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28 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 f His teammates have little doubt he'll rise to the occasion either. Richards said Wil- liams loves the spotlight and will thrive in it. Roommate and tight end Dolapo Macarthy, now one of Williams' closest friends after butt- ing heads with him as a freshman, is eager to see Williams wreak havoc in receivers' heads and bodies. Coaches gave Wil- liams the "Pit Bull Award" this spring. So maybe no more pressure in the in- creased role but certainly another step in Williams' personal growth. He knows how he's viewed now, and he doesn't want his play to be the only thing speaking. "It's the minor things that really take detail," Richards said. "He'll get treatment every day. He sits up in front in all the meetings. He's taking the younger guys aside and helping them out, bringing them in to watch film or just being on the field by himself trying to coach them up. Just the other day when we were doing some drills on our own afterward when everybody left, he went and did some jog- ging on his own just to stay in shape. "He's stepping outside that comfort zone. That's helping him be so focused right now because he's doing some of the stuff he probably doesn't want to do, but he's doing it for the better of team, for the better of himself. "I think he did well this spring. We both know — we talk about it all the time — definitely improvement from the fall to now, but there's still a lot of work. He feels that way, too. The more reps he gets and the more he sees him- self doing stuff, the better he is. He'll see himself do some- thing wrong and get mad at himself for doing it wrong. The more he focuses on that film and perfecting what he does out there on the field, he does good. He's been doing really well this spring and hopefully it transitions into the summer and we can pick that up in the fall." Williams holds similar expectations. Since they arrived on campus, Williams and Richards have talked about being "three-and-out" players, being good enough to be able to leave for the NFL early. Williams still has that chance, and, at least in his mind, he's confident. He says, simply, he wants to be the best. And to be clear, he reiterates, to be the best "ev-er," ex- tending the second syllable. He won't rate that accomplishment by statistics, he said. It is sometimes hard to do that as a cornerback be- cause people can stay away from lockdown guys. And Williams has no doubt he's that. "I feel like I'm to the point right now where I can take a side of the field away, and that shortens up the defense, makes us more aggressive," he said. "Honestly, the sky is the limit. I think I'm the only person who can hold me back from being an All-American here." j Tom Campbell Williams has high aspirations — not only to shut down opposing receivers but doing it at such a high rate that he would attain All-America status.