‘Dreams Became Reality’ for Four-Star Commit Williams
While the current crop of Clemson Tigers are attempting to cap another historic season with a run at the national title, a hungry group of 20 high school commitments are waiting in the wings for a chance to leave their mark on the school next season.
John Williams, a four-star recruit and an offensive tackle from Creekview High School in Canton, Ga., is among five offensive linemen who will work under the tutelage of assistant coach Robbie Caldwell at Clemson. Williams’ class of commits also includes four defensive linemen, a pair each of linebackers, running backs, wide receivers and safeties, along with a quarterback, cornerback and tight end.
Williams, who has had his eye on Clemson for the better part of five years, said coming to Tigertown was an easy decision.
“I've loved it since I first visited in (eighth) grade,” Williams said in a social media correspondence. “Clemson reminds me alot of my home.”
He said he “fell in love” with Clemson while attending an elite junior day even before he became a high school student.
“I kinda snuck into a junior day in (eighth) grade with a coach at another high school,” Williams said. “I didn't talk to any of the coaches then just got the tour and fell in love. Then got to come back for junior day my junior year (in high school) and met Coach (Dabo) Swinney and Coach Caldwell very briefly. (I) went back to camp that summer and really got to spend time with Coach Caldwell.”
'Everything he had'
Williams, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, has been a pivotal part of the offensive line at Creekview, helping lift the Grizzlies to a 12-1 record and a region title in 2018. This season, the team finished at 6-4 in Georgia Region 6AAAAAA.
Creekview head coach Trevor Williams, no relation to John, said the offensive tackle has come into his own as a leader on the line for the Grizzlies.
“His biggest improvement for us has been his run blocking,” Trevor Williams said. “He has great technique. He’s getting a bit of a nasty streak.”
John wasn’t always a bruiser in the trenches. His long time coach and trainer, Joe Ellis Jr., who owns Fury Performance Academy in Woodstock, Ga., said John was one of his first clients when the facility opened in 2012.
Ellis, who has a military background, said that when he began working with Williams, the boy was a little out of shape and overweight and would have to carry a “puke bucket” around the facility in case he overexerted himself.
But over the years, a combination of training with Ellis, working with other coaches and his own tenacious spirit helped whip Williams into shape.
“He came in every time, and he just gave me everything he had,” Ellis said. “Some of the things we did, I didn’t think he would ever be able to possibly do it, and a lot of times he wasn’t able to, but the one thing that stood out about John is he never quit. He never gave up.”
“John is a kid that is the epitome of, if you work hard you will get the desired results, and as long as you stay focused on your goals, you’ll achieve them,” Ellis added.
Williams’ determination and drive to achieve his goals made him one of the success stories at the training center, Ellis said.
“Every single year he came back, and every single year he gave me everything he had, and every single year he just kept getting bigger and stronger and wanting more and wanting more, and all of his hard work really started translating” to success, Ellis said.
Williams said Ellis has been the “most influential” coach in his life in molding him into the player he is today.
“Coach Joe, the one person, besides my parents, that has always believed in me and saw my potential even before I did,” Williams said. “He made me believe I could do anything, and he was right. Dreams became reality. He always seems to know what is going on in my head just by looking at me and demands everything I have at every session. He will accept no less.”
Mind over matter
Williams was an early commit to Clemson, deciding to come to the college as a high school junior in September 2018. Shortly thereafter, he suffered a torn labrum in the fall of that year but played football through the injury. After having surgery that winter, he was able to play his senior year at Creekview.
“I am very close to 100 (percent) from an injury standpoint but because I wanted to play my senior year, it just kind of froze me where I was strength-wise,” Williams said about his conditioning, noting that his physical therapist limited his weight training to 60 percent of his pre-injury limits through the recovery period.
Williams said that although his training with Ellis has been physically demanding, the trainer’s approach has paid dividends.
“He has drilled into me, since I was 10, that no matter what my body is feeling my mind is always in control, and he trains me that way,” Williams said. “As hard as every session is with him, he is addicting and makes you love the grind. He has always focused on training me like an athlete that plays OL instead of training me like an Offensive Lineman. I do all the drills and training that the skill guys did in addition to OL specific training.”
A 'focused' player
Trevor Williams, who took the helm at Creekview in March, said he thought John had the necessary “tools” to be successful at Clemson.
“Obviously, we are very proud of John and having a top tier prospect brings attention and opportunities to other players in our program now and in the future,” Trevor said.
John Williams is in no danger of falling into the same distractions and pitfalls as some young players who leave home and go to college, Ellis said.
“That’s not who he is,” Ellis said about Williams. “He’s a focused individual. He knows what he wants.”
Playing football at Clemson was Williams’ “lifelong dream,” Ellis said, noting that the offensive tackle was the “epitome of a student athlete” who was focused on doing well athletically and academically at college.
“There’s no concern about him going to Clemson and going to college because if anything else, when you go to a program like that, the program’s so great that everyone steps their game up around everyone else,” Ellis said. “Up there everyone makes everyone better, and I think that the best is yet to come with John.”
