Williams settling in at Tech, jersey and all

By Dave Fawcett

Published: August 15, 2008

BLACKSBURG — Ryan Williams’ transition from high school football standout to incoming college freshman felt incomplete.

He’d taken all the steps so far to prepare for this next stage of his life, checking them off one by one.

• Make college choice to attend Virginia Tech in January before a nationally-televised audience and then sign off on it in February. Check and check.

• Arrive in Blacksburg in late June to get a head start on classes and begin football practice the first week of August. Check and check.

Everything was moving along as planned.

And yet, Williams sensed something was missing, even though he wasn’t sure what that was.

Then came an unexpected surprise a week ago at Virginia Tech’s Media Day when Williams received a white No. 34 jersey, flipped it over and saw his last name on the back.

All the other freshmen preparing for media day either had no name on their jersey or the wrong name.

Not Williams. He had a name and it was correct.

Now, it clicked. He was no longer just a talented prospect with aspirations of playing at Virginia Tech. He was, in his mind, officially a member of the team. 

“I put that jersey on and thought, ‘I’m a Hokie,’ ” Williams said.

Virginia Tech faces a number of key questions this preseason, but among the biggest is who will start at tailback. Branden Ore, last year’s starter, is gone, leaving six contenders vying for the job. The competition remains wide open.

The starter could be junior Kenny Lewis, who has the most experience. It could be junior Jahre Cheeseman, who is listed with Lewis as a co-starter on the depth chart. It could be Darren Evans, a red-shirt freshman and Parade All-American.

Or it could be Williams, the most inexperienced player of the group, yet the most highly touted of any of them.

Virginia Tech’s second scrimmage today could go a long way toward cutting down the crowded backfield, but at this point, Williams remains in the running for a starting spot. And it’s no secret Tech has high expectations for its talented freshman. 

The Hokies have been following him since his freshman year of high school when the coaching staff received a tape from Loren Johnson, Williams’ head coach at Stonewall Jackson.

A former standout defensive back at Virginia Tech, Johnson sent the tape to the coaches so they could look at some of his upperclassmen.

But it was Williams who caught the eye of Virginia Tech running backs coach Billy Hite.

“I told Ryan after that, I’d offer him right now,” Hite said. “That’s how impressive he was as a true freshman.”

When they recruited him, the Hokies made it clear Williams was their first and only choice at running back for the class of 2008 and that he could play as a freshman.

“I probably saw 150 backs and he was the one we had ranked No. 1,” Hite said. “In fact, we didn’t have another kid on the board at that time. He was the only one we were recruiting. If he didn’t come here, we wouldn’t have gotten a back this year.”

Although Williams had 30-plus Division I offers to choose from, he eventually narrowed his list down to Tech and Boston College.

He made official visits to both schools in December, but in the end he felt more comfortable with the Hokies.

And the Hokies, in turn, made sure that Williams felt comfortable with them.

On the night before Williams was scheduled to leave for his official visit to Boston College, four members of the Virginia Tech coaching staff, led by head coach Frank Beamer, came to Williams’ house in Manassas for a planned meeting.

The coaches sat down with Williams and his mother, Sharon Johnson, and talked with them for an hour. The atmosphere was laid back with everyone feeling right at home.

Sharon Johnson had been through enough of the recruiting process to be wary about the sincerity of a recruiter’s pitch.

But she had no reservations about Virginia Tech. They were upfront and honest from the start. 

“With recruiting, you can’t tell whether people are being fake or not,” she said. “I didn’t get that [fake] feeling with them.”

A SuperPrep all-American who was rated the No. 3 running back in the country by Rivals.com, Williams hasn’t shied away from any of the expectations.

He arrived at Virginia Tech with the intention of playing right away, something that is not unprecedented in Hokie history, but is not typical either.

Kevin Jones, Virginia Tech’s highest rated recruit in school history when he came in 2001, never redshirted and, after a stellar career, became a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions.

Williams, who Hite said is the best running back the Hokies have signed since Jones, has similar aspirations.

“I want to be a highly touted running back coming out of high school, a highly touted running back coming out of college and one of the best running backs in the NFL,” Williams said. “I want to be the greatest and that is what I am motivated to do.”

Williams knows playing time won’t be handed to him. He also knows he can’t get by on his past accomplishments or natural talent.

The pace is more hectic than any two-a-day practices he experienced in high school. And the learning curve is much steeper as he figures out things like proper pass blocking techniques that running backs must do.

“That’s the thing I worry the most about. Can they do all the different protections we ask them to do?” Hite said. “He’s picking that up right now.”

His play, while enduring some rough patches at times as he adjusts, has earned him several nicknames from his teammates, including “Mr. Juke ‘Em,” “Jitterbug,” “Mr. Hot Feet” and “Little Barry,” which is a reference to Barry Sanders, one of Williams’ favorite players.

“Who wouldn’t want to be a starting running back for a team like Virginia Tech [as a freshman]?” Williams said. “I know that would be hard to do and would require a lot of hard work, but I am willing to do that.”

Even though he turned 18 in April, Williams has always been mature for his age and is not afraid to speak his mind.

Although done in a tactful, modest way, his comments are always well thought out, leaving the listener with a clear understanding of where Williams stands.

During the recruiting process, some schools wanted Williams as a wide receiver, others as a safety. Williams, though, always saw himself as a running back and never wavered from that.

“Ryan is a down to earth regular guy who is trying to chase his dream,” Sharon Johnson said. “And he won’t let anything stand in his way.”

At media day, Williams drew plenty of attention. He was a guy people had heard about, but had never seen in person or talked to at any great length up until that point.

For the most part during his senior season at Stonewall, Williams kept a low profile as he tried to keep the focus on his team rather than on himself. 

Williams was further cloaked in mystery because a nagging ankle injury sidelined him for much of the season.

Unveiled last Saturday, Williams answered many of the same questions: who else had recruited him, why he chose Virginia Tech, what about his aspirations to play and contribute right away.

When he was done with the interviews, four Virginia Tech fans stopped him. They asked him to sign their shirts and pose for a picture.

Williams obliged them all before heading through the tunnel that would eventually take him to the locker room and provide a momentary break before having to return to practice three hours later.

If it wasn’t apparent before, it was clear now. 

People knew who Williams was, with or without the name on the back of his jersey.

David Fawcett is the sports editor of the News & Messenger. Reach him at (703) 878-8052 or at .