Williams Settles In At East Carolina
November 10, 2004 | Football
Now Williams is a fixture on the field for East Carolina.
He has set a freshman record with 196 punt return yards. He is second-string at his primary position of cornerback. And the Pirates coaches might have to use him to shore up the depleted receiving corps this week.
''It's just like high school again, playing both ways. I'm just pretty happy about that, being a slash,'' Williams said Tuesday.
Williams arrived in Greenville this summer eager to make an impact. But he found himself stuck on the scout team with no promise of playing time coming into the season, a discouraging start to his career.
Williams said he made several calls home, and his mother urged him to keep working hard on the football field and expect things to work out. As a result, he never let up during practice, and coaches said that his determination allowed him to move up the depth chart.
''I think being away from home for the first time, he's handled it pretty good,'' defensive coordinator Jerry Odom said. ''He's a quick guy, and he's talented and he does good things with the ball, so we're trying to get it in his hands as much as we can.''
With efforts like three kickoff returns for 80 yards against Houston last weekend, Williams has showed other Pirate newcomers what it takes to get a chance, Pirates head coach John Thompson said.
''I think Travis is kind of showing a lot of our young team that hey, you step up, we're going to get you the ball,'' Thompson said.
A native of Daytona Beach, Fla., Williams is one of 25 East Carolina players who will return to their home state this weekend for a game at South Florida. That could give a home feel to the game, Williams said.
''We're pretty hyped and excited about the opportunity to go down and play a bunch of guys that we played with in high school,'' Williams said.
