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Urban Meyer recalls recruitment of Jameson Williams at Ohio State

by:Austin Brezina•03/15/23•

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer shared a fun story with On3’s Tim May about his time recruiting receiver Jameson Williams in high school. The once-Ohio State receiver eventually transferred to Alabama where he had a phenomenal 2021-22 season, but his college start came with the Buckeyes after a meeting between Meyer and a young Williams.

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Urban Meyer shares first time recruiting Jameson Williams

There’s no question that college football programs have their work cut out for them identifying the stars of tomorrow during the recruiting trail, but Meyer shared a story of a hilarious “near-miss” that had a great ending. As their conversation turned to Williams and how he went to Alabama for playing time, May joked that he left the “cradle of wide receivers” at Ohio State.

At the time, Williams wasn’t sure if he would even get starting minutes with the Crimson Tide after being behind Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson with the Buckeyes — but his final college season caused him to earn a first-round selection at the NFL level.

Meyer laughed at May reminiscing over the transition, and shared an inside look at his own interaction and recruitment of Williams during his final season with the program.

“I remember, I was still there when we recruited Jameson Williams,” started Meyer. “We went into St. Louis, and I went into the high school… and the head coach marched them down here and I said hello. And as they all left, the coach looked at me and said ‘I thought you liked speed, coach?’

“I said, ‘like speed? I love speed.’

“He said ‘that kid right there ran a 10.28 or 10.31 100-meter [time].’

And I was like ‘get his ass back in here.’ And he got back and he was, I mean, tiny. But you could tell, he had a little swagger to him. You saw a lot of that stuff there. His family was outstanding, and we went after him and got him. So you’ve got Olave, you’ve got Garrett Wilson and those guys were all in the, I believe in the ’17 or ’18 recruiting class. All first-rounders, all premier players.”