Kristin said that early this summer, she and Ricky were outside checking the mail when she noticed that the trash and recycle bins were still out from the previous night’s collection. She told Ricky to grab one, and they brought them back from the curb. She thought nothing of it. The next day, she said, Williams called her to say, “Hey, I was really pissed off that you asked me to bring in the trash."



"I thought about it and I realized I’m still adjusting to typical father/husband roles," he told her later. "But I think I kinda like this relationship thing. I actually feel really good now for taking in the trash. Thank you so much.”

After he told her this, Kristin said, she laughed and let out an elongated “OK, Ricky.”

Kristin’s needs have weighed into Williams’ search for a Ph.D. program — “She hates the cold, so Michigan is out,” he said. Kristin hopes he decides to stay at UT for his doctorate. He is also considering programs at Columbia University in New York and at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California.

“I’ll say to Ricky, 'We need to be stable and stay put,'” she said. “Ricky, however, says routine is as internal as external.”

Williams admits he was “fairly ambivalent” about returning to school, but he was 50 credits in to his bachelor’s degree and decided it could open up options for him in the future. Coaching college football, which requires a college degree, is also high on his list of potential career moves.

But if he chooses academia, he aspires to focus on the study of motivation and “flow,” a positive psychology principle that emphasizes living in the moment, dedicating oneself fully to a pursuit.

Originally, Williams was on track to graduate after the spring 2016 semester and set a date in July of this year to take the GRE, the standardized graduate school admissions test. In late August, he said he’d spent the summer wrapped up in his research about athlete motivation, and so he’d pushed the GRE date back to September. Then, in early September, Williams’ daughter Marley, 16, moved in with him, Kristin, and their three kids, which he said required “adjustments.” Now he’s shuffled his projected undergraduate graduation date to after the fall 2016 semester.

To the outsider, it could seem like Williams is waffling again. But he doesn’t see it that way.

“I find every time I decide or plan what it's gonna do, it ends up going the other way,” he joked in between classes in June. “The world today is going to look different to me in a month. I try to stay true to that and not put myself in a position where it's difficult to get out. Like the NFL. I've learned a little bit.”