Alan
Banned
Halftime With Ryan Williams
By: Alan
BuckeyePlanet.com
What is one of the nations best high school defensive ends doing on a Saturday morning? He is busy listening to the radio broadcast of the South Lake (Texas) Carroll football game in hopes that his school, Mission Viejo (California), can finish the year on top of the USAToday High School Football Rankings. Fortunately, the BuckeyPlanet was able to speak with Ryan during halftime and he was gracious enough to take some time out of his schedule to help us learn more about him.
While Ryan is currently living in California, he was born in Ohio and has family that still resides in the area. He narrowed his final college choices down to Ohio State and Oklahoma, but “the fact that I’ve grown up watching and admiring Ohio State’s teams” was a deciding factor in his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes.
Ryan said that his favorite Buckeye moment was this years Michigan game that he used as his official visit. “It was amazing how many people were there and how many die hard fans Ohio State has. You can’t tell on television how many people there are.” He also noted: “It was so loud during the game that you couldn’t hear anything.” Even though he did not get to attend he said: “the skull session/ pre-game pep rally” is his favorite Buckeye tradition.
Williams has drawn praise for an explosive first-step and said that the step is the result of hard work, not natural talent: “It’s not natural at all, Coach Mike Piel has us work hard on that every day. We work on exploding off the ball.”
Ryan says that his “speed and pass rushing ability” are the strengths of his game and that he plans to spend his time between now and enrolling at Ohio State on “speed and weight gain.”
When asked what it is like to line-up in practice across from his current Mission Viejo teammate, and fellow Ohio State Verbal Commitment, Offensive Lineman Kevin Bemoll, he replied: “he is very, very good and his best strength is that if he gets on you, he will kill you because he is so big and strong.”
Ryan says that he is “not really concerned about going to college, but I am kind of bummed about leaving California. But I know I am going to a great place and a great school.” He credits his father and coaches as being the greatest influences in his life and indicated that his father is likely to make the trip to Columbus for every game.
Thank you to Ryan and the Williams family for taking some time out of the Holiday Season to speak with the BuckeyePlanet. Ryan is going to be fun to watch in the Scarlet and Gray.
