Sweeping Changes Are Nothing New To Williams
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina senior running back Antonio Williams is no stranger to change.
The New London, NC, native, who was originally recruited by Larry Fedora and his staff when he was a 4-star recruit in the 2016 class, verbally committed to UNC in Sept. 2013 but went on to decommit some ten months later.
He eventually committed to Wisconsin in Dec. 2014 before flipping his allegiance to Ohio State in Oct. 2015 and enrolling that subsequent spring.
In his first two seasons under Buckeyes’ coach Urban Meyer, Williams saw limited action, carrying the ball 63 times for a total of 318 yards. Things didn’t go quite as planned for him in Columbus, but his relationship with Meyer was always healthy.
“I haven't talked to him since I left but it was good while I was at Ohio State,” Williams said On Tuesday. “We understood the parting ways thing and what I needed to do in order to further my career in football and education and all that and I had some family issues. So, he was cool with that and, me and Coach Meyer, we’re good friends.”
The lack of playing time combined with other personal matters led Williams back to where he originally wanted to go to school. After announcing his plans to transfer following the 2017 campaign, he ended up at UNC last April and ran for 501 yards on 91 carries while scoring five touchdowns in his first season as a Tar Heel.
Despite his solid season, the team struggled, amassing a 2-9 record that led to Fedora getting fired in late November. Just two days later, Mack Brown was announced as his successor, becoming Williams’ third head coach in the last three years.
While such a series of sweeping changes in a short period of time may have deterred some, Williams has embraced the journey instead and enjoyed learning from some of college football’s best minds.
“I’ve taken a lot in from some great coaches,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of guys can say they've played for Urban Meyer, Larry Fedora and Mack Brown. So, honestly, I’m just blessed to be able to say that.”
In his second and final season at UNC, Williams is a part of a stacked running back group that includes fellow senior Jordon Brown, junior Michael Carter along with sophomores Javonte Williams and British Brooks. With so much talent, it’s not outlandish to consider the Tar Heels could have one of the top backfields in the ACC this coming fall.
In order to do that, however, they’ll have to successfully adjust to the philosophies the new coaching staff is implementing, something Williams often referred to as ‘it’ following the Heels’ second spring practice.
“’It’ would be the changes in practice. It’s not a tremendous change, it’s just how these coaches want to operate,” Williams said. “Each staff is gonna be different, guys like to think a certain way but we’re getting used to it now. We’re getting used to how they like it and operating on their terms.”
Williams has already noticed the similarities between how Brown and Meyer like to run things, meaning the Tar Heels are certainly headed in the right direction if they’re looking to contend on the national stage again in the near future.
“I think it comes from Coach Brown being that championship type coach,” Williams said. “He’s been there, he knows what it takes and he’s bringing that here to Carolina.”
Changing the culture won’t be easy but having someone like Williams who’s experienced so much of it before is a big plus for this team as it enters a new era in Chapel Hill.