Looking back at Trent Williams' OU career with DeMarco Murray and Gerald McCoy ahead of Super Bowl LVIII

Gerald McCoy will never forget when he first met Trent Williams. 

The two were both highly-touted members of Oklahoma’s 2006 recruiting class. And when both arrived on campus in the summer of ‘06, Williams was hard to miss. 

“He was 320 pounds and straight out of high school,” McCoy said. “We were in the gym and he was doing drop-step dunks and windmilling and dunking the ball and I’m like, ‘Damn, what the hell is going on?’ Then we get out on the field and we’re all racing and Trent’s beating all of us, like, convincingly. And now we’re all like, ‘What the hell is going on? Who is this dude?’ It was like, man, this guy is a freak athlete.”

Williams has come a long way since dunking at the old Huffman Fitness Center. On Sunday, he’ll compete in his first career Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers, starting at left tackle in his 14th NFL season. He’s considered by many as the best left tackle in football and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. 

But long before he became a star in the NFL, he was a Sooner. And even then, when he was just 19 years old, his teammates knew he was destined for greatness.

“Obviously, didn’t know what he’d turn out to be. But we got a glimpse of how good he could be,” said OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray, who played at OU from 2007-10. “The first time we did some agility drills and we ran, he was making the same times as the mid-level skill guys — linebackers, running backs, guys in that category. He was just so athletic. You see a big, massive person, you don’t expect him to move the way that he moves. Before you ever saw him play, in the summer, you saw how fast he was and how athletic he was.

“Coming from Las Vegas, I didn’t have guys move around like that in front of me. You get here for a week and work out with him and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, how can a guy that big move like that? How can he be that agile and that fast?’ That was the biggest thing for me seeing the way he moved.”

A three-star out of Longview, Texas, Williams wasn’t considered the top tackle in his recruiting class. Many expected him to play guard in college. He was ranked as the 28th-best guard in the 2006 class by Rivals.com. 

But Williams went on to start all four years at OU. The first three seasons at right tackle and his final year at left. 

“Trent Williams taught me stars don’t matter,” said McCoy, who also played at OU from 2006-10. “He was the best offensive lineman on the team as a true freshman. He was the most athletic guy on the team. His footwork, his change of direction. He had d-linemen athleticism. It’s like putting the footwork of Aaron Donald in a giant’s body. And then when he runs, he can run as fast as George Kittle. It’s like the perfect combination to be a dominant left tackle. It doesn’t matter who your best defensive lineman is, he’s going to be athletic enough to stop them. It doesn’t matter if they’re super strong, he’s strong enough to withstand their strength. And then in the open field, he’s fast enough and athletic enough to block your best linebackers or DBs or whatever he needs to do. It’s like he was made in a lab. 

“And he studies the game. He’s not all athleticism and brute force. He’s super intelligent when it comes to the game. And then, he’s a dog. When you think about what a dog is on the field, that’s what he is. Trent is every bit of a dog.”

While Williams’ athleticism and size are what helped him get drafted fourth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, it’s his intensity that made him one of the best to ever do it, according to his teammates. He’s a fierce competitor on the field, never backing down from a challenge. 

That’s been on display several times in the NFL. He threw a punch at Richard Sherman in 2020, after the two exchanged words following a game in Washington. He was ejected in the 2023 NFC Championship for throwing an Eagles player who had taken a cheap shot at one of his teammates. And he was nearly ejected again this past season against the Giants when he threw a punch after a player took a shot as the 49ers were taking a knee. 

“He’s very protective of anybody that’s his guy,” McCoy said. “If you’re one of his guys, a teammate or family, anytime something goes down, you’ll see he’s the first one over there. And when he comes, he’s not coming to play. He’s not coming over to hug, he’s not coming over to break it up — he’s making sure you know that y’all messed with the wrong one.”

Williams never got ejected or threw a punch while at OU, but he did have that same tenacity. 

“Shit, we called him Silverback for a reason,” said Murray, who is one of Williams’ closest friends and who often spends time with Williams in the offseason golfing. “He’s always been a guy who isn’t afraid to set the tempo. He was one of the best players on the team and he was the guy who was going to set the tone and let us know you’ve got to be physical — there has to be a way and look about you. Sometimes you’ve got to intimidate them a little bit. But he’s also the biggest teddy bear in the world.”

At OU, Williams was a beloved teammate. He quickly earned the respect of his peers because of how good he was, but also because he was willing to do anything to help the team. 

There was no better example of that than his final game as a Sooner. OU was playing Stanford in the Sun Bowl — a seemingly meaningless game after a tough season for Oklahoma. And the Sooners were without their starting and backup centers. Williams, who was projected to be a top-five pick at left tackle, willingly moved to center for the game. 

And, of course, Williams dominated. 

“Trent’s always been a gamer,” Murray said. “He’s a guy who you know loves football. He loves football. He loves playing the game. That’s what he loves to do. So he’s extremely selfless and is a team guy. No matter what you asked him to do on Saturdays or Sundays, you knew he was going to do that because he loves the game. So for him, it was no surprise that he was willing to play center.”

Williams also had one of the biggest plays of the game when he chased down Stanford safety Bo McNally, who intercepted quarterback Landry Jones and returned it 55 yards. Williams raced across the field to tackle McNally and prevent a touchdown, which inevitably helped OU win 31-27. 

“That’s the epitome of who he is,” McCoy said. “Selfless and helping his team do whatever it takes to win. The effort he provided on that play — and the ability to do what he did — that is Trent Williams in a nutshell. He played offensive tackle his entire career and he said, ‘We need a center? I’ll play center.’ And then not only did he play center at a high level, he made a game-changing play.” 

On Sunday, in a little bit bigger game than the Sun Bowl, Williams will again play a pivotal role in San Francisco’s efforts at winning its first Super Bowl since 1994. For Williams, it’s the last box he’s yet to check in his playing career. He’s an 11-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro.

And while many consider him a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, a Super Bowl would leave no doubt. 

“I want to see Trent win a Super Bowl,” McCoy said. “I don’t want them to have any reason to not put him in the Hall of Fame. To be able to say, ‘That’s my teammate. The ‘06 class. He’s a Hall of Famer and I got to play with him — one of the greatest of all time and a Super Bowl champion.’ I want to say that. I know how hard he’s worked to get to that point. And I just want to see him live out his dream and have an opportunity to achieve something he’s worked extremely hard for. I would be overjoyed to see him win a Super Bowl.

“I want him to have that team success. He went through all those tough years in Washington. People forget he had a battle with cancer. I don’t think people know how incredible of a human he is and how strong and powerful he is. He almost died and he came back and this is what he’s doing after all that? It’s remarkable.” 

There will be six former Sooners playing in the Super Bowl this year, the most of any school. Williams and tight end Brayden Willis for the 49ers. And center Creed Humphrey, tight end Blake Bell, offensive tackle Wanya Morris and long snapper James Winchester for the Chiefs. 

Still, for McCoy and Murray, their allegiance for the game is clear. 

“Obviously, I love Creed and Wanya. I played with Winchester and Blake Bell,” said Murray, who has coached running backs at OU since 2020. “But Trent’s one of my best friends. Obviously happy for everyone, but this one is a little different with my guy. I’m pulling for Trent.”

Win or lose Sunday, Williams will always be considered one of the greatest to ever play at OU. As a future of Hall of Famer, there are only a handful of players in the same conversation as him. There are only three players in OU football history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — QB Troy Aikman, WR Tommy McDonald and defensive tackle Lee Roy Selmon. Running back Adrian Peterson is sure to join the group soon, too. 

Selmon and Peterson are widely considered two of the greatest. There’s no doubt that Williams should be included in the conversation, considering his accolades and longevity in the game. And if he wins on Sunday, Williams will have accomplished something neither Selmon nor Peterson ever did in their careers.

“Trent is a bonafide first-ballot Hall of Famer,” McCoy said. “There are very few of us who are in that conversation. It’s him and Adrian Peterson. They’re Hall of Famers. So when you’re talking about the best players ever at OU, you can’t go past top five and not say Trent Williams. If you ask, you’ve got a lot of names and Heisman Trophy winners, but Trent should be in that conversation.”

Regardless, Williams’ legacy in the sport is unquestioned. He’ll forever be considered one of the most elite offensive linemen to ever play the game. 

And before it all, he was a Sooner, dunking at The Huff, winning races, chasing down defensive backs and maturing into the best left tackle in football. 

“It’s awesome to see. Happy for him. Proud of him,” Murray said. “And again, all the hard work that he’s accomplished and everything that he’s been through in his life. To see him do what he’s doing and do it at a high level, it’s been awesome. He deserves everything that’s come his way.”