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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ALABAMA COACH KALEN DeBoer and quarterback Jalen Milroe aren’t the only ones thrilled that receiver Ryan Williams decided to forego his senior year of high school to join the Crimson Tide this season. So are the high school football coaches who competed against Williams, the only two-time Mr. Football in Alabama history, the previous three seasons.
“Somebody texted me and said, ‘I bet you’re glad Ryan Williams reclassified,'” said Ham Barnett, head coach at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile. “I told him my defensive backs were happy for sure.”
In three seasons at Saraland High School, just 10 miles north of Mobile, Williams had more than 4,400 yards of total offense and scored 76 touchdowns in 39 games — 47 receiving, 24 rushing, 1 passing and 4 on punt and kick returns.
Williams’ meteoric rise as a Crimson Tide freshman has been one of the top stories in the first half of the 2024 season.
Going into Saturday’s contest at No. 11 Tennessee (3:30 p.m. ET/ABC, ESPN+), Williams leads No. 7 Alabama with 23 catches for 576 yards with six touchdowns. His 25-yard average on receptions leads the FBS.
Those who watched him compete in youth leagues and high school aren’t that surprised by his instant impact.
“He would make plays that were not there, when you think you’ve got everything covered,” Barnett said. “He’d just make people miss. He was just a problem — a matchup nightmare for everybody. The things I see on Saturday are exactly what he was doing on Friday nights.”
Williams’ biggest moment so far came on Sept. 28 when he beat two Georgia defenders to haul in a 75-yard touchdown with 2:18 left in Alabama’s 41-34 victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
It was the type of explosive play Williams had made so many times before.
“Every game, he did something that left you just kind of scratching your head or laughing,” Saraland High coach Jeff Kelly said. “It was something all the time.”
BY NOW, YOU’VE probably heard more than once that Williams is only 17 years old. He turns 18 on Feb. 9.
“He’s an old soul,” said Tiffany Coleman, Williams’ mother. “People are like, ‘He’s so mature to be 17.’ His grandparents had a lot to do with that. His maturity and foundation came from them.”
Coleman was 18 years old when Ryan was born. His father, Ryan Williams, was 17. A few months after Ryan came into the world, his father left for college. An all-state receiver at B.C. Rain High in Mobile, the elder Williams signed with Auburn as a cornerback in February 2007. He spent two seasons with the Tigers before transferring to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi in 2009.
Williams’ father finished his college career at Louisiana Tech — a knee injury limited him to only two games as a senior in 2011.
While his father was at college, Williams lived with his paternal grandparents, Robert and Catherine Williams. His grandfather was retired, so he cooked breakfast for his grandson each morning and made sure his clothes were ironed for school. They were inseparable.
“He was always with his grandfather,” Coleman said. “He would take him to practice. He would take him to school. He was Robert’s shotgun buddy, you know?”
Robert Williams also helped introduce his grandson to football. They watched Auburn and Alabama games on TV together, as well as Michigan and Ohio State replays on the newly launched Big Ten Network. When Williams accompanied his grandfather to the neighborhood barbershop, the other patrons were surprised by the child’s vast knowledge of the game.
“With Ryan knowing that his dad played football, he was already all-in,” Coleman said. “He used to watch his dad do workouts when he came home. I’m not going to say he was destined to play football, but he already loved the game because that’s all he was around.”
Once Williams’ father returned home from Louisiana Tech, he nurtured his son’s interest in football. Williams was in the backyard on many mornings going through drills that his father learned at college — sprints, cones, proper angles and pass routes.
“When I came home from school, football was still fresh,” Williams’ father said. “He was just happy to be spending time with me, and we went in the backyard and did the same things we were doing in college. I broke it down to his level and it accelerated as we both got older.”
AS A 5-YEAR-OLD, Williams wanted to play running back. His first youth league coach put him at quarterback.
“He was a playmaker,” Coleman said. “When he was a quarterback, if he couldn’t find anybody open, he was like Cam Newton out there. He’s taking off and he’s going to score.”
Playing for the Spartans in the Saraland Youth Football League, Williams scored five touchdowns in a win over the Municipal Park Giants. His father’s best friend, Luther Page, dubbed his godson “Hollywood” after the game. The moniker has stayed with him throughout his career. “Every Saturday, we knew Hollywood was going to put on a show,” Coleman said. Soon, Hollywood was celebrating touchdowns with the latest dances he’d seen on the internet such as the Nae Nae or Woah.
Robert Williams didn’t like his grandson showboating, however, and told him, “Hey, man, act like you’ve been there before. Don’t get down there and celebrate. Just hand the ball to the referee and go about your business.”
The celebrations continued.
“If you’re Hollywood, you’ve got to be Hollywood,” Coleman said.
In the fifth grade, Williams joined the Eight Mile Giants of the Mobile Youth Football Conference. The Giants already had a quarterback, so he played receiver for the first time. Hollywood didn’t slow down at a new position on a new team.
“You’d see him working out with his dad before games, and you could just tell that the kid was different because of his work ethic,” said Jermaine Rogers, an assistant coach with the Giants. “His talent was out of this world, but his work ethic was out of this universe.”
The Giants came up with another name for their team, “First 48 Boyz,” because Rogers, a homicide detective for the Mobile Police Department, appeared in the reality TV show, “The First 48.” Williams’ teammates included Saraland High defensive tackle Antonio Coleman, who is committed to Auburn, and Williamson High offensive tackle Carde Smith, who is headed to USC.
Williams was a superstar for the Giants, even proclaiming in a video taken at the time, “My name is Hollywood Williams, and I’m the No. 1 receiver in the nation.”
The short clip would prove to be prophetic.
AFTER PLAYING QUARTERBACK for three seasons in middle school, Williams was poised to run the offense for the ninth-grade team at Saraland High in 2021. He was working with the varsity squad during preseason camp and stayed after practice one day to throw with receiver Jarel Williams, who is now a sophomore at West Virginia.
Just a week before the season opener, the Spartans were still looking for a third receiver, and assistant coach Brett Boutwell noticed Williams running routes and catching passes out the office window.
“Coach Boutwell looked out there and said, ‘Hey, we need to give Ryan a shot,'” Kelly said. “He had a natural something special to him. He was 14 years old and playing against 17- and 18-year-olds. By the second half of the season and the playoffs, he was making some big plays.
“If they didn’t stay after practice that day and get those extra reps, he might have been a ninth-grade quarterback that year. I don’t know. We kind of stumbled into it.”
The summer before Williams’ sophomore season, Kelly told anyone who would listen: “Ryan is going to take over the state and nobody knows who he is.”
In Saraland High’s season opener in 2022, Williams scored his team’s first four touchdowns on a 75-yard punt return and three catches. He had 12 receptions for 138 yards in a 42-23 win against Daphne High.
Two weeks later, on the Spartans’ first offensive play against St. Paul’s Episcopal, an official sent quarterback K.J. Lacey back to the sideline because he wasn’t wearing proper knee pads. Williams lined up at receiver, motioned to quarterback and scored a 71-yard touchdown on a sweep.
“We pinched everybody and they decided to run stretch,” Barnett said. “He made two guys miss and outran them. We had a Division I safety [Chris Bracy] on that team too. He’s a starter at UAB now, and he outran him and beat him to the edge.”
Lacey, who is committed to Texas, returned to the field on Saraland High’s next possession. Williams ran for 103 yards with three touchdowns and caught another score in a 42-14 victory.
THROUGH SIX GAMES as a sophomore, Williams scored 18 times in 50 touches on offense. He committed to play for Alabama coach Nick Saban after scoring twice in a 48-7 rout of Baldwin County on Oct. 7, 2022.
Two weeks later, Saraland High, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, suffered its first defeat, losing 27-26 at Theodore High on a 25-yard field goal with 1:19 left. Williams scored on a 76-yard punt return and a 13-yard reception.
His best work was still to come.
In the second round of the state playoffs, Williams scored a 68-yard touchdown on a go route on the first playoff from scrimmage against Hillcrest High in Tuscaloosa.
“Right out of the gate,” Hillcrest High coach Jamie Mitchell said. “He let us know real quick what was coming.”
Against the unbeaten Patriots, who had one of the best defenses in the state, Williams had eight catches for 240 yards with three touchdowns. He ran for two scores and threw another one in a 56-31 rout. “I’ve coached for 34 years and it’s hard for me to remember a player that had a bigger impact on a game than him,” Mitchell said. “He just single-handedly dismantled us, and we had a really good football team. He made it look really easy against us.”
Mitchell’s teams won state championships in two states. He coached Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown at Starkville High in Mississippi.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to get those guys the ball, even as good as they are,” Mitchell said. “[Williams] just had a knack for finding space and creating huge, explosive plays. When you look at him, there’s nothing in his appearance that’s going to strike fear in you. He’s not a big kid.
“But once the ball is snapped, his twitch and his ability to create room and space for himself are unreal. He has an innate ability to get to 10th gear in just a blink of an eye.”
In a 57-56 win in overtime against Homewood High in the state quarterfinals, Williams ran 10 times for 159 yards with two touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 160 with one score. The Spartans needed every bit of his production after nearly squandering a 27-0 lead.
Saraland High avenged its only loss of the season with a 21-6 win over Theodore High in the semifinals to reach the state championship game.
At Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, Williams scored four touchdowns and had 291 all-purpose yards in a 38-17 win over Mountain Brook to give Saraland its first state title. Williams’ 58-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 play helped seal it. He was named MVP of the championship game.
As a sophomore, Williams had 1,641 receiving yards with 24 touchdowns and 700 rushing yards with 15 scores. He threw for a touchdown and ran back two punts for scores. He became the first sophomore to win the state’s Mr. Football honor.
“It was a highlight reel all year,” Kelly said. “He had big moments and dynamite moments and just played at a different speed and level. I don’t want to take it for granted, but it was kind of commonplace. The things that would stand out to everybody else watching him for the first time was just kind of another Friday night in Saraland.”
0:57
Ryan Williams elevates for unreal Alabama TD
Jalen Milroe throws it up the sideline to Ryan Williams, who comes down with ball, stays inbounds, then scores a touchdown for Alabama.
IN MID-JULY 2023, Williams broke the news to Kelly that he was reclassifying to the Class of 2024 and his junior season would be his final one at Saraland High. Williams didn’t publicly announce his decision until Dec. 23.
“I think it speaks volumes about who he is,” Kelly said. “He didn’t want it to be out there because he didn’t want to be a distraction for his teammates. We had a team that had a chance to win another state title. He and his family did a tremendous job keeping that decision private.”
Saraland High’s opener against Lipscomb Academy in Nashville was broadcast by ESPN. Williams was covered by Tennessee commitment Kaleb Beasley throughout the game. He scored on a 50-yard catch and run in the third quarter, then put the Spartans ahead 31-24 when he ran into the end zone on the first play of overtime. Lipscomb answered with a touchdown but missed the extra point in Saraland’s 31-30 victory.
Along with Williams’ big-play ability and Lacey’s arm, Saraland relied on its dominant defense in going 10-0 in the regular season. After the nail-biter against Lipscomb Academy, the Spartans outscored their next nine opponents, 513-103. They scored on all 10 possessions in a 70-20 rout of Foley High, then Lacey threw seven touchdowns — three to Williams — in a 59-20 win against Blount High.
Saraland had a 35-0 lead at the half against Theodore High, the only team to beat them in 2022, before winning 42-13.
After cruising through its first four playoff games to run the state’s longest winning streak to 20 games, the Spartans faced Clay-Chalkville High with a chance to win back-to-back Class 6A state titles. The game was played at Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium, and Williams provided Crimson Tide fans with a preview of what was to come.
Williams had 343 all-purpose yards and scored all four of Saraland’s touchdowns in a 31-28 loss. Clay-Chalkville’s defense stopped Lacey at its 1-yard line on the final play of the game. Williams hauled in 11 passes for 232 yards with two scores, ran for 27 yards with one score and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 86 yards for another touchdown.
It was a fitting ending for a player who would become the state’s first two-time winner of the Mr. Football award, and it wouldn’t be the last time he would star at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Barnett, who describes himself as an Alabama football fan, is happy Williams is now competing for the Crimson Tide — and not against his team.
Barnett called Williams the best high school skill player the talent-rich Mobile area has produced. That includes former NFL players Julio Jones, T.J. Yeldon, Pat White and others.
“He’s something different with his wiggle,” Barnett said. “He can change direction and feel where defenders are, even in the air, and land and make a move like I’ve never seen before.
“We knew he was more elite than all the high school players he was going against. He gets to the [college] level, and you think it might even out a little bit, especially at his age. Watching him doing the same things he was doing against high school kids, at 17, really amazes me.”