Lane Kiffin may be deep in spring preparations over at LSU. But when it comes to the people who matter most to him, he never misses a beat. When his former USC defensive tackle, now Seattle Seahawks star Leonard Williams, shared joyful news, Lane Kiffin had to respond.
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On March 3, 2026, Leonard Williams took to X and Instagram to share a collection of glowing photos from his wife Hailey Louise Williams’s baby shower. He was surrounded by close family and cherished friends. The caption was as warm as it gets.
“Baby Williams Coming Soon. Shoutout to our chosen family for showing up. We’re so grateful for this village.”
The post quickly drew an outpouring of love and congratulations from fans, teammates, and former coaches, including Lane Kiffin, whose red heart reaction was among the first to appear.
Kiffin’s red heart reaction carries real history. Williams arrived at USC as a freshman during Kiffin’s tenure as head coach and wasted no time making an enormous impact. He recorded 64 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two fumble recoveries, and even an interception as a true freshman.
Witnessing that production, Kiffin knew exactly what he had. His father, legendary defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, played a critical role in recruiting Williams by leveraging deep relationships in Florida.
Congrats to #Seahawks Leonard Williams and Hailey Williams, their baby coming soon! https://t.co/plxZ41oCv9 pic.twitter.com/aLQz0O8WmP
— HawkMania (@hawkmania4) March 3, 2026
“Like Nelson and Leonard, for my dad to go down there, know the people, and have the connections down there for those kids to trust in us — they were going to come across the country to play at SC,” Lane Kiffin reflected in 2014. “Someone said Leonard may be the second pick in the draft or something; that’s a really neat story.”
Williams ultimately went sixth overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.
This pregnancy carries extra meaning on multiple levels. Hailey Louise Williams, 34, is the daughter of NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, making this baby a second-generation football legacy. Hailey, who works as a breathwork facilitator and meditation teacher, was already 36 weeks pregnant when she attended Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026. It was the final weekend her doctors cleared her to travel.
She showed up for her husband in a custom jacket emblazoned with his No. 99 in Seahawks colors. The Seahawks went on to defeat the New England Patriots, and now Baby Williams is next on the agenda, with the due date set around March 16.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Hailey gave PEOPLE a heartfelt peek into their preparations at home. “Everything is prepared for the baby. The nursery’s done, I got the car seat and the stroller. We have the crib, and everything’s ready to go,” she shared. She also opened up about navigating the emotional rollercoaster of a third-trimester pregnancy during NFL playoff season.“Leo’s doing his best to support me with all the emotions that have come up because emotions come up in pregnancy.”
The couple has been together for nearly 11 years and met as students at USC. They announced their pregnancy in November 2025 with a dreamy garden photoshoot captioned simply “In Bloom.”
This is a massive moment for Williams, especially since he had a tough childhood because of his father. Williams’ father, Clenon, went to prison in Florida for several crimes, including robbery with a deadly weapon. He was good at being a skilled machine operator, but involvement with drugs led to bad choices, and that caused a lot of financial hardships for the family.
Leonard Williams’ emotional moment with his father
Leonard Williams might have made remarkable strides in his football career, but his personal life has always been a topic of debate. His childhood was tough with Father Clenon Williams’s imprisonment when he was just 14.
Back in 2018, he got released and reconnected with his son for the very first time ahead of the Jets game with the Dolphins. That moment struck Leonard Williams that he would surely cherish for life.
“I just looked at him,” Leonard Williams said to The Post in 2018. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect it to be super emotional because I’m just not that type of guy, and neither is my dad. We’re just not that type of people. But when we saw each other and hugged each other, we just held onto each other for a really long time. You could feel the energy going through each other.”
Clenon Williams even watched the game the following day, wearing his son’s 2016 Pro Bowl jersey. Even without proper support, Williams made his own way out; he shone at the college level and entered the NFL as a No. 6 pick in the 2015 draft, and now, while he is entering his journey as a father, he sure looks up to giving everything to his child that he never got in his childhood.