for all I care; just do the best you can and you know I'll be happy."
Although Cook didn't feel any pressure from his dad to play football, he claims his biggest regret in high school was missing out on the sport.
"I always loved it," junior pitcher Cook said. "His love was football, but I gravitated more towards basketball and baseball just because I was better at those sports. I'm not as physical as he is. He's a big guy."
Cook pursued baseball and basketball in high school, but baseball was his main focus. Williams, on the other hand, was recruited for baseball and football in high school, forcing him to make a decision.
"I was kind of on the fence for a long time about it, and then I really sat down to think about what I really wanted about my life and my future and where I wanted to go," redshirt-sophomore catcher Williams said. "Once I really started to think about it, the decision became pretty easy."
Alan admits he would have loved for his son to pursue football, but didn't put pressure on him when it came time to decide. He was just proud of the hard work put in that got him there.
"I have three sons, and I've always allowed them to, with some guidance, make their own decisions, when it came to how long they wanted to play, how much they wanted to play and at what level they wanted to play," Alan said.
Flash forward three years, Williams is now in his third season with the Spartans, while Cook transferred to MSU before his sophomore year and is in his second season with the Green & White.
Both Alan and Brent make it a point to get to every game possible to see their sons play. Alan's job makes it difficult to get to every game, but he makes the best of every opportunity he gets to watch his son.Â
Williams admits it can be a little difficult for his father to keep his role as a dad and a coach separate. After every game, he comes prepared with a list of questions to ask, wanting to gather more information on the X's and O's of the game.
"It'd be like, hey, you did this really well," Williams said. "This I don't know. You could probably work on this. I had a question on this play here. Why did this happen? Why did you do this? Why did the other person do this? Then kind of have to be in touch and I like to walk them through it. These are the rules. This is what you kind of have to do. This is how the game is played or there was a mistake here and that's why this happened."
However, Alan claims he's made progress in this area.
"I've learned to turn the coach part off when I'm watching him and enjoy just being Alan Williams the dad and not Coach Williams, so I've been much, much better with that, being able to just relax and watch him play ball," Alan said.Â
Brent has traveled to every game this season, including a stint in the Southwest United States, in his RV, having found a new pastime in his son's collegiate career. He said he is "playing the game of baseball vicariously" through his son, because he wanted to play the sport growing up but was unable to due to working on his family farm during the summers.
"When I started getting into it was when he was like dead set on baseball," Cook said. "I actually had breakfast with him this morning, and he was telling me how glad he was that I played baseball because it's really a newfound love for him."
In addition to discovering a new passion, Brent is also happy that baseball has allowed Cook to gain crucial skills that he'll keep with him even after college.
"I know that however far he goes in baseball, he'll be fine to get out into the world and be a success because of his ability to connect with people," Brent said. "I think that's a valuable lesson that he gets from team sports, and I'm just very proud of him and the young man that he's become."
Head coach Jake Boss Jr. can relate to Alan and Brent, being a parent and a coach himself. He, like Alan, had to miss some of his son's games in high school while he was coaching the Spartans.
"You want to try to take advantage of the time that you have and watch your son play at, whatever level they're at, and it's just something special to sit there and watch your son play at a high level," Boss said. "There's a lot of parents that come all over the country to watch us play, so it's pretty special."
Â
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
Monday, May 19
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | April 17, 2025
Thursday, April 17
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 25 2025
Tuesday, March 25
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 11 2025
Tuesday, March 11