The relationship Trae Williams had with his recruiter was like no other.
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That’s why Ohio University’s defensive line coach was recruiting Williams, a highly touted running back from a southern Ohio town called The Plains, outside Athens, where there are two games in town.
“There’s only one high school in the city, so on Friday nights everyone goes to the Athens game,” said Williams, a redshirt freshman cornerback for Northwestern. “Then on Saturday everyone goes to the Ohio Bobcats game. People were always like, ‘We’re going to get to see Trae for four more years.'”
They were excited because Williams rushed for more than 5,000 yards in high school and helped the Athens Bulldogs reach the state finals for the first time; because his father, Jesse, is Ohio’s defensive line coach; and most of all because he committed to the Bobcats early in the recruiting process.
Then NU coach Pat Fitzgerald came calling in December 2014. It was Williams’ first Power Five offer, but there was a catch.
He would be a cornerback, not a running back, and that was going to take some convincing.
“I played a little defensive back in high school, but in my mind I was a running back,” Williams said. “I was not feeling it at first.”
That was just the half of it.
Children of college coaches tend to have transient upbringings. Felicia Williams, Trae’s mother, said the family has lived in “five or six states — I think six,” but he became a local star in Athens and it became home.
Williams knew some people probably wouldn’t take the decision well. He also knew Jesse Williams wasn’t one of them.
“He obviously wanted me to go (to Ohio), but he’s also my dad,” Trae said. “The hardest part was living in the hometown of the Ohio Bobcats and everybody thinking I’m going to play there the next four years.”
Said Jesse: “I didn’t want him to feel like he had to please me. Honestly, the staff here, Coach (Frank) Solich, made it a lot easier than it could have been.”
Like recruiting, coaching itself is a relationship business. The guys who were coming to pry Trae away were friends.
“I’ve known (NU defensive backs coach) Jerry Brown for over 25 years,” Jesse said. “And I think the world of Coach Fitz and Coach (Mike) Hankwitz. Those factors made it easier for me. It was probably harder on him than it was for me.”
There was still the matter of switching positions, of agreeing to wait his turn in a crowded secondary in order to play a less glamorous role.
His father takes some credit for that one.
“All he ever heard in the house is that the toughest guys are on defense,” Jesse said. “I’ve always told him the great ones go get the ball. If you want to separate yourself, go get the dang ball and there are still ways to score.”
Junior safety Godwin Igwebuike, who hosted Williams on his official visit, takes credit too.
“We knew he was a tough sell,” Igwebuike said. “I could relate to him well because I’m from Ohio first of all, and I played running back in high school. He wanted to play running back in the big leagues. I told him, ‘You might not get the glory, but you make the hits, not take the hits.’
“If you have a great career at cornerback, in terms of the NFL you might have a little more value. The running back position in the NFL isn’t what it used to be. He has translated really well to the DB position. And he’s a real cool dude.”
The Wildcats hope Williams has a few dozen more starts like his first one.
Subbing for injured Matthew Harris, Williams was targeted 11 times and allowed just one catch in a 24-13 victory over Duke. He was named the team’s defensive player of the week.
“That was real cool,” he said. “I didn’t realize how well I did, but at the same time there’s a lot of room for improvement. I made a couple rookie mistakes I need to clean up.
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“My dad always says when you watch film, it is not as bad as you think and not as good as you think. I could have done a better job.”
Williams admitted he was questioning his decision early last season. That report did not make its way back to Athens, which is just as well.
“He knows he can’t come home,” Jesse said. “In fact, I’m trying to sell everything in his room. He can come back for a couple days or a week, but after that he has to go back. He is Coach Fitz’s now.”
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai