*The quotes in this story come from Blake Baker and Joe Sloan on Off the Bench with Jacob Hester
LSU opened some eyes with its sixth defensive line coach hire in March.
Head coach Brian Kelly lured former All-American and NFL Pro Bowler Kyle Williams from his high school alma mater to coach at the collegiate level for the first time.
Williams’s new colleagues have been impressed,
“It’s really been seamless,” said LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker. “It’s been quite impressive when you talk of all the intricacies of college football. The Xs and Os and the coaching part is minimal as far as the adjustment. The way he’s picked it up in recruiting, the way he manages his room, it’ s really been impressive.”
Williams and Baker hit it off early in the interviewing process as Williams discussed the type of play he used to play in the NFL for 13 years as a slightly undersized defensive tackle.
It struck Baker.
“It was one of the first things when we sat down and kind of talked about this job opening,” Baker said. “He talked about how the NFL has changed over the years, and that’s really when his career kind of took off. When he wasn’t necessarily being a two-gap defensive lineman or a lineman who was holding linemen off linebackers. He was able to use his speed and quickness. That’s what the game has evolved to, and that’s what we want here, and that’s what he views the game as, so it’s all married up really well.”
Williams’s Louisiana roots run deep. He was born and raised in Ruston before making the move to Baton Rouge for his college years. That’s why he wanted to return south after more than a decade in Buffalo.
He settled back in Ruston after retirement where he struck up a relationship with another LSU staffer.
“He and I got to be friends when I was up at (Louisiana) Tech when he was really retired at the end of his career and back home,” said LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. “What a fantastic human being. Great person. Great teacher. Outstanding motivator. In it for the right reasons, and he’s all in. For someone who has accomplished all the things that he has in this game to get into coaching and be all in, you’d never know it. He’s humble. He gets after it.”
When Williams speaks, it comes with two decades of high level football success. That’s as long as his player have been alive.
Sloan has seen that resonate with LSU defensive linemen early on.
“He’s got so many stories and so many experiences to share with these guys and pour into these guys,” Sloan said. “I think he’s been a huge addition to our staff. He’s been a huge addition to our players.”
Every coach has a different personality. Williams was seen as the heartbeat of the Bills during his entire career.
He garnered the respect of players at the highest level. He did it again as a defensive coordinator at Ruston High School. Now he’s doing it again at LSU.
“The one thing that I love about Kyle is that you know where you stand,” Baker said. “He’s pretty much a straight shooter, and I appreciate that. And I think he’s done an outstanding job with our defensive tackles. I think they’re enjoying being able to get in the backfield and make some plays and doing some things differently. You take a little bit of everything from each coach you have, but I can see those guys gravitating toward the style of play that we want.”
Williams played emotionally and promises to coach that way.
“I think that will show in the fall in critical moments,” Sloan said. “That fire shows up. There’s no doubt about it.”
