Know the Name: How Tate Williams has gone from small-town farmer to national recruit

Courtesy Tate Williams

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If Tate Williams had it his way, he’d never leave the farm.

The 2,500 acres his family owns an hour’s drive from Wall, Texas is his slice of paradise.

Cotton fields as far as the eye can see. More John Deere equipment than people.

Tranquility and tractors. It just don’t get no better.

“If heaven wasn’t so far away,” is how Williams captioned a photo on Twitter of one of his family’s rigs with the sun setting in the distance.

The farm will most definitely be where he spends most of his time once his football playing days are over. But therein lies the conundrum: that could be a while.

This ol farm boy from Tom Green County has opened eyes across the country with his abilities to plow over defenders.

TexasFootball.com ranks him as the No. 5 offensive guard and No. 65 player in the state for 2021. He jumped 86 spots in 247Sports’ latest rankings, where he’s listed as the No. 136 player in the country, No. 10 OG overall and No. 22 player in the Lone Star State.

His long-term projections are as healthy as his crops after a long summers shower. He’s 6-foot-4 and weights 265 pounds; the ideal frame for a college strength and conditioning program to add necessary mass.

He has a nearly 6-foot-10 wingspan and 11-inch hands, both metrics that would make any coach drool. For reference, Kawhi Leonard’s hands, notorious around the NBA, are 11.25 inches wide.

Williams has it all going for him right now, but he’d be the first to tell you none of this would be possible without the work ethic instilled in him by his family out on that farm.

“My grandpa and my dad [Ty Williams, former All-American at Angelo State in the shot put] are some of the hardest working people I know,” Williams said. “They have that never quit, keep on truckin attitude all the time. They’re never just sitting around. They always have something going, and that’s been built into me. I always have to have something going; that could be going out and playing football, going to the weight room, playing basketball, something to keep me busy.”

Gramps lends two of those 2,500 acres to he and his sister, Kamryn Williams, to grow watermelon. It’s up to them to take care of that land, no one else.

“Our farm is an hour away from where we live,” he said. “A lot of times, whenever we’re picking watermelons, we’ll go out there and pick them before it gets too hot. Then we’ll take them up to the farmers market that afternoon and stay the night with them in the pickup to make sure no one steals anything. Get up around 4 a.m., get our spot and start selling.”

They sold roughly 1,600 watermelon at $5 a piece this season, which peaks from July to early August.

In addition to his watermelon duties, Williams is usually out at the farm three to four times a week helping plant or strip cotton.

“I think being a part of that, and having my grandpa, my dad and my mom’s work ethic, it has brought that work-ethic part to another level,” he said. “It just makes you want to work harder.”

That nonstop mentality has carried over perfectly to the field, where Williams is the bell-cow for an offense that runs the triple-option.

“So we’re low pad level, coming off the ball hard, narrow stance every play,” said Williams, who plays center, guard and tackle. “We pass maybe four times a game and I don’t even think we have a tradition pass set in our playbook.

“I stay low, come off fast and try to put someone on their back every play. I like going and blocking safeties and linebackers; being able to run with those guys is pretty fun. It’s kind of an eye-opener [for the defense].”

Watching Williams, who had 135 pancake blocks in 2019, wear down the opposition never gets old to Hawks head coach Houston Guy.

“He’s gonna block you until the whistle is blown. He’s not gonna stop,” Guy said. “He’s gonna try and grind you down. It might not be noticeable in the first or second quarter, but as that game progresses, he’s such a physical presence that it will start to take a toll. You’ll see those kids start to waver on if they want to stand in front of him and take that or not.”

Williams has worked his tail off to get to this point. He actually started his first year of football on the 7th grade B team.

“His parents didn’t play him in pee wee football, so he didn’t really know anything when he started,” Guy said. “I use him as an inspiration for those kids; you don’t want them to get discouraged and quit so I always tell them, this kid has gone from the B team to a Division I commit, and a lot of that has to do with his work ethic. He works harder than everyone else. When it’s time to go home, he’s willing to stay out there and do what it takes to make himself better.”

That dedication began to pay off in the way of college offers in March when he received his first offer from Abilene Christian. It was about that time that communication with Baylor began to pick up.

Within a two-week span in May, Williams picked up offers from Baylor, Rutgers, UTSA, Texas State, UNLV and Army.

One of those stood out above the rest.

“When I got the Baylor one, it was a no brainer for me,” he said. “I was tired of being on the phone for five hours a day and Baylor’s been somewhere I’ve wanted to go. I felt like part of the family and seem like pretty good people.”

Baylor offered on May 8. Williams committed the next day.

“Baylor did an excellent job in the evaluation of Williams,” said Greg Powers, President of Next Level Athlete and the senior recruiting analyst for TexasFootball.com.  “As a matter of fact, they offered him before any of the major media sites had him in their database. And the talent is definitely there. He's as strong as an ox and moves extremely well. He dominates the point of attack.” 

Williams thinks he’ll jive well with Bears offensive line coach Joe Wickline.

“He’s got that old mindset where you’re gonna do it his way or get the hell out; I like that coaching style and I think we’ll get a long great,” he said.

As for first-year Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, Williams sees nothing but positives.

“From the conversations I’ve had with Coach Aranda, he’s a great coach and a great guy too,” he said. “He’s got his mind in the right place and I’m looking forward to playing for him.”

What Baylor offers from an academic standpoint sold Williams too.

“A degree from Baylor is unmatched in Texas, maybe aside from Rice,” he said. “The opportunity to get that degree is something I wouldn’t have because I can’t afford it. It was really quite the honor to receiver an offer from them, and get that recognition from a school like Baylor.”

 

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