Kalen DeBoer looking forward to Ryan Williams taking next steps as leader in year two
Alabama found something special last season with 17-year-old wide receiver Ryan Williams, as the freshman took the college football world by storm with his play throughout his first collegiate season. Now, Williams is set to return to the Crimson Tide in 2025 as a sophomore, being the team’s returning receiving yards leader.
“Well a year ago this time we were pretty excited about the commitment, right, and that’s what it was, that he had made to come play football at Alabama,” Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Tuesday at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. “You got in the summer, and you’re like, ‘Wow, this is fun working with him.’ Then we saw what he can do in the season. I know he’s got much higher goals than what he accomplished this year, and that’s individually and as a team.”
Williams caught 48 passes last season for 865 yards and eight touchdowns, being named a freshman All-American and a first team All-SEC performer for his production. Headed into his second year in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer is ready to see not only how Williams continues to improve on the football field, but as a voice in the Alabama locker room.
“I’m really excited about him taking the next steps as a leader now,” DeBoer said. “He’s gonna take care of his business and do what he needs to do and we’re gonna be there to help him refine the things that are gonna make him the best of the best. He’s a team player through and through, we saw that all season long.”
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Williams returns to the Alabama wide receiver room alongside Germie Bernard, giving the team its top two wideouts back to lead a unit that lost six players to the transfer portal while, bringing in one transfer (Isaiah Horton, Miami) and two recruits (Derek Meadows, Lotzeir Brooks).
“He and Germ kind of coming back as the leaders of the receiving corps, I’m excited about what they bring from a mindset,” DeBoer said. “When your best players are your best people and highest character guys, it’s exciting what it can become. We have that at the receiving corps, we’ve added some guys too with the early enrollees and the newcomers. I really like the way that group’s gonna come along under their guidance and leadership.”
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