Jonah Williams has spent much of his Texas career fighting the kind of setbacks that can stall a promising player before he ever gets rolling. A broken collarbone wiped out his senior football season in high school. A hamstring issue derailed the end of his freshman baseball season and eventually led to surgery, the kind of word every athlete dreads.
Then came another hurdle this spring: shoulder surgery in March. That raised the obvious question around the sophomore safety and defensive back - could he get healthy enough to become a real piece for Texas football?
Head coach Steve Sarkisian said the timing of the operation was intentional.
“When we made the decision … to have the surgery when he had it, which obviously sacrificed the remainder of his baseball season, that was somewhat strategic to get him ready for training camp,” Sarkisian said during media availability Aug. 17. “That allowed the rehab time to happen during the spring … and that allowed him to be fully cleared for training camp when we got out.”
Now back on the field, Williams has continued to sharpen the instincts that made him such a highly regarded prospect. The bigger development, though, is how he’s handling the physical side of the job.
“Any time you have a shoulder surgery, it’s like, ‘can I really trust this thing to tackle and to be physical in the way I need to play?’ Early on, I think he felt some of that hesitation,” Sarkisian said.
“But, I think his trajectory has (gone up), and that’s a positive. What we saw Saturday was a guy who was willing to get people on the ground and to tackle.”
That’s the kind of growth Texas was hoping to see from the former Ball High School star in Galveston, Texas. Coming out of high school, Williams was a consensus five-star recruit and widely viewed as the top safety in his class. He earned that reputation by making noise in all three phases of the game.
But that versatility has been tough to fully unlock so far in college. Williams played in only eight games as a freshman, finished with nine tackles, and then moved on to baseball season.
Even with the injuries behind him, he’s stepping into a crowded safety group. Texas brings back seniors Jelani McDonald and Derek Williams Jr. at the position, and junior Kobe Black’s move from cornerback to safety gives the Longhorns another option.
Still, Williams has already made an impression. McDonald spoke about that on Aug. 6.
“It’s awesome having another big guy back there,” McDonald said of Williams. “We all look tall, so having another big guy back there, being physical, being vocal, stepping into his new role on this team. His adjustment has been smooth.”
Sarkisian added that Williams does not need to win a starting job to matter.
“We are counting on Jonah, and we’re pushing him,” Sarkisian said. “He’s come a long way.
Like from where he was those first three or four practices to where he is today, (it’s) extremely encouraging. And I’m not just talking about on defense; I’m talking about on special teams as well.”
One area Sarkisian singled out was punt coverage, where Williams drew praise during the team’s film review of the previous week.
For Texas, that opens another path for Williams to turn the all-around ability that once made him one of the country’s most coveted recruits into real production. The injuries have kept interrupting the process, but the question around him is shifting.
It’s no longer just about when he can get back out there. It’s about how much he can give once he does.
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