Former No. 1 Williams reflects on wild ride

Standing on the sideline of the Greenbelt (Md.) Eleanor Roosevelt versus Upper Marlboro (Md.) Wise rivalry game was a man wearing a Penn State sweater shouting and cheering on the home team. It's hard for any former player to watch from the sideline, especially a former No. 1 player in the country. Derrick Williams starred on this field as a wide receiver nearly a decade ago.

"Derrick Williams was a household name in recruiting coming out of high school, our No. 1 player in the country in 2005 and the target of an all-out recruiting battle between numerous schools," said Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell. "I had the pleasure of going along for the recruiting ride with him on Rivals.com and on television. We did a hit on ESPN after each official visit and his announcement on ESPN was one of the most suspenseful they've ever had. He was a do-it-all prospect with amazing speed and explosiveness."

In those days, Washington D.C. and its surrounding neighborhoods in Maryland and Virginia were not the hotbed for Divison 1 talent that they are now. Yet Eleanor Roosevelt was a destination for every college football coach in America.

"I don't even remember how many offers I ended up with," Williams said. "It was probably more than 50 or 60. I could have gone wherever I wanted to go. On one day, six schools with their whole staffs were visiting me at my school. Every school that offered me a scholarship came to Roosevelt to see me in person."

At that time, college coaches were allowed to attend camps during the offseason to scout certain players. So Williams, a seasoned veteran of the camp circuit by his senior year, wasn't fazed when he met some of the greatest coaches of all time.

"By the time coaches started coming to the school I was kind of used to it," he said. "From my freshman year going to camps all over the place and seeing these coaches out there, I was kind of used to seeing these types of coaches.

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"Each school promised me the ability to come in and play," Williams said. "That's all that I was really asking for. I was promised jersey numbers and told that I should watch out for alumni because they would try to put something in my pocket. I just had to make sure I didn't hurt myself."

Head coaches such as Urban Meyer, Charlie Weis, Ron Zook and Mack Brown would be on the sidelines at summer camps Williams attended. Staffs were even willing to bend the scouting rules a bit. One assistant attended a NIKE camp on a Sunday to see Williams, which was the one day during the week scouting was prohibited.

"When I asked him why he was out here when he knew he'd get dinged and taken off the road for a week he simply told me, 'Derrick Williams is worth it'," Farrell said. "That's how much schools wanted him."

Like most recruits with extensive offer sheets, Williams had to narrow down his list. He chose Penn State and was productive for four years and played in the NFL with the Detroit Lions for two seasons. What Williams brought to Penn State, along with his teammates in that 2005 recruiting class, was an influx of field-ready talent that breathed new life into a stale program.

It almost didn't happen.

"Texas, Florida, Florida State, Penn State and Oklahoma were my final schools," said Williams. "The year before I graduated, I had Derrick Harvey and George Covington with me at Eleanor Roosevelt. Those were some of my really great friends. Derrick went to Florida because we had talked about it and we would both want to play there. The year after, when it was my turn, is when Zook got fired."

If Zook was still the coach of the Gators when Williams graduated, he may very well worn blue and orange during his college career instead of blue and white.

"Following Williams commitment to Penn State, the Nittany Lions landed 7 of the top 10 players in the state of Maryland in 2006 in what I deemed the 'Derrick Williams effect' including NFL guys like Philip Taylor (who would go on to star at Baylor), Aaron Maybin and Navorro Bowman," Farrell said. "He changed the landscape of recruiting in Maryland for a few years.

"I think he would have had an amazing career at Florida under Meyer to be honest," said Farrell. "He was Percy Harvin the year before and he would have been utilized perfectly there. At Penn State, they changed their offense for Derrick and Michael Robinson the first year and it was as exciting in Happy Valley as it had been in years. But then the next year Penn State went back to their boring and predictable offense and didn't use Derrick the way should have been used. He could have had an amazing career, but he still had a very good one."

Each college football recruit has a different set of criteria that helps them decide which school is best for him. Having been through the process to an extent that few players ever do, Williams can provide advice that nearly nobody else can.

"With the recruiting process, I told the team it's a pretty much about going with your gut," Williams said. "When I committed to Penn State, they had just come off a 4-6 season, but I wanted to come in and make a difference somewhere. From there, it's pretty much about trusting coaches. I let them know that, if the dream is getting a college scholarship and going to play somewhere, you have to select somewhere that you trust the coaches and can get on the field and make a difference. At Penn State, I knew that when I stepped in I would be the man. I did not fear being the go-to guy. I wanted that challenge. I told them that those are some of the things that they might want to look at."

Rivals100 offensive tackle Isaiah Prince is graduating from Eleanor Roosevelt in the spring of 2015. He is the first recruit the Raiders have had since Williams that could play college football anywhere in the country.

"I was fairly close to home because I wanted my family to be able to see me every week," said Williams. "He needs to make sure it's a comfortable situation for him, if he can relate to the team. Once he goes on his visits, he will see the chemistry that the team has. He'll find out if he fits the mold for that team. Wherever I went, I always wanted to play. Looking at Isaiah, he has the size and the ability to put on weight. As an offensive lineman, he's probably going to want to put on some weight. It's different for a skilled guy versus a lineman."

Prince certainly has a lot to think about, just like Williams did. The opportunity he has by getting advice from Williams, someone who was in the exact same shoes as he is, is something not many players have.

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