As if the sense of urgency hadn't already starting rising for
Dee Williams with his arrival at Tennessee this weekend as one of its early enrollees nearing, the junior college cornerback got a visit from his future position coach earlier this week. Tennessee secondary coach
Willie Martinez was in Georgia and stopped by to watch Williams work out and give him some last-minute guidance ahead of him formally joining the Vols. Williams told GoVols247 earlier this week that Martinez said he has a “high chance of starting” in the secondary for the Vols, but the versatile defensive back knows he will have to earn it.
Tennessee sought out junior college help for multiple positions its secondary in the 2022 recruiting class down the stretch leading into the Early Signing Period, and those efforts landed them Williams, the Forsyth, Ga., native who spent the past three years at East Central Community College in Mississippi, where he recorded 14 pass breakups and seven interceptions and was a productive return specialist during the 2021 season.
The Vols are thin at cornerback and have to replace starter
Alontae Taylor, who's headed to the NFL Draft, so Williams, who is heading to Knoxville on Friday, will have a good opportunity to provide immediate help in the secondary.
“I’m very excited. I can’t wait to get down there,” Williams told GoVols247 earlier this week. “Coach Martinez, he actually came and saw me work out yesterday or two days ago, so he actually came down here and watched me work out and it was pretty nice having him come talk to my high school coach and my parents and also letting him see me work out for the first time in person. It’s pretty nice. I was glad that he came down here and spent time with me.”
He added: “Coach Martinez said I have a high chance of starting. I just have to come and work for it. Obviously that’s what I’m coming down to do. He was like, since I’m a juco guy, then I really do have a chance of coming in and having a starting position. I’m just going to take that as an advantage and try to make that happen.”
Since signing with Tennessee in December, Williams said he’s been focused on getting himself ready to join the Vols “so when I go down there I won’t be behind on things.” He’s been alternating days of on-field technique work with weight-room days, trying to get stronger and maintain his conditioning while not losing any fundamentals following the conclusion of his 2021 season. Williams feels he’s done a good job of readying himself for the start of classes and offseason workouts at Tennessee next week.
The visit from Martinez was reassuring as the coach discussed further with Williams what his role might be in the defense and what he needs to be ready for when he joins the Vols. Williams said he wants to “start out great in classes and not have to worry about that” while also building his speed and flexibility and get faster and stronger before the season. Williams, who said he’s between 5-foot-11 and 6-foot and weighs 190 pounds, said the Vols plan to play him at cornerback, but have discussed other secondary positions with him.
“He just told me to make sure he wanted me to work both sides of the field,” Williams said. “He wanted me to work the right corner and left and not just one side, because they could move me to be both sides in a situation if I’m out there. He was telling me not to get comfortable on one side of the field.”
He added: “I think it’s both, I think it’s Star and corner. I think the other day that he asked if I ever wanted to go back to playing safety, would I, and I’d say yeah. If I have any opportunity to start and be on the field, then I’ll take that position and make the best of it.”
Williams has played both cornerback and safety throughout his football career. At Mary Persons High School, he played cornerback as a junior and was moved to safety as a senior. At East Central, where he played for head coach
Ken Karcher (who was an assistant coach for
Johnny Majors at Pittsburgh in the 1990s), he’s been a cornerback and has seen it become his most natural position, though he likes both.
Cornerback is certainly where Tennessee needs him most, particularly after the Vols struggled there in the Music City Bowl loss to Purdue without the opted-out Taylor and the injured
Brandon Turnage.
“I just feel like from what I’ve seen, obviously they’re all good players,” Williams said, “and I think if I could be a part of that team, then hopefully I can help out a lot.”
The bowl-game performance aside, Tennessee’s secondary had a productive 2021 season, ranking fourth in the SEC in interceptions (13) and second in pass breakups (54), and Williams will add to the attacking, aggressive mantra the Vols want to play under coordinator
Tim Banks. He led the National Junior College Athletic Association in interceptions and ranked second in PBUs in 2021. In 23 games over three seasons at East Central, Williams had 13 interceptions.
“I would say it all starts with the offseason and how you prepare yourself for that upcoming season,” he said. “I really do believe in you practice how you play, so I want to practice hard, as hard as I can, and push myself to be the best player I can be. I think that really showed up last season. Once that ball is in the air and it’s on my side or anywhere, I just have to have the ball. It’s not right if I don’t come down with the ball. That’s how I see it, so I just have to attack the ball at the highest point.”
Williams also is a candidate to help Tennessee replace
Velus Jones Jr. in the return game. He returned both a kickoff and punt for a touchdown in his college career and likes having the football in his hands. The Vols have discussed giving him an opportunity as a returner and he’s hoping for one.
“He talked about punt return, and it’s really fun,” Williams said. “My first time ever being at punt return was last season at the juco I was at. I was at practice one day and I told the coach to give me a chance to go back there and return at practice one day. That following week we had a game, so he was like, ‘Go back there and try it.’ That game, I think it was the first punt that I returned back (for a touchdown), so it was pretty nice.
“Just like I said earlier, you just practice how you play so I obviously prepare for that, also, and I hope I do have a chance of going back there for punt return or kickoff return either way. It’s pretty fun. I like it a lot.”
