A Different Reed
April 25, 2006 07:26 AM | General
April 25, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Reed Williams wasn’t sure what to make of defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel’s suggestion earlier this spring that he switch to outside (sam) linebacker.
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| West Virginia's Reed Williams spent this spring learning a new position: sam linebacker.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
After all, Williams was coming along nicely at inside linebacker and last year was able to earn a letter playing on special teams as a true freshman. But with senior Jay Henry and junior Marc Magro entrenched at 1 and 2 on the depth chart this spring, the suggestion seemed like a reasonable one to Williams.
“Coach came up to me and asked me to try it for a couple of days and see how I’d do and if I didn’t do well they’d move me back,” Williams said. “But it’s worked out well and I’m sticking with it.”
Williams says the responsibilities between the two positions are vastly different. The mike linebacker has to have a good overall knowledge of the defense to make the correct calls and get everyone into the right spots, whereas the outside linebacker can focus mainly on his own duties.
“The mike has many, many responsibilities and is kind of the quarterback of the defense,” Williams said. “On the outside you just get the call and do what you’re supposed to do. At mike, if somebody is messing up you have to tell everybody what they have to do.”
Being a versatile player is perhaps the most important attribute needed to play the sam linebacker position. A sam linebacker must be able to play the run, rush the passer, and cover backs and receivers out in space.
“You’ve got to get out and pass rush and you take deeper drops,” Williams said.
Williams and Florida State transfer Barry Wright are backing up senior Bobby Hathaway right now, giving the Mountaineers its deepest pool of ‘backers since Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff came to West Virginia five years ago.
“Coach Casteel likes having guys rotating in there and he wants us all playing at full speed on every play,” Williams said. “You get tired and winded and it’s great to have someone else to throw in there and not miss a beat.”
Casteel has said repeatedly that more players are going to get onto the field this year. And the Moorefield High School product has done enough this spring to get into contention for substantial playing time this fall.
“Reed has been a pleasant surprise,” said Casteel. “We thought he was a good football player coming out of high school but the background of playing at a small school made us anxious to see how he was going to do. He has competed very well and he is right in the mix at the sam linebacker spot.”
Williams put up big numbers at Class A Moorefield located in the Eastern part of the state not far from the West Virginia-Virginia border, helping the Yellowjackets to a pair of state titles in 2001 and 2003 and another state playoff appearance in 2004. He averaged 130 tackles, 7 ½ sacks and 26 receptions per year during his prep career and was also the school’s class valedictorian and a member of the National Honor Society.
Those numbers and Reed’s 6-foot-2-inch, 235-pound frame got the attention of West Virginia coaches. Williams said it wasn’t really that difficult of a decision to make when WVU eventually came through with a scholarship offer.
“You kind of bleed that gold and blue and you grow up watching the Mountaineers play ball and it’s always been a dream of mine to play for them and now the dream continues,” he said.
Williams admits that being in a good high school program that has developed Division I players in the past has made his transition to college much easier.
“My brother (Justin) came here before me and a couple of guys before him came here from our small, little town so I knew it could be done and I wanted to give it a shot,” he said.
Williams remembers vividly his first West Virginia practice last fall.
“The sounds and the speeds are really overwhelming,” he said. “I was the biggest guy on the field in high school and I looked around here and I’m staring at 6-6 linemen across the board,” he said. “It’s a lot different.”
Williams really likes the family atmosphere Rodriguez and his coaches have cultivated in Morgantown. That atmosphere, says Williams, has helped him as much as anything.
“I came in with a good bunch of guys,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot from Jeff Noechel and I really respect him as a person. The same goes with Magro as well as the older guys like Boo (McLee) and Jay. I really just came into a team with brotherhood and it has really worked out well.”
Moving Reed Williams to sam linebacker has worked out well, too.
“He needs to continue working on his quickness but he’s a very, very good football player and he’s got a bright future ahead of him,” Casteel says.
