The four-star Class of 2020 linebacker/defensive back from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif., said he “really enjoyed” his official visit to Tennessee, and the Vols now are “definitely top-five” among the teams he’s considering as he moves closer to his college decision. The 6-foot-1, 217-pound Williams said “Tennessee is definitely one of the schools on the top of the list” going into his final official visit, a trip to Ohio State that’s scheduled for this weekend. He said he likes the idea of “just playing in the SEC,” and he was pleasantly surprised by his first experience in Knoxville.
“The city life is really similar to where I’m from,” said Williams, who’s ranked the No. 170 overall prospect and No. 12 outside linebacker in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2020 class. “The coaching staff and everything, it really wouldn’t be a hard transition. Just coming from the defense that I play now and then going to the Tennessee defense, it would be a really, really easy transition. Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt is a very well-respected coach and man in all of college football. I have really high respect for him.”
Williams said he had been in contact for months with Pruitt, Vols wide receivers coach
Tee Martin and
Derrick Ansley, Tennessee’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, leading up to the visit. “I definitely knew them all, and I had already met Coach Martin,” Williams said, referring to Martin’s previous stint as USC’s offensive coordinator. “But I wanted to meet Coach Ansley and Coach Pruitt and see the campus, and I wanted my family to come with me.
“I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I was able to talk to Coach Ansley a lot just about he sees me in the scheme. … I was able to look more into the academic side and what they have to offer in terms of majors and all that, and I liked that a lot. (I got to) see the weight room and everything and see more of the surrounding city. “It’s not one of those SEC schools where it’s just in the middle of nowhere. There’s a downtown right next to campus, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
“(Ansley) kind of sees me playing kind of, they call it a Star position — kind of like the hybrid position where I play at my school now — on first and second down. Then, on third down, going in the box and playing a Will or Money ‘backer position,” said Williams, who was timed at 4.60 seconds in the 40-yard dash earlier this year. “They said they need kind of, like, a big safety — a safety that can come down and really make his presence felt and be that thumper and that enforcer on the team. And they really don’t have that.”
The Vols also told him they want “a person that’s really smart and that can really understand the defense,” he said, and it helps that he runs “a very similar defense” at his high school in which “some of the terminology is the same.” Pruitt and his staff talked with Williams about “the fact that they’re rebuilding everything,” and he likes Pruitt’s “vision and his goals and what his ambition is for what the team can turn out to be.”
Tennessee’s coaches impressed him as much as anything. “They told me that combined, as a whole staff, they have 17 national championships, which really impressed me — just all the experience that they have,” Williams said. “They know what it takes to win a national championship. And just their whole vision, with their plan and their goal for turning Tennessee into a national powerhouse again. “The whole staff, I was really comfortable with, and I was able to talk to a lot of different coaches and have conversations with them, so it was great.”
“They want to be a part of the team that’s able to take it all the way and be on the rebuilding stage and hopefully win a national championship in a few years,” Williams said, recalling his conversations with Allen and To’oto’o. “So they said, if you want to be a part of something that’s going to grow in a few years and climb up the mountain, reach the mountaintop, it’s going to be this school.”
Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Penn State also have hosted Williams on official visits, and he said he plans to “drop my top-five list” after his visit to Ohio State this weekend. He expects to decide on a college before his senior season. “After Ohio State, I’m going to actually take some time off with everything and sit down with my family and figure this all out,” Williams said. “I’ll definitely commit before the season. But in terms of when, after the Ohio State visit and before the season — what time period I’m going to commit — that I’m not sure yet.”