'Move Forward:' How Ryan Coleman-Williams Responded to Early Mistakes Against ECU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — All of the cards are on the table for Ryan Coleman-Williams.

Few players have been more scrutinized over the offseason, and even fewer have quite as much pressure on them this season as the junior receiver does. Coleman-Williams appeared primed for a dominant performance against East Carolina as the centerpiece of the Keelon Russell-led offense.

And he did end up with elite numbers: five catches, 130 yards, and a 23-yard punt return. But all of the success came after a nightmarish start to the game, which saw a perfect pass bounce incomplete off his newly-bare fingertips.

Coleman-Williams would unofficially drop another ball in the end zone minutes later, as a pass ricocheted off his hands, off a defender's back, and into another Pirate's arms for what would have been a comically devastating end zone interception, the first off Russell's career. Fortunately for both players, an ECU offsides had made it a free play, and that was the final drop of the game for Alabama.

"I've been around him long enough to know what his expectation is, and I also know because I've been around long enough with him what that response is going to look like," head coach Kalen DeBoer said of Coleman-Williams' response. "As much as he's going to look at it and be upset about it, he knows that there's nothing he can do other than move forward. And I thought he did that, made some big plays for us, some explosive plays, and you know had some catches in contact too, where he got hit."

On the Crimson Tide's very next drive, Coleman-Williams notched a 58-yard reception, the team's longest play of the game, re-establishing the dominant tone that was expected pregame.

"It doesn't phase him," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. "He's just going to keep working, and we're going to keep feeding him the ball. You know, I thought how he responded was exactly how I would expect a third-year player like Ryan to respond. And that's just with confidence. He knows he's going to make those plays, and he had a couple catches that he got whacked on and hung onto the ball. So, you know, for us, business as usual."

Drops were the biggest problem last year during Coleman-Williams' sophomore slump. Obviously, the ideal world for Alabama is one where the superstar wide receiver simply doesn't drop passes, but the understanding that he is mentally capable of moving past a mistake and still produce could prove very meaningful over the course of the season.

"For him, it's just slowing it down and catching first, and the rest will take care of itself," DeBoer said. "He's such a good athlete, such a good player.”

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