Jalen Williams: His 'Why'
CLEMSON -- Prior to the 2016 season, Clemson’s high-powered offense had the entire country in the palm of its hand.
The Tigers were coming off a disappointing 45-40 loss to Alabama in what was game one of the trilogy that would soon unfold. The offense in that game, led by Deshaun Watson and company, accumulated 550 yards of total offense and 31 first downs in the loss.
With the return of Watson and other key playmakers on that side of the ball like Mike Williams who missed basically the entire season with a neck injury, the optimism for Clemson’s offense to be all-time great was at an all-time high.
Members of the offense like tight end Jordan Leggett fielded questions in the offseason about the offense and if they thought they could be one of the most dominant offenses in ACC history.
Leggett said he knew the group would be special and wasn’t going to pay attention to the hype surrounding his teammates. The premise was if the offense did its job, Clemson would be a tough opponent to hang with thanks to the recency bias of hanging with Alabama on the biggest stage.
But after the offense sputtered in its first two games against Auburn and Troy, which the Tigers escaped by the skin of their teeth, something was off. So off that Watson approached the media with what seemed like an unnecessary apology the next Monday before his game against South Carolina State.
It was an apology for his body language, mindset, and how he spoke to the media. He vowed there would be a change. It seemed sincere.
The offense had heard the hype surrounding them all offseason. When you talk up a group of 18-20 year-olds, odds are they are going to let their guard down a little bit. It’s human nature.
Two years later, there is a similar type of vibe surrounding Clemson’s defense as eight starters return, four of them being Power Rangers.
People outside this team have already dubbed this defense as the best in college football, which is why many other people have Clemson ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the early polls.
So far this spring, it feels like some members of this defense who could be prepping for the NFL Draft right now aren’t taking it as seriously after what we’ve heard so far from Brent Venables because of the hype surrounding them.
These players are awfully good, and they know it.
But linebacker Jalen Williams doesn’t hear any of the noise from the outside surrounding his unit.
The graduate junior from Columbia, South Carolina can hardly be found on social media. He doesn’t have an Instagram account, Snapchat, or Twitter.
He doesn’t have cable so the only shows he watches are on Netflix and Hulu. Williams doesn’t hear any of the talk about rankings or hype unless it’s brought up within the walls of the Allen Reeves Football Complex.
But he does know about the “bonehead” mistakes that have been constantly made in spring practice thus far on defense. Whether it’s the simple things like losing leverage or not having great technique, Williams said with eight veterans on that side of the ball there should be relatively no issues.
The issues may be the same type of issues that plagued Clemson's offense at the beginning of 2016.
“I’d probably say looking ahead," Williams said on pinpointing what the cause of the defense's struggles have been.
"Spring is long, the season is long. We bang a lot. I guess players just want to get it over with as soon as possible and as quickly as possible and try to get to that time off we get at the summer, maybe.”
Williams’ life took a turn when his father Jimmie Williams died of Leukemia in 2012. He’s now the man in the life of his mother and two younger sisters who are 14 and 17.
His father always pushed him to be the best he could be at a young age when he was a two-sport athlete on the basketball court and football field. Now that he’s only a football player, he’s found a coach in Venables that pushes him as hard as his father did.
“He just knows how great we can be,” Williams said.
This spring has been a productive one for Williams according to Dabo Swinney. Williams has been a utility player who can play all three positions at the linebacker spot and takes pride in what he does on special teams. He was brought to Clemson because of his knowledge of the game and his natural football instincts.
Williams wants to improve his man-coverage and be a “lockdown guy” in the SAM position. He takes pride in filling the void that Dorian O’Daniel left behind and wants to know the defense as a whole so he can help his surrounding teammates not fall victim to the human nature that caught Clemson’s offense off guard in 2016.
“He’s just a heck of a football player,” Swinney said of Williams. “Very smart, very instinctive. He’s tough. He plays faster than he is because he has good instincts and anticipates.”
The motivation for Williams in his final season at Clemson is the same chip on his shoulder that was placed upon him at a young age. He doesn’t “wow” you with his talent, but his effort is 110-percent there.
“That motivation for me comes from just the way I grew up, the way my parents raised me,” Williams said. “I got two little sisters so I got to take care of them.”
For his final season to be a success, the plan is simple: be consistent, grind every day, remember why he’s playing every time he touches the field.
“Right now, it’s for my sisters and my dad,” Williams added. “My dad was on me tough and he taught me at a young age at one point that I’d have to be there for my sisters.
“My ‘why’ is to make sure whenever I am done with life, I can take care of them and they are taken care for.”