Indiana Wide Receiver E.J. Williams Proves You Can Return From Transfer Portal

After in-season transfer portal entry last fall, E.J. Williams and Curt Cignetti decided they were better together than apart.

Indiana’s E.J. Williams Jr. (7) runs after a catch during spring practice at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, April 3, 2025. / Bobby Goddin/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For a player who has played 12 games in two seasons for Indiana football, wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr. has had quite a saga since he arrived from Clemson in the 2023 offseason.

Williams has been in and out of the lineup due to multiple injuries in both seasons – and that’s just the standard setback.

Williams also had a strange turn in the transfer portal in the middle of the 2024 season.

Ultimately, however, both head coach Curt Cignetti and Williams decided they were still a good match for one another. Williams re-committed to Indiana after spending the climax of the Hoosiers’ College Football Playoff season temporarily out of the picture in the portal.

Now, with Williams back in the fold and fully committed, Cignetti, Williams and Indiana football are ready to move on together.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of good football teams. I don’t know want to sound cocky, but with the way dudes practice and the way that they work hard, you know what it looks like. You know you’re going to have a good season,” Williams said of Indiana football.

“The execution, the plays, the aggressiveness, how fast everybody is flying around to the ball. I saw that at Clemson my freshman year and just being part of that environment. With the guys Cig brought in, he turned this team into one of the best programs in the Big Ten. Of course I want to be a part of that,” Williams added.

There was no guarantee Williams would be back. The whole situation came about last fall. Williams had already missed the first three games of the season. He played in four games through Indiana’s October victory over Nebraska.

The NCAA rule on redshirts for football is that you can still claim a redshirt season if a player participates in four games or fewer.

It’s become a trend in college football for some players to play those four games and then declare their intent to go into the transfer portal to protect their year of eligibility. Previous to Williams going that route last fall, Donaven McCulley did the same thing.

It’s a controversial practice because a player is essentially walking away from their team mid-season.

It’s not something that Cignetti was going to agree to just because Williams wanted to do it. Cignetti explained his view in a February press conference.

“E.J. wanted to redshirt after his fourth game. And like I said to him, I decide who redshirts. If you can help the team, then that's what everybody is here to do,” Cignetti said. “And he had dreams of playing in the league. It was his last year. So his only recourse was to go into the portal.”

This is the down side of so-called “player power.” Players can exercise their power, but it sometimes comes with unintended consequences.

Williams had to go into the transfer portal to maintain his remaining year of eligibility, but he wasn’t a fan of doing so.

“I didn't really want to go into the portal to start off with, but it was like a team rule that coach Cignetti has that guys that redshirt can't be a part of the team, so I understood that. I wanted to do what was best for me, so I decided to go into the portal,” Williams said.

From mid-October to mid-December, Williams was able to be recruited by other schools, and he did have conversations with a few.

“It was definitely mixed emotions. Of course, I want to be part of something special like (the CFP) here at IU, knowing our past and our record and stuff the year before that,” Williams said. “It was good seeing my guys like Coop [Omar Cooper Jr.], Elijah [Sarratt], Myles Price, Miles Cross, Ke'Shawn [Williams] make the plays I knew they had made in practice that I was seeing every day.”

When the season ended, Cignetti and Williams broke bread and decided they were better together.

“I happened to be on a visit at one school, and coach Cig reached out to me and we had a good talk, and I decided I was going to come back,” Williams said.

At the end of the day, two men made business decisions that briefly kept them apart before it brought them back together.

“I've always liked him personally. I like his work habits, I like his talent, and he's got a burning desire to be good. We just got to keep him on the field,” Cignetti noted.

There’s the rub with Williams. He’s been out more often than he’s been in. Williams admitted that some of this is by design. When he’s hurt, he wants to be all the way back before he returns.

“I’m not in a rush, because if I know if I go out there and rush I’m not going to be able to be as free, stick as hard as I want to, play as fast as I want to,” Williams said.

“I stayed out a really long time, maybe a month, a month-and-a-half, two months. Because I want to make sure I’m good and ready to go. Once I’m out there, I’m not focused on the injury anymore, I’m focused on my job,” he added.

When Williams has been active, he’s been productive. In the final month of the 2023 season, when Indiana reached some stability with Brendan Sorsby at quarterback, Williams had 20 catches for 247 yards.

Williams has been on the practice field throughout spring practices. He’s developing a relationship with new quarterback Fernando Mendoza and is eager to contribute as Indiana strives to make the College Football Playoff again.

“The mindset never changes for me. When I’m available on the field I always play fast, go 100%, be the person I know I can be. I’m always in a good head space with things like that,” Williams said.

He’s part of a competitive wide receiver group. Experienced players like Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. are clear candidates to be starters. Williams might also be there, but players like Lebron Bond and Makai Jackson also will make a push.

“We have so many guys who can stretch the field. We create a lot of havoc on the defense when we can create so many options,” Williams said.

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