‘Act Like a Pro’ – Standards High for Jaylin Williams
By Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Not come back? Are you kidding? No way Jaylin Williams would pass on a fifth and final Indiana football season. No way would he go out as the Hoosiers did in 2021.
"It wasn't even really a question (if I was coming back)," the standout cornerback says.
Williams is too fierce a competitor, too tough and driven and passionate, to move on under those circumstances.
As cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby puts it, "Jaylin has been here for almost five years now. He is a guy that maturity wise continues to grow. He has come a long way.
"He is physically tough. He's a tough guy."
His 112 career tackles reflect that.
Williams isn't the only tough Hoosier fifth-year defensive back determined to go out on winning terms. Bryant Fitzgerald and Devon Matthews share the same passion, and couldn't wait to let head coach Tom Allen know as soon as last season ended.
"We have played a lot of football together," Williams says. "We have played with one another for a long time. For us to leave, especially on that record, wouldn't have felt right to any of us.
"On the bus ride (from Purdue) home, we were talking about going to talk to Coach Allen immediately. We might not even shower. We might try to talk to him (that night).
"I am just glad to know I have guys that are in my corner always. And, I know I've got their back and they've got mine."
Allen sets the example. He's a fierce competitor who demands as much with positive energy as intensity.
"Throughout everything that was going on last year," Williams says. "Even with all of the injuries and all of the bad things that were going on, Coach Allen did a great job of keeping us positive. That is just the type of coach he is.
"I knew he felt the same way we felt at the end of the season. So, after the Purdue game, we were all in the same mindset, just do better and continue to push forward."
Williams is a difference maker of the highest order, playing to All-Big Ten levels in each of the past two seasons (honorable-mention last year, second-team in 2020) and showing pro potential (6 career interceptions and 23 pass breakups).
His 11 pass breakups last season ranked fourth in the conference and 23rd nationally.
Williams did that while playing 80-plus snaps a game with cracked ribs and facing a huge secondary-injury burden because, as Shelby says, "We were sometimes going into games knowing we had two (cornerbacks), period."
"He would not pull himself out."
In 2020, Williams had four interceptions and was a threat to pick every pass thrown his way. Last season, with his role and responsibilities changing as secondary injuries mounted, he didn't intercept a pass.
It burns him now. It burned him then. He wants more -- from himself and the Hoosiers. So does Shelby, who continues to push.
"Mentally, we have to make sure that we do a great job in the fourth quarter," Shelby says. "That is where he needs to step up and make those plays. Do not just go get a PBU, go get the interception and get takeaways. That is what I expect from him this fall."
Shelby has the perfect example for Williams to follow -- Houston Texans All-Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt. While they don't play the same position, Watt's approach to the game is what's needed for elite success at any level.
"I want him to make sure he starts acting like a pro and gets the mental side," Shelby says, "even when you are tired, even when you know the playbook. Continue to take notes. He has been here for a long time, so he knows all the checks.
"A few years ago, I did an internship with the Houston Texans, and I remember this about J.J. Watt. He is a big-time dude. He came to every meeting as a guy that knew the playbook, but is taking notes. He is out there before practice working on his pass-rush skills.
"I try telling those guys that if they want to be a pro like that, and if they want to be a $100-million man, they have to put in the work and your teammates have to see it. That is the one thing that I am pushing (Williams) to do this year."
Pushing includes leadership.
"He is very talented, very fast, and he knows the playbook," Shelby says, "but he has to get these young guys right. Take them under your wing. Take them out there and get them 50 (repetitions) on the jugs with you and work on the techniques.
"That is what you have to do if you want the opportunity to play at the next level. It does not start now, it started in the summer.
"So far, he has done a good job of that."
Last season was a painful reminder of what it will take after consecutive bowl appearances.
"It was a learning experience," Williams says. "It's not looking too far ahead and staying in the now and taking everything day-by-day. It is trying to build that culture back to bowl game-or-bust because, if you don't go to a bowl game, what's the point (of all the work we put in)."
That drove the Hoosiers last winter, and then the spring and summer, and now in the first week of fall camp.
"It's just staying hungry and keeping that competitive spirit," Williams says.
