State native Williams commits to UConn
UConn football will be adding another standout Connecticut native to its ranks as Teddy Williams joins the recruiting class of 2023.
After a postgraduate season this fall at Salisbury, Williams joins his fellow 2021 New Haven Register 1st Team All-State selections Victor Rosa and Cam Edwards with the Huskies and coach Jim Mora.
“I am really excited. I have been watching UConn since I was like 5-years old,” Williams said. “Seeing them have some off years in the past and now starting to really turn it around with Coach Mora gets me really excited.”
Williams, Rosa and Edwards were the three finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year in 2021.
In 2021 for Class S state champion Cromwell/Portland, Williams was one of the most electric players in the state, scoring 30 touchdowns while lining up as a receiver, running back and linebacker.
Williams caught 60 passes for 1,396 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 289 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries. Defensively, Williams made 110 tackles, including 16 for a loss. He also forced six fumbles, had six fumble recoveries and four interceptions. He was named to the New Haven Register/GameTimeCT AllState team as a linebacker.
“I am excited to be joining (Rosa and Edwards),” Williams said. “It is always good to go to a big D-I school and see other kids from your state and being able to play on the same team with them. It is going to be really fun.”
In Cromwell/Portland’s 2021 Class S championship win over Bloomfield, Williams scored all three of his team’s touchdowns on a reception, fumble recovery and an interception.
After his senior year, Williams took a postgrad year Salisbury where he continued to showcase his diverse skill set.
“This year I was mainly going to focus on receiver, but I also ended up playing linebacker, too,” Williams said. “Then three games into the season two of our running backs got hurt, so I ended up bouncing back between receiver and running back on offense for the rest of the season. I did similar things to what I did last year.”
Williams began contact with the new UConn coaching staff in the summer after attending a camp in Storrs. About midway through the summer, he suffered an ankle injury that derailed his recruiting process.
“I ended up getting hurt toward the middle of the summer. I hurt my ankle so I was out for two months and couldn’t go to any more camps,” Williams said. “When I got hurt, a lot of the coaches I was talking to before stopped talking to me besides the UConn ones.”
Williams main points of contact through UConn were tight ends coach John Marinelli and general manager Preston Pehrson. After attending a few games this year, Williams took a tour of the facilities last week which solidified his decision.
“I had gone up on a couple game visits, but when I went up this week and saw the facilities and everything, I just knew that this was where I wanted to go,” Williams said.