Coach On Ty’Son Williams: ‘Exactly What We’re Looking For In A Back’

PROVO, Utah – The BYU football team held its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, and the coaching staff is happy with what they saw – especially at the running back position.

In his first action at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Ty’Son Williams – the graduate transfer from South Carolina – showed what he adds to the Cougar backfield.

“He’s exactly what we’re looking for in a back,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. “He’s an all-purpose back. He can run, he can catch, he can block – he’s a willing blocker. A lot of tailbacks don’t like that. He showed the ability today to break a tackle or make a guy miss. You think you have that in a back, but you don’t really know until you go live.”

Quarterback Zach Wilson was happy with what he saw in his backfield-mate.

“Ty’son Williams stood out to me,” said Wilson. “I was anxious to see how these running backs would do.”

Adding Experience To The Backfield

One thing Williams adds is experience. After starting his career at North Carolina, he transferred to South Carolina before arriving in Provo for his final season. Wilson said his experience helps him pick up the offense quickly.

“You can tell that this dude’s a football player,” Wilson adds. “He knows what he’s doing, whether he knows the playbook or not cause it’s still brand new. He knows how to run the ball and he’s definitely the [kind of] kid that wants to do the extra he wants to go in and make sure he gets the extra work to make sure he knows the plays.”

At South Carolina, Williams rushed for 799 yards and five touchdowns and it’s beginning to translate in how comfortable he is on the field at BYU.

“I had him break the team cause he stuck out,” said head coach Kalani Sitake. “He’s earned a lot of [respect]. As far as [becoming] a legitimate leader, I think the guys really respect him.”

Despite the praise he’s receiving after his first scrimmage, Williams is trying to downplay the talk.

“Don’t believe them, don’t believe them,” jokes Williams. “I kinda have a feeling that I was doing really good in my runs. I feel like we did good as an offensive unit and that’s the thing I’m most proud about.”

The transition has been easy because of the experience his teammates have in the offense.

“It’s kinda been easy for me to transition in just because I’m around guys that know what’s going on and they can help me and fill me up to speed.”