Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

While Kyle Williams emerged as a star dual-threat quarterback at Hawthorne High School (California), then-St. Monica head coach Anton Clarkson believed he had potential to play wide receiver. Throughout the summer, he gloated to then-St. Monica Athletic Director Frank Cruz about his newest weapon, who he’d convinced to transfer schools.

Cruz recalls Clarkson telling him Williams would become an NFL receiver. While awaiting Williams to return St. Monica’s season-opening kickoff, Cruz turned to Clarkson. He told him if Williams was as good as he claimed, he’d return the kick for a touchdown. Ninety-five yards later, Clarkson had just one thing to say.

“You impressed now?”

Now a fifth-year senior at Washington State, Williams’ switch has paid dividends at the college level across three seasons at UNLV and two with the Cougars. In 2024, he recorded career highs in receiving yards (1,026) and touchdowns (13), the latter ranking third in the nation. After helping WSU to an 8-4 record, Friday’s Holiday Bowl matchup against Syracuse marks his final college game.

Before his position change, Williams was a backup quarterback at Narbonne High School for two seasons, prompting his transfer to Hawthorne for his junior year.

In Williams’ lone season at Hawthorne, he accumulated 2,114 passing yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 57.7% of his passes. He also rushed for 941 yards and eight touchdowns. Williams trained with Clarkson Quarterback Club in Southern California to build on his success before his senior year.

Clarkson, alongside his father Steve, had hosted private quarterback training sessions for decades. Most notably, they’ve worked with NFL Pro Bowlers Ben Roethlisberger and Nick Foles. Williams entered his camp hoping to follow in those footsteps, and exited with a vastly different outlook on his career.

After reviewing his film and watching him throw, Clarkson realized Williams was playing the wrong position. He felt Williams was too raw as a passer and didn’t have enough time to develop into a polished quarterback before college. So, Clarkson advised him to play receiver the next season.

“I kinda looked at him and said, ‘Look, if you had a couple years at this thing, I think you could be a pretty special quarterback.’ But he was playing catch-up,” Clarkson said. “It was pretty easy to see that if he played receiver, got out on the perimeter … he’d be a special player.”

Kyle Williams racked up a career-high 1,026 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024 with Washington State. Courtesy of @motionshotz_ on Instagram

Williams trusted Clarkson’s judgment and made the switch. After his father found a job in the area, he and his brother, Mychai, joined Clarkson’s squad at St. Monica. Williams wreaked havoc on opposing defenses, racking up 763 yards and nine receiving touchdowns on just 31 receptions.

“He was the kind of guy that would catch a hitch and go 80 (yards),” Cruz said. “Let’s just say, he was a little better than the rest of the league.”

His performances caught the attention of Division I schools as the season went on. By December, he was rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports.

Clarkson said then-Tennessee receivers coach Tee Martin was looking to offer Williams a scholarship, but the Baltimore Ravens poached Martin before the offer materialized. He ultimately connected with then-UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo, picking the Rebels over schools like San Diego State and Colorado State.

“I think when it came down to it, coach Arroyo loved the kid and believed in him,” Clarkson said. “And UNLV was the best situation for him at the time. It gave him an opportunity to get on the field early, which was high on his priority list.”

Williams made an instant impact as a true freshman, starting all six games in UNLV’s COVID-shortened 2020 season. He led the team with 35 receptions and 426 yards, earning Freshman All-American Second Team honors from The Athletic.

He accumulated 82 receptions and 1,142 yards across the next two years, leading to interest from Power Five schools as a possible transfer target. Though, he didn’t enter the portal until after his junior year, when Arroyo was fired following a disappointing 2022 campaign. He immediately impressed then-WSU head coach Jake Dickert.

“Every time (Williams) touches the ball in the short space, he makes something happen,” Dickert told 247Sports following WSU’s victory over Utah State this season.

After committing to the Cougars, Williams recorded 61 receptions for 842 yards in his first season with them, both career highs. Heading into 2024, he was named to the watchlist for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the best receiver in college football.

Going into his final year of eligibility, Williams would’ve had his pick of the lot had he decided to transfer. It would’ve been understandable with Washington State’s future in flux following the Pac-12 realignment.

Yet Williams chose to stay, becoming one of college football’s top receivers. With over 30 WSU players currently in the transfer portal, Williams could’ve opted out of the Holiday Bowl like his former teammates, especially with the NFL likely on the horizon. But even as the Cougars continue to lose coaches and players to other programs, he remains committed to finishing what he started in Pullman.

“Kyle is one of those kids where once he gives you his word, it means something,” Clarkson said. “He values relationships much more than a name or anything like that, and that’s truthfully the reason that he stayed at Washington State.”

Published on December 26, 2024 at 11:48 pm

mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarSU