Max
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The Alabama football team has gotten its share of great recruits out of the bayou, but Tim Williams could be the sweetest.
Every football program in America has the recruit that got awayâthe in-state kid that was misevaluated or overlooked by a coaching staff, or the highly ranked prospect that simply wanted to leave home.
Tennessee has Randall Cobb.
Florida State has Ronnie Harrison.
Miami has Amari Cooper and Teddy Bridgewater.
Alabama has Jameis Winston (from a pure football standpoint) and Bo Jackson.
Georgia has an unending list. A list so long that only naming one or two is doing a disservice to how hilarious Mark Richtâs ability to keep prospects at home was.
Name a school. Name a sport. They all have one. Still, no single recruit may leave a bigger black eye on a staff (or fanbase) than Alabama football linebacker, and Baton Rouge native, Tim Williams.
Tim Williams, perhaps the most dominant pass rusher in college football, attended high school at University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For those unfamiliar, University Lab School resides ON THE CAMPUS OF LSU. The link below provides a visual of the proximity from Timâs high school to Tiger Stadium. Click here to check out how close, just mere blocks away.
Predictably, LSU was the long time favorite to land Williamsâ commitment. In February of 2012, roughly a year from signing day, 247Sportsâ LSU beat writer Shea Dixon tweeted out the following
It made sense for Les Miles to push. Gain an early commitment from the hometown Under Armour All-American and start your 2013 class out with a splash. But something changed in the next nine months. Les Miles and staff stopped recruiting the National Top 100 player in November of 2012. Speculation ran rampant. Some cited grades as the reason.
Grades are a viable option. Recruits are often dropped from a staffâs board based on grades. This would have been a believable narrative, except for the fact that Williams was being heavily recruited by the University of Miami. Miami, the newly perceived favorite for Williamsâ signature at the time, is the 51st academically ranked university in America per the US News. LSU comes in at a very average ranking of 129 (Alabama comes in at 96). Admissions are often different for athletes, but itâs hard to believe that Tim Williams would have any issue with the LSU admissions office while being heavily recruited by higher ranked academic institutions.
Others cited character concerns.
Predicting that Tim Williams will never play a down for Alabama is definitely the worst (or best) part of Ianâs 2013 tweet, but letâs not overlook the hashtag. Ian, otherwise known as Nostradamus, claims that Williams has â#OffthefieldIssues.â Well, #Offthefieldissues is also a viable reason to stop recruiting someone. Weâve all witnessed the character of one bring down an entire group.
Ian wasnât alone in his confidence that Williams had character concerns, either. In my digging through hundreds of tweets from 2012-13, those concerns were a topic often discussed amongst LSU fans. Only there is no documented ill behavior in Williamsâ past, and #OffthefieldIssues have never stopped Les Miles from bringing in a top prospect. It makes little sense.
As a high school recruit, former LSU running backJeremy Hill was arrested and charged with oral sexual battery of a 14-year-old girl in January of 2011. Hill enrolled at LSU in January of 2012.
In May of 2010, ex-Georgia quarterbackZach Mettenberger plead guilty to sexual battery and was banned from stepping foot in the city of Valdosta, GA. Mettenberger enrolled at LSU in January of 2011.
Those seem like #OffthefieldIssues to me. Forgive me if I refuse to believe that Les Miles would end the recruitment of an electric playmaker based on an unknown character issue that never resulted in any arrest or charge. Narrative busted.
Finally, the real reason for LSUâs decision; They simply didnât believe that Tim Williams was good enough. Despite Williamsâ lofty rankings by several services, LSUâs staff had other players higher on their board. They misevaluated Williams, as did others.
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Every football program in America has the recruit that got awayâthe in-state kid that was misevaluated or overlooked by a coaching staff, or the highly ranked prospect that simply wanted to leave home.
Tennessee has Randall Cobb.
Florida State has Ronnie Harrison.
Miami has Amari Cooper and Teddy Bridgewater.
Alabama has Jameis Winston (from a pure football standpoint) and Bo Jackson.
Georgia has an unending list. A list so long that only naming one or two is doing a disservice to how hilarious Mark Richtâs ability to keep prospects at home was.
Name a school. Name a sport. They all have one. Still, no single recruit may leave a bigger black eye on a staff (or fanbase) than Alabama football linebacker, and Baton Rouge native, Tim Williams.
Tim Williams, perhaps the most dominant pass rusher in college football, attended high school at University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For those unfamiliar, University Lab School resides ON THE CAMPUS OF LSU. The link below provides a visual of the proximity from Timâs high school to Tiger Stadium. Click here to check out how close, just mere blocks away.
Predictably, LSU was the long time favorite to land Williamsâ commitment. In February of 2012, roughly a year from signing day, 247Sportsâ LSU beat writer Shea Dixon tweeted out the following
It made sense for Les Miles to push. Gain an early commitment from the hometown Under Armour All-American and start your 2013 class out with a splash. But something changed in the next nine months. Les Miles and staff stopped recruiting the National Top 100 player in November of 2012. Speculation ran rampant. Some cited grades as the reason.
Grades are a viable option. Recruits are often dropped from a staffâs board based on grades. This would have been a believable narrative, except for the fact that Williams was being heavily recruited by the University of Miami. Miami, the newly perceived favorite for Williamsâ signature at the time, is the 51st academically ranked university in America per the US News. LSU comes in at a very average ranking of 129 (Alabama comes in at 96). Admissions are often different for athletes, but itâs hard to believe that Tim Williams would have any issue with the LSU admissions office while being heavily recruited by higher ranked academic institutions.
Others cited character concerns.
Predicting that Tim Williams will never play a down for Alabama is definitely the worst (or best) part of Ianâs 2013 tweet, but letâs not overlook the hashtag. Ian, otherwise known as Nostradamus, claims that Williams has â#OffthefieldIssues.â Well, #Offthefieldissues is also a viable reason to stop recruiting someone. Weâve all witnessed the character of one bring down an entire group.
Ian wasnât alone in his confidence that Williams had character concerns, either. In my digging through hundreds of tweets from 2012-13, those concerns were a topic often discussed amongst LSU fans. Only there is no documented ill behavior in Williamsâ past, and #OffthefieldIssues have never stopped Les Miles from bringing in a top prospect. It makes little sense.
As a high school recruit, former LSU running backJeremy Hill was arrested and charged with oral sexual battery of a 14-year-old girl in January of 2011. Hill enrolled at LSU in January of 2012.
In May of 2010, ex-Georgia quarterbackZach Mettenberger plead guilty to sexual battery and was banned from stepping foot in the city of Valdosta, GA. Mettenberger enrolled at LSU in January of 2011.
Those seem like #OffthefieldIssues to me. Forgive me if I refuse to believe that Les Miles would end the recruitment of an electric playmaker based on an unknown character issue that never resulted in any arrest or charge. Narrative busted.
Finally, the real reason for LSUâs decision; They simply didnât believe that Tim Williams was good enough. Despite Williamsâ lofty rankings by several services, LSUâs staff had other players higher on their board. They misevaluated Williams, as did others.
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continued in next post ...
