Minium: Steven Williams Started at Quarterback as a Freshman and May Start This Fall at Linebacker

By Harry Minium
 
It's not often that you see a college football quarterback move to linebacker and not only start, but go on to a professional career.
 
But that happened to Justin Tuggle, the son of former NFL star Jessie Tuggle, when he played at Kansas State University. He was a backup quarterback with little chance of getting significant playing time, so Justin Tuggle approached the coaching staff, including Blake Seiler, about moving to linebacker prior to his senior year.
 
Remarkably, he made a quick transformation to defense, won a starting position and helped the Wildcats win a Big 12 championship. He then played three years in the NFL and has since starred in the Canadian Football League.
 
Recruited to Old Dominion University as a quarterback, Steven Williams heard all about Tuggle when he was contemplating moving to linebacker. And he heard it from Seiler, now ODU's defensive coordinator.
 
Tuggle is only one of several players who made the transition to defense under Seiler who went on to become stars.
 
"I want to play," Williams said. "When we talked about the move, he told me he's going to help me become an impact player."
 
And so far in spring practice, Williams has been an impact player.
 
At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Williams is built like the prototype outside linebacker and even when he was taking snaps from center, showed that he loved to hit.
 
Williams would plow into a defender rather than step out of bounds, and usually it was the tackler who ended up feeling pain. 
 
"He's been a very willing tackler," Seiler said. "He's not afraid to throw his body around."
 
Williams didn't make the transition directly from quarterback. After starting at quarterback as a true freshman in 2017, he played four games in 2018 before being injured. He was moved to wide receiver in 2019 and although he played in all 12 games, it wasn't a great fit.


 
It remains to be seen whether Williams will start this fall, but he will play and play a lot. 
 
"He certainly has the ability to be a starter," Seiler said. "He's still learning. But we're going to play him. We're going to play him for sure.
 
"We're trying to figure out where all of our pieces fit right now, but we've got to get him on the field. If you took our most talented 15 players on defense, he's in that 15. So, yes, we've got to get him on the field."
 
The transition to linebacker has worked in part because Williams developed a close relationship with Seiler shortly after the new coaching staff arrived on campus. Seiler said he saw Williams during winter workouts in 2020 and was immediately smitten with his athleticism.
 
"I was just kind of watching guys," Seiler said. "I didn't know them yet and didn't know what positions they played.
 
"When I saw Steven, I said to myself, 'that's a good athlete. Hopefully he's one of ours on defense.' "
 
He struck up a conversation with Williams and they hit it off.
 
"We talked all the time," Williams said. "That what made it easy. I was already comfortable with him. It made the decision simple. Once you get to know coach Seiler, he's very approachable.
 
"He's really a good coach. He's hands on and he's going to tell you like it is. He's going to help you at the end of the day. If you need him, he's going to be there for you."
 
Seiler said Williams' transformation to linebacker has been relatively seamless.
 
"He's made the quickest transition of any quarterback I can remember," Seiler said, adding that Williams has been at his best during scrimmages, when the ball is live.
 
Quarterback is the most complicated job on the football field. Williams said he likes the simplicity of playing defense. 


 
"It's much easier because I don't have to think about everyone else's job," he said. "At quarterback, you have worry about what everyone else is doing. On defense, I just have to do my job, read my keys and make my plays."
 
It's not just the mental part of playing defense he finds attractive. He relishes hitting people.
 
"That's always been in my personality," he said. "The physicality is what attracted me to football, the violent nature of the sport, it drove me toward it.
 
"It's been a perfect fit. I love the contact. I won't back down from anyone. That's what defense brings out of you."
 
He said the new coaching staff, and with its emphasis on discipline, has helped.
 
"There's definitely a difference in coaching styles," he said. "They don't want anything short of perfection. It's about having a plan and executing it every day. The three C's (care, compete, character), that's their motto.
 
"It's a day-to-day process, about being consistent, and it's paying off. I'm seeing guys with more enthusiasm about the whole process."
 
A sport management major, Williams hopes to leave ODU with a master's degree and go into coaching
 
"I want to own my own sports facility and coach," he said. "I'm not sure on what level I want to coach, whether it's high school or college, but coaching, helping people, is what I want to do."
 
He's been working with Charles Owens, ODU's director of player personnel, "to get a feel for what his job is like," Williams said.


 
"Getting to know players and their families, working on marketing, it's pretty cool."
 
ODU was 1-11 when it last played in 2019 and did not play this past fall. Between the 1-11 finish and the pandemic, things have been difficult for the Monarchs.
 
Although the transfer portal has become the place to go for many players when the going gets tough, Williams said he didn't give that much thought. 
 
"Going to another place and trying to figure out another situation, that wasn't for me," he said.
 
"Sometimes another situation looks better but it's not. I like to finish what I start.
 
"I didn't want to leave because things weren't going well. I want to make up for the bad seasons we've had the last few years. That's everyone's goal."
 
He said he loves ODU, in spite of the ups and downs, and he wants to take a leadership role this fall, even if he's a rookie defensive player. 
 
"I want to become a leader for the young guys," he said. "I'm trying to learn everything I can about our defense so I can be a coach on the field."
 
The pandemic virtually shut down community involvement from ODU football players, who usually host an event for the Special Olympics and go to schools to read to young students.
 
"We all want to get back into the community," he said. "I want to get more involved in mentoring and things that will help people.
 
"That's important to me."
 
He has two more years to do that, and Seiler said that's the beautiful thing about the timing of Williams' switch to defense.
 
"So many guys switch positions when they are seniors," Seiler said. "Steven has two years left.
 
"I'm really excited about Steven's potential. He's made so much progress and can make so much more."
 
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu