Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Williams’ rise goes back to article, camp
CORAL GABLES — New Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback Jarren Williams has only appeared briefly in one game in his college career, and it was a 77-0 blowout of Savannah State in the home opener last season.
Without much of a sample size in college, UM fans may not know much about the redshirt freshman from Georgia, outside of his high school football accolades of being an Elite 11 quarterback and U.S. Army All-American as an incoming recruit in Miami’s 2018 class.
Upon beating out N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell for Miami’s starting quarterback job, here are five things you need to know about the Hurricanes’ new starting signal caller, Jarren Williams.
Motivated by an article that said he couldn’t play QB
Long before he was committed to or even recruited by Miami, Williams received his first bit of motivation to be a successful quarterback from an article written when he was a sophomore at Central Gwinnett High.
“It was at this camp, this Rivals camp, I remember,” Williams said. “It was some quarterback challenge thing. I went out there. I prepared for it. I didn’t do good, and I knew I didn’t do good.
“The article, when it came out, I remember them mentioning every quarterback, and then when it got to me, it was like, ‘I just can’t even see him playing this position at the next level.’ When I read that, I don’t know, it just did something to my spirit, like, I’m going to prove this guy wrong. Make him eat his words.’ I just remember that day. I still feel that. It really just made me work. I just went to work after that.”
Has worked with Deshaun Watson and Dwayne Haskins
During offseason work in Georgia with his personal quarterback trainer Quincy Avery, Williams has worked with Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and Redskins rookie signal caller Dwayne Haskins, Clemson and Ohio State alums, respectively.
“It’s a really great experience just to see how a pro goes through drills and how he treats everything,” Williams said. “Just being around those guys, you can just kind of feel their mindset. They’re really focused, and Deshaun Watson, watching him go through drills, like he’s so talented. He’s so smooth, like a very smooth and gifted passer.
“And Dwayne Haskins, a big guy, strong arm, and he’s another gifted passer too. Just watching them and how they maneuver and trying to pick up any little thing I can from them has helped my game.”
Williams also got to work with Jets quarterback Sam Darnold and Dolphins QB Josh Rosen during his Elite 11 experience, as well as panthers quarterback Cam Newton on a high school 7-on-7 team.
Williams says he tries to model his game after Watson and most closely resembles him, if he had to choose one.
More mature since nearly transferring
Although Williams didn’t want to talk much on Tuesday about last season, it’s one thing tight end Brevin Jordan noted about Williams’ transformation since his near transfer ahead of last year’s Pinstripe Bowl, as
Williams didn’t get a shot to play as Perry and Malik Rosier both struggled.
“His maturity,” Jordan said. “Last year, you can tell he was really down. He was Elite 11, All-American. He’s used to — I don’t want to say — things kind of being handed to him. For him, I would say it’s the maturity.”
The maturity has translated to decision-making skills on the field, which coach Manny Diaz noted would be a major point of emphasis in finding the starter. In Saturday night’s scrimmage, Diaz said Williams graded out at 88% on his decision-making.
“I’m poised,” Williams said. “The moment’s never too big for me. I’m going to lead the team, and I’m going to make plays and I’m going to do everything the offense can do to put points on the board.”
Has been staying off social media
And with that maturity has also come a focus on his craft.
Williams has stayed away from the distractions of social media. His last tweet was on Feb. 15, and it read “Deleting Twitter off my phone for a while.” On Instagram, he has 12 posts up on his page since that day.
“I’m not a real social media guy,” he said. “A lot of the stuff said on social media I haven’t read. I just try to keep my focus on what I have to focus on.”
First position was offensive lineman
Growing up playing youth football, Williams first played quarterback when he was 9. Before that, he was a running back.
But his first position, when he started playing as a 5-year-old, was offensive lineman.
“I was one of the bigger guys, so I was put on the offensive line,” he said.