Indiana University Athletics
For Freshman Quarterback Dexter Williams II, It’s All About Winning
2/25/2020 2:51:00 PM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Label Dexter Williams II at your own risk. He did not leave Georgia for Indiana to fit a simple definition.
He is a quarterback by position, a "mayor" by reputation, a guy driven to do what all the best ones do:
Win.
Ask the freshman to describe his playing style and you get a light-up-the-room smile and a hard-as-steel tone.
"I'm a winner," he says. "I like to win. I don't have a pro style or a dual-threat style.
"Whatever my team needs for me to do, that's my style. If I need to run 15 times or throw 30, I like to win."
Williams won plenty at Macon's Mount de Sales Academy. There were the 19 victories in his final 20 regular season games and the school's first regional championship in 23 years.
As a senior, he earned all-state honors while throwing for 1,524 yards and 15 touchdowns, rushing for 984 yards and 14 TDs. 247Sports rated him as the nation's No. 21 dual-threat quarterback.
Along the way, Williams displayed enough leadership and overall excellence to earn a "Mayor" nickname.
"I was a guy who came into a big school and started at quarterback as a sophomore," he says. "(The nickname) came from being a high-character guy in school -- not just being a football player, but a student. It was that leader role, including everybody in everything no matter who it is."
Head coach Tom Allen and then offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer saw it during recruiting visits. Jokes would follow that Macon would one day build a statue of Williams.
For the record, city officials haven't.
"Not yet," Williams says with a smile.
"There were some cranes outside the school when Coach Allen and Coach DeBoer came down. They said, 'We think they're building that statue now.'"
Williams tweets about being "bold in life" and seizing the moment, that "there is no surrender, no retreat. There is only conquer or be conquered, victory or defeat. Anything less is to be forgotten to history."
If all that seems over the top, well, the meek might inherit the earth, but they won't win Big Ten football games.
That goes to the tough-minded and resilient.
Williams radiates that and more. He mixes sincerity and confidence, crucial attributes for one of sports' highest-profile positions.
"My personality won't change," he says. "I'll always be the same guy. I'll always smile a lot. I make jokes. I have fun."
Then the smile hardens.
"I can get serious when it's time for that."
Williams is a Hoosier with aspirations to help a program coming off its first eight-win season in a quarter of a century. He'll enter the spring behind Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle, but last year showed any backup is an injury away from starting.
"They're good guys," Williams says of Penix and Tuttle. "We have a good relationship. It's all fun now. But the competition will start soon."
In the meantime, Williams absorbs all available advice.
"Coaches tell me to learn everything I can. Take in everything I can. The guys won't lead me in the wrong direction. They want to see me successful."
Williams has put in plenty of time in the weight room and film room since arriving at IU for the second semester.
"The weight room is a tough part," he says, "but it's a fun part. You're in an environment where guys are at the same level. They are very high-character guys, very skilled guys.
"Workouts are rigorous. People think it's hard, but I think it's fun."
Skipping your high school senior spring semester to enroll in college early provides a big advantage, especially at quarterback, where the demands are so high.
"It was a good decision to come here early," Williams says. "It helped to get my feet wet, get into the workouts, get into the playbook."
How different is IU's playbook compared to high school?
"The schemes are the same," Williams says. "It's still football. The plays are the same. The wording is different. That's the hardest adjustment, but football is football."
Why did Williams come north?
Allen and his Love Each Other philosophy.
"It was the vision of L-E-O," Williams says. "It was seeing how Tom Allen was when I stepped into his office.
"He didn't tell me one lie. He told me there was another guy they were looking at, that I had to wait my turn.
"It was everything, from top to bottom. I could see the L-E-O was not just a recruiting thing to say."
Williams' commitment didn't waver when DeBoer left to become the Fresno State head coach, and tight ends coach Nick Sheridan was promoted to offensive coordinator.
"If the head coach leaves, that's when things change," Williams says. "Coach Allen and Coach Sheridan assured me the offense wouldn't change. And that L-E-O still drew me."
Beyond that, "Coach Sheridan is a great guy. I was recruited by Coach DeBoer, but Coach Sheridan was there. He watched my film. He gave Coach DeBoer the okay to sign me because he had been the (IU) quarterbacks coach the year before. We have a great relationship."
Williams won't receive on-the-field coaching until spring practice, which begins March 7. But he's getting plenty of work with his teammates. He says he throws "three times a week" because "you don't want to burn yourself out before spring ball."
"I try to throw as much as I can," he says. "I don't let a day go by where I don't ask somebody, 'When are we going to throw?'
"You can't take any days off. I don't throw every day, but I get into the playbook and study every day."
Williams smiles one last time. There isn't a label in sight.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Label Dexter Williams II at your own risk. He did not leave Georgia for Indiana to fit a simple definition.
He is a quarterback by position, a "mayor" by reputation, a guy driven to do what all the best ones do:
Win.
Ask the freshman to describe his playing style and you get a light-up-the-room smile and a hard-as-steel tone.
"I'm a winner," he says. "I like to win. I don't have a pro style or a dual-threat style.
"Whatever my team needs for me to do, that's my style. If I need to run 15 times or throw 30, I like to win."
Williams won plenty at Macon's Mount de Sales Academy. There were the 19 victories in his final 20 regular season games and the school's first regional championship in 23 years.
As a senior, he earned all-state honors while throwing for 1,524 yards and 15 touchdowns, rushing for 984 yards and 14 TDs. 247Sports rated him as the nation's No. 21 dual-threat quarterback.
Along the way, Williams displayed enough leadership and overall excellence to earn a "Mayor" nickname.
"I was a guy who came into a big school and started at quarterback as a sophomore," he says. "(The nickname) came from being a high-character guy in school -- not just being a football player, but a student. It was that leader role, including everybody in everything no matter who it is."
Head coach Tom Allen and then offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer saw it during recruiting visits. Jokes would follow that Macon would one day build a statue of Williams.
For the record, city officials haven't.
"Not yet," Williams says with a smile.
"There were some cranes outside the school when Coach Allen and Coach DeBoer came down. They said, 'We think they're building that statue now.'"
Williams tweets about being "bold in life" and seizing the moment, that "there is no surrender, no retreat. There is only conquer or be conquered, victory or defeat. Anything less is to be forgotten to history."
If all that seems over the top, well, the meek might inherit the earth, but they won't win Big Ten football games.
That goes to the tough-minded and resilient.
Williams radiates that and more. He mixes sincerity and confidence, crucial attributes for one of sports' highest-profile positions.
"My personality won't change," he says. "I'll always be the same guy. I'll always smile a lot. I make jokes. I have fun."
Then the smile hardens.
"I can get serious when it's time for that."
Williams is a Hoosier with aspirations to help a program coming off its first eight-win season in a quarter of a century. He'll enter the spring behind Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle, but last year showed any backup is an injury away from starting.
"They're good guys," Williams says of Penix and Tuttle. "We have a good relationship. It's all fun now. But the competition will start soon."
In the meantime, Williams absorbs all available advice.
"Coaches tell me to learn everything I can. Take in everything I can. The guys won't lead me in the wrong direction. They want to see me successful."
Williams has put in plenty of time in the weight room and film room since arriving at IU for the second semester.
"The weight room is a tough part," he says, "but it's a fun part. You're in an environment where guys are at the same level. They are very high-character guys, very skilled guys.
"Workouts are rigorous. People think it's hard, but I think it's fun."
Skipping your high school senior spring semester to enroll in college early provides a big advantage, especially at quarterback, where the demands are so high.
"It was a good decision to come here early," Williams says. "It helped to get my feet wet, get into the workouts, get into the playbook."
How different is IU's playbook compared to high school?
"The schemes are the same," Williams says. "It's still football. The plays are the same. The wording is different. That's the hardest adjustment, but football is football."
Why did Williams come north?
Allen and his Love Each Other philosophy.
"It was the vision of L-E-O," Williams says. "It was seeing how Tom Allen was when I stepped into his office.
"He didn't tell me one lie. He told me there was another guy they were looking at, that I had to wait my turn.
"It was everything, from top to bottom. I could see the L-E-O was not just a recruiting thing to say."
Williams' commitment didn't waver when DeBoer left to become the Fresno State head coach, and tight ends coach Nick Sheridan was promoted to offensive coordinator.
"If the head coach leaves, that's when things change," Williams says. "Coach Allen and Coach Sheridan assured me the offense wouldn't change. And that L-E-O still drew me."
Beyond that, "Coach Sheridan is a great guy. I was recruited by Coach DeBoer, but Coach Sheridan was there. He watched my film. He gave Coach DeBoer the okay to sign me because he had been the (IU) quarterbacks coach the year before. We have a great relationship."
Williams won't receive on-the-field coaching until spring practice, which begins March 7. But he's getting plenty of work with his teammates. He says he throws "three times a week" because "you don't want to burn yourself out before spring ball."
"I try to throw as much as I can," he says. "I don't let a day go by where I don't ask somebody, 'When are we going to throw?'
"You can't take any days off. I don't throw every day, but I get into the playbook and study every day."
Williams smiles one last time. There isn't a label in sight.
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