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In Dee Williams, Mike Ekeler found Tennessee's 'fart in a skillet'

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•04/14/23•

GrantRamey

Tennessee v LSU
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 08: Dee Williams #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates a kick return during the first half a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 08, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

It was August 2021 when Mike Ekeler entered the phrase into the Tennessee football lexicon. The new special teams coordinator for the Vols stood behind a podium during fall camp as the Vols entered their first year under new head coach Josh Heupel and explained exactly what he was looking for in kick and punt returners. 

“Kickoff return, you don’t have to be a real make-you-miss type guy,” Ekeler said. “But you gotta be a guy who can run through the doggone smoke. You remember Days of Thunder? You remember when he dropped the hammer? And went through the smoke? That’s the video I show them. That’s what kickoff return is like.”

No, it wasn’t the “doggone smoke” or the Days of Thunder reference. It came after that.

“Punt returner?” Ekeler continued, “now you look for a fart in a skillet. A guy who can make you miss. A guy, one cut, get vertical, you know that elusive guy.”

Last season, Ekeler and the Vols got their fart in a skillet. It came in the form of 5-foot-11, 192-pound speedster Dee Williams, the defensive back and return specialist who transferred to Tennessee from East Central Community College in Mississippi. 

It became immediately clear as soon as he made his debut in a Tennessee uniform.

Mike Ekeler: When Dee Williams is returning a punt ‘everybody should be holding their breath’

After missing the first four games last season due to injury, Williams’ first touch was a punt return against LSU last October at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. He took it back 58 yards before eventually being brought down, after bobbing and weaving through the middle of the field. 

Williams took a punt back 73 yards for a touchdown in Tennessee’s 56-0 win in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt in November. He took a punt back 34 yards against Kentucky in October, setting the Vols up on the Kentucky 13-yard line. They scored a touchdown on the following play.

He ended the season with 15 punt returns for 281 yards, averaging 18.7 yards per return and 31.2 return yards per game.

“Dee is special, man,” Ekeler said after Thursday’s spring practice. “I mean the guy, he’s what you wanted. I stood up here two years ago and you asked me what we wanted and I said a fart in a skillet. That guy is a fart in a skillet. That’s what you want. 

“Every time that ball is punted, and three (Williams), we give him a chance to get that (return) started, everybody should be holding their breath. That’s what you want, that’s what you aspire for. And that’s what those guys in that room are competing their tails off for, blocking their tails off for him.”

Up Next: Tennessee’s Orange & White Game, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

And, if it plays out the way Ekeler envisions it, Williams will just be the first of many farts in many skillets catching punts or kickoffs at Tennessee.

“We’ve got a bunch of other guys,” he said. “Squirrel White, you could plug him in and he’s very similar (to Williams). (Dylan) Sampson has come a long way. Cam Seldon is special back there. We’re going to start a tradition around here. I know we’ve had some great ones in the past. That’s what we’re going to do.” 

Ekeler on Thursday had another colorful description for what he looks for in kickoff and punt coverage. In short, the more unsightly, the better.

“We’re looking for guys who got a little chipped tooth, got a crossed eye,” Ekeler said. “If they’re like a surfer boy, a good-looking dude, not going to be on coverage teams, right? (They) will probably be playing quarterback or wide receiver or something like that.”

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