Indiana University Athletics
Taking The Heat – Jaylin Williams Rising to Hoosier Challenge
11/12/2020 9:25:00 AM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Think looking in the mirror is easy? Can you, as a movie once famously asked, handle the truth?
Consider Jaylin Williams, Indiana's ball-hawking junior cornerback. He has become the last guy opposing quarterbacks want to challenge given his interception-a-game pace and knack for being in the right place at the right time.
Michigan State (1-2) will feel that heat on Saturday when No. 10 Indiana (3-0) comes to East Lansing.
For his first two seasons, Williams played well, but not to his potential. Last offseason, cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby had enough. It was time to tell Williams what he needed to hear, and to heck with hurt feelings.
"We had some tough conversations," Shelby says, "and some conversations that he probably did not want to hear.
"They know me well enough by now that I am going to keep it 100 percent. He took the heat, worked on it and now he is reaping some of the rewards."
Reward comes by putting in the time, something Williams didn't always do. He could thrive from athleticism and competitiveness (he was a two-way high school standout as a receiver and a cornerback) until Big Ten reality hit along with Shelby's tell-it-like-it-is coaching.
"It is crazy," Shelby says. "We were getting on the plane the other day and I walked up to him to tell him how proud I was of him of not just putting goals on paper, but actually living them out.
"I am so excited about the young man he is becoming on the field as well as off the field. You are starting to see that in his preparation."
You have to keep seeing it, Shelby added.
"A lot of times when people get success, most people kind of stop because they think they have arrived. There is a point where you got to go even harder, watch a bit more film, because now people recognize your success. They are going to start scheming you up and do things to try to embarrass you out there on Saturdays."
Understanding that is one thing. Living it is enough. It takes discipline, maturity and work, on and off the field.
"He has done a great job of getting his life outside of football, academically, spiritually, together," Shelby says. "You are starting to see the results of that.
"He is watching more film. He is locked in. I do not have to beg him to come up here to do it because he is doing it on his own. He is coming to the meeting room and asking me questions before I can even get to it.
"Preparation builds confidence and when you prepare and do what you are supposed to do, you have the results that (Williams achieved against Michigan with an interception and a tackle)."
A pause.
"The main thing is that he has to keep going and keep pushing himself."
Williams is part of a talented secondary that makes plays rarely seen in the past Hoosier generation. IU's success in defending the pass -- seven interceptions, 13 pass breakups -- is the result of intense preparation by coaches and players.
"It starts in the film study," Shelby says. "From there you have to go on the practice field. We do a drill once or twice a week called vision and drive. That is reading the eyes of the quarterback, seeing where he is looking and then drawing our routes in our area. It is a lot of pattern matching.
"(Safeties coach) Jason Jones and I throughout the week have spent a lot of time going over the routes that they are going to see based on the down and distance and what part of the field they are in.
"We have done a better job than we have in the past of just going over certain things that they are going to have to prepare to see."
Sometimes it's not read and react as much as know and react.
"Thus far," Shelby says, "we have done a good job of anticipating where the quarterback is going to throw the ball and we have been in the right spots."
That means playing to defensive rules and not improvisation.
"A lot of it is just us doing our jobs," Shelby says. "Everybody wants to make a play. A lot of times you get in these big games and you start thinking about how you can help the team or make a play. Most times, it is just doing your job. When you do that, you have an opportunity to make more plays.
"You see a guys like Jaylin Williams, Reese Taylor or Tiawan Mullen just doing their jobs, are in the right spot, and then have the confidence that the things we did throughout the week are going to happen on game day.
"So far it has."
Shelby doesn't want anything messing that up.
Take Taylor, once a dominant high school quarterback, who hasn't lost his quarterback affection.
Because of injuries, Taylor was IU's back-up quarterback for four games as a true freshman – he also played running back and receiver -- before moving permanently to defense.
Shelby, recognizing Taylor's cornerback potential, hits the play-offense-and-defense brakes.
"Hopefully, when you asked that question," Shelby says, "he thought about it only for a few seconds and then came back to reality to realize he is a corner.
"At the end of the day, he has a great knack to be a leader. He has great changes of direction and those abilities that hopefully will give him an opportunity one day to play at the next level, if he is blessed enough."
Taylor has led IU in tackling in each of the past two games, with eight against Rutgers and seven against Michigan. He also recorded a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry."
Not bad for a guy who has yet to reach his peak.
"I want him to lock in at the corner position and know the playbook in and out," Shelby says. "He has that toughness. You saw him fit the run (against Michigan) in an amazing way. Now he has got to just make sure he does a great job and just keeps refining and keeps getting better."
Meanwhile, IU continues to push for a better pass rush from its four defensive linemen. The better it is, the less the Hoosiers have to blitz and the more guys can play in pass coverage.
"That is something that we need to work on," defensive line coach Kevin Peoples says. "There is no question about the ability to get pressure with a four-man rush.
"We do get exotic a little bit with some of the things we do to create pressure. Obviously, if we could get a four-man pressure through the defensive line, that would allow (defensive coordinator Kane Wommack) and the rest of the defensive players to play a little more coverage. That is something that we are working on and something we have to get better at.
"We know that. We are going to take that as a challenge and we are working hard to improve."
When it comes to the offensive line, progress is accelerating.
"The Michigan game I thought we got better," offensive line coach Darren Hiller says. "We are not even close to where we need to be. Every day is the challenge to be better as a unit.
"Every guy has strengths and weaknesses, and so it is a matter of those guys identifying it or me identifying it for them through showing them video of the good, the bad and the ugly. Then working on the stuff that we are good at.
"We have to keep grinding and coaching until kickoff."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Think looking in the mirror is easy? Can you, as a movie once famously asked, handle the truth?
Consider Jaylin Williams, Indiana's ball-hawking junior cornerback. He has become the last guy opposing quarterbacks want to challenge given his interception-a-game pace and knack for being in the right place at the right time.
Michigan State (1-2) will feel that heat on Saturday when No. 10 Indiana (3-0) comes to East Lansing.
For his first two seasons, Williams played well, but not to his potential. Last offseason, cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby had enough. It was time to tell Williams what he needed to hear, and to heck with hurt feelings.
"We had some tough conversations," Shelby says, "and some conversations that he probably did not want to hear.
"They know me well enough by now that I am going to keep it 100 percent. He took the heat, worked on it and now he is reaping some of the rewards."
Reward comes by putting in the time, something Williams didn't always do. He could thrive from athleticism and competitiveness (he was a two-way high school standout as a receiver and a cornerback) until Big Ten reality hit along with Shelby's tell-it-like-it-is coaching.
"It is crazy," Shelby says. "We were getting on the plane the other day and I walked up to him to tell him how proud I was of him of not just putting goals on paper, but actually living them out.
"I am so excited about the young man he is becoming on the field as well as off the field. You are starting to see that in his preparation."
You have to keep seeing it, Shelby added.
"A lot of times when people get success, most people kind of stop because they think they have arrived. There is a point where you got to go even harder, watch a bit more film, because now people recognize your success. They are going to start scheming you up and do things to try to embarrass you out there on Saturdays."
Understanding that is one thing. Living it is enough. It takes discipline, maturity and work, on and off the field.
"He has done a great job of getting his life outside of football, academically, spiritually, together," Shelby says. "You are starting to see the results of that.
"He is watching more film. He is locked in. I do not have to beg him to come up here to do it because he is doing it on his own. He is coming to the meeting room and asking me questions before I can even get to it.
"Preparation builds confidence and when you prepare and do what you are supposed to do, you have the results that (Williams achieved against Michigan with an interception and a tackle)."
A pause.
"The main thing is that he has to keep going and keep pushing himself."
Williams is part of a talented secondary that makes plays rarely seen in the past Hoosier generation. IU's success in defending the pass -- seven interceptions, 13 pass breakups -- is the result of intense preparation by coaches and players.
"It starts in the film study," Shelby says. "From there you have to go on the practice field. We do a drill once or twice a week called vision and drive. That is reading the eyes of the quarterback, seeing where he is looking and then drawing our routes in our area. It is a lot of pattern matching.
"(Safeties coach) Jason Jones and I throughout the week have spent a lot of time going over the routes that they are going to see based on the down and distance and what part of the field they are in.
"We have done a better job than we have in the past of just going over certain things that they are going to have to prepare to see."
Sometimes it's not read and react as much as know and react.
"Thus far," Shelby says, "we have done a good job of anticipating where the quarterback is going to throw the ball and we have been in the right spots."
That means playing to defensive rules and not improvisation.
"A lot of it is just us doing our jobs," Shelby says. "Everybody wants to make a play. A lot of times you get in these big games and you start thinking about how you can help the team or make a play. Most times, it is just doing your job. When you do that, you have an opportunity to make more plays.
"You see a guys like Jaylin Williams, Reese Taylor or Tiawan Mullen just doing their jobs, are in the right spot, and then have the confidence that the things we did throughout the week are going to happen on game day.
"So far it has."
Shelby doesn't want anything messing that up.
Take Taylor, once a dominant high school quarterback, who hasn't lost his quarterback affection.
Because of injuries, Taylor was IU's back-up quarterback for four games as a true freshman – he also played running back and receiver -- before moving permanently to defense.
Shelby, recognizing Taylor's cornerback potential, hits the play-offense-and-defense brakes.
"Hopefully, when you asked that question," Shelby says, "he thought about it only for a few seconds and then came back to reality to realize he is a corner.
"At the end of the day, he has a great knack to be a leader. He has great changes of direction and those abilities that hopefully will give him an opportunity one day to play at the next level, if he is blessed enough."
Taylor has led IU in tackling in each of the past two games, with eight against Rutgers and seven against Michigan. He also recorded a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry."
Not bad for a guy who has yet to reach his peak.
"I want him to lock in at the corner position and know the playbook in and out," Shelby says. "He has that toughness. You saw him fit the run (against Michigan) in an amazing way. Now he has got to just make sure he does a great job and just keeps refining and keeps getting better."
Meanwhile, IU continues to push for a better pass rush from its four defensive linemen. The better it is, the less the Hoosiers have to blitz and the more guys can play in pass coverage.
"That is something that we need to work on," defensive line coach Kevin Peoples says. "There is no question about the ability to get pressure with a four-man rush.
"We do get exotic a little bit with some of the things we do to create pressure. Obviously, if we could get a four-man pressure through the defensive line, that would allow (defensive coordinator Kane Wommack) and the rest of the defensive players to play a little more coverage. That is something that we are working on and something we have to get better at.
"We know that. We are going to take that as a challenge and we are working hard to improve."
When it comes to the offensive line, progress is accelerating.
"The Michigan game I thought we got better," offensive line coach Darren Hiller says. "We are not even close to where we need to be. Every day is the challenge to be better as a unit.
"Every guy has strengths and weaknesses, and so it is a matter of those guys identifying it or me identifying it for them through showing them video of the good, the bad and the ugly. Then working on the stuff that we are good at.
"We have to keep grinding and coaching until kickoff."
Players Mentioned
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FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 9 (UCLA)
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