UNC fans can expect a more confident Javonte Williams at running back in 2020
As the 2019 football season progressed, UNC fans became accustomed to seeing Javonte Williams running around and, mostly, over opponents.
Williams appeared in all 13 games, starting one, and finished second on the team with 933 yards rushing. His five rushing touchdowns led the Tar Heels, and along with Michael Carter (team leading 1,003 rushing yards) provided one of the best backfields in the league.
Williams emerging as an ACC caliber running back in his second season was a good sign for UNC and the future. It’s hard to believe after seeing Williams bounce off of helpless defenders like rubber, one after another, that he started the season not knowing where he would fit in.
“At the beginning of the year I felt like I was lacking confidence, not knowing if I was going to play a lot,” Williams told the media on a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon. “As the season went on I feel like I had a role in the offense and my confidence grew.”
It may have taken Williams some time, but one of his coaches knew he was ready to contribute in game one. In the opener against South Carolina in Charlotte, Williams carried the ball 18 times for 102 yards in a 24-20 win over the Gamecocks. But one play stood out.
It came late in the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels trailed by three. On first down from the 35, quarterback Sam Howell hit Williams in the flat. Williams caught the ball clean and immediately turned up field with bad intentions. He was met by a gang of South Carolina defenders and carried three of them past the first down marker. When Williams stood up, he turned to the UNC sidelines and flexed his muscles. The Tar Heels’ bench went crazy.
“He just ran over the safety,” running backs coach Robert Gillespie recalled. “And when he got up, and Javonte is a quiet guy, and when he got up he kind of flexed towards the sideline, and I remember that moment being on the sideline and in my mind thinking he’s ready.”
Two plays later Howell hit Beau Corrales for the game-winning touchdown.
When the play was mentioned to Williams, he flashed a big smile.
“I remember that. I don’t really get excited too much when I play, I try to stay even,” Williams said. “Something just happened, I got excited and I felt like that helped us win the game in the end. It gave us another jolt of energy. That was a moment I really felt like I belonged at the ACC level.”
He continued to prove he belonged the rest of the season, averaging 71.8 yards per game while splitting carries with Carter and Antonio Williams, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills this offseason.
When Williams arrived prior to the 2018 season it was the presence of Carter and Antonio Williams that cast some doubt. Javonte Williams showed up out of Wallace Rose-Hill, where he rushed for 2,271 yards and 27 scores as a senior. He got to Chapel Hill and realized he would have to do more than “get the ball and run” which was his mindset in high school. Carter and Antonio Williams could answer coaches questions before they were even asked. Javonte Williams knew he was a long way from being able to do that. He admitted something like that can shatter a player’s confidence, but he knew the only way to get to that level was to imitate everything those guys did on and off the field.
Williams finished his freshman season with 224 yards and five touchdowns (on just 43 touches) in 11 games. Being around Carter and Antonio Williams, as well as talks with Gillespie, opened Williams eyes to all the nuances of college football: what to look for while watching film; defensive coverages; blitz pickups; how to play games with the defense. Once Williams grasped those concepts his game, and confidence, took off.
Gillespie noticed a change immediately and it carried over into the off season, where he heard more from the quiet Williams.
“(He) became a more outspoken guy in the locker room and on the field,” Gillespie said. “That’s a nice one-two punch with him and Mike.”
The relationship between Williams and Carter is unique. Williams looks up to Carter, who will be a senior in 2020. The two backs compete against each other for carries, but also serve as each other’s biggest critics. In practice compliments aren’t allowed. They only point out what the other person needs to work on. They let the compliments come from friends and family. Between those lines it’s only what needs to be improved.
“It’s never anything personal,” Williams said. “We are just trying to make each other better.”
What’s Carter’s biggest critique of Williams?
“Something he’s always saying is stay low,” Williams said. “If I play too high I’m playing like a smaller back, I’m too strong to stay up high, so just stay low and I’ll break even more tackles.”
Today Williams said he’s smarter as a football player. He knows all about zones, counters and defensive fronts. He’s spent the summer working on his agility and speed, as well as sharpening his route running. Off the field he feels more independent and enjoys living on his own. His freshman year he guesses his parents came up twice a week to check on him. Those trips gradually decreased to one. He’s grown leaps and bounds as a player and a young man. The biggest area of growth, however, is the one constant — his confidence. And if 2019 was just a slight increase in his own belief in his abilities, what he can bring in 2020 could be scary for the rest of the ACC.
“Freshman year just trying to feel his way around, sophomore year gaining confidence,” Gillespie said. “The sky’s the limit for what he can do his junior year because I think he understands that he fits what we can do offensively, his teammates respect him and he’s good enough to dominate on this level.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
