Blake Williams has been a busy man this fall as the 2014 Michigan tight end has been hitting college campuses for games all across the country.
“We were just at Vanderbilt,” said the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Romeo High School in Romeo, Mich. “We’ve been to California, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio. In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to Wisconsin, Penn State and Miami of Ohio.
“It’s really interesting to see how different they do it and how many tight ends they keep on the roster, the coaches’ demeanor and all of that stuff. Plus it’s a lot of fun to see a bunch of great games.”
Williams made a stop in South Bend to catch the Notre Dame-Stanford game last month.
“It was awesome,” said Williams. “The day was a little bit rainy, but everything was awesome. College Gameday was there and everything. They gave us a complete tour of campus and all of the facilities and it was a great game too.”
Williams had been on campus for a Michigan game a couple years earlier, but this was his first time visiting as a recruit.
“The campus is probably one of the best in the United States,” he said. “Everywhere you look, it’s just spectacular. We spent a lot of time down by the Gameday crew, in front of Touchdown Jesus. That part was pretty cool.”
He was also impressed with the atmosphere inside the stadium.
“It was really electric,” he said. “I walked in 20 minutes before the game and I got excited because it was so fun. Everybody was just having a great time.”
Williams had the chance to hear from Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and some members of his staff prior to the game.
“I talked to the coaches, but not for that long,” he said. “Coach Kelly talked to us in the media room about 30 to 45 minutes before the game. We talked to the tight ends coach and the safeties coach. They just asked me how my season was going and a few of my stats and told me to get film out to them.”
Williams plans on doing that very soon.
“I’m actually working on my film right now,” he said. “I should be getting back in touch with them in the next couple of weeks.”
Williams is still looking for his first offer and believes some programs are getting close to extending one. His junior season ended with a loss in the first round of the playoffs and Romeo finished the year 6-4. Williams had a solid season.
“I played both ways at tight end and defensive end,” he said. “I was tied for the team lead in tackles with our middle linebacker. I had eight sacks and about 40 receptions with three touchdowns.”
Most schools are recruiting Williams as a tight end, which is what he prefers.
“They all tell me that I have great hands, I run crisp routes and I take contact well after catching the ball,” he said.
Williams will be looking at education and coaches when he does make a decision.
“The most important thing to me is the academics because even if you did make the NFL – which is like a one percent chance – three years is the average career,” he said. “The other one is the coaches. I really want to like the coaches, the whole staff, including the strength and conditioning coach.”
During his visit to Iowa, Williams was told he would spend more time with his strength and conditioning coach during the span of his college career than any other member of the program’s staff.
“I thought about it and it made a whole lot of sense to me.”
