Tyson Williams is a talker, but he’s also a hitter. And when he’s not busy talking and hitting, he’s catching the ball.
Williams transferred to Texas Tech for the 2011 spring semester after being dismissed from the team at West Texas A&M, north of Lubbock. Williams says his aggressive style as an offensive player and smack-talk nature caused a rift with his former coaches.
After the 2010 season — when Williams won Division II third-team All-America honors after catching 96 passes for 1,321 yards — he was dismissed for what he believes to be on-field behavior issues.
The 5-11, 210-pound Williams quickly transferred to Tech but had to sit out his junior year. Now, he’s ready to make the most of his senior season.
“I remember one Saturday morning when we were on a road trip and I almost cried, man,” Williams recalled of last season.
“I was just praying to God that whenever I did get back on the field that everything would be all right and I’d have no injuries. All I was thinking about was football.”
Williams is ready to see how he performs on the highest level of college football.
All signs point to Williams being a difference-maker — even when he’s not getting the ball. He crushes linebackers and defensive backs with his blocking in practice.
“He’s going to bring some mental toughness and some physical toughness to our receiver corps,” Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said.
“He plays fast, he plays physical and he plays hard. Our DBs last year, when Williams was on scout team, hated to go against him because he knocks them around, talks trash and does all that stuff.”
As Tuberville added, that “getting pushed around by a guy on scout team” isn’t supposed to happen when you’re a starting defender.
But that’s the kind of style Williams brought to the practice field last season … and in his final collegiate year, Williams vows to keep bringing it.
“I go by this rule where it’s either going to be you or it’s going to be me,” Williams said.
“It’s not going to be me. That’s my promise and my guarantee. I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to make sure it’s not going to be me. That’s my style.”