Advertisement
football Edit

Inside Kyren Williams' Self-Started Process Of Becoming Notre Dame's Top RB

The offseason transformation and shaping of Kyren Williams into Notre Dame’s top running back can be traced to a field known as “The Dirty Hole” and the dining room table at his St. Louis area home.

There were other factors, other stakeholders and other locations, but those two stand out in particular. One was where he set into motion a list of training goals when COVID-19 forced him and his Notre Dame teammates home this spring and left them to their own devices to stay conditioned. At the other, he tweaked some habits to slim down after an initial desire to bulk up backfired.

The activity at both locations was a product of self-awareness born from a lost freshman season that started with spring practice and fall camp buzz — and effectively ended with an opening-night dropped screen pass against Louisville. Four garbage-time carries versus New Mexico the next game followed before an eventual redshirt and disappearance from public view.

Sign up for Blue & Gold's FREE alerts and newsletter

Advertisement
Kyren Williams is on pace to be Notre Dame's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2017.
Kyren Williams is on pace to be Notre Dame's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2017. (Notre Dame Athletics)

“I could see from the stands he was distraught,” his father, Larry Williams, said of the drop. “But from that point on, he was determined.”

There was no finger-pointing or excuse-making. He still belonged here, he thought. A few alterations were simply necessary and obvious. He needed to change his diet, reshape his frame and increase his speed. Opportunity was available with 2019 leading rusher Tony Jones Jr. in the pros, and he wanted to snatch it.

“There’s a little bit of actualization that, ‘I probably need to understand that this is my time now. I have a chance and I better pay attention to the nutrition and physical part,’” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said.

Williams’ pandemic productivity allowed him to filch Notre Dame’s lead back role, but maybe even he didn’t expect it to take off this fast and take the Irish ground game this far.

Now a sophomore, Williams is the focal point of a rushing offense that ranks 10th nationally in rush yards per game and 15th in yards per carry among teams that have played more than one game. Running the ball is Notre Dame’s identity this season instead of something the Irish just did because it was wise a year ago.

Williams’ fit into Notre Dame’s outside zone-based scheme appeared natural from the season opener against Duke, when he made his first career start, ran for 112 yards and earned the game ball. He’s strong enough to shed tackles. He’s fast enough to break long runs. His vision and patience mesh with a slower-developing run scheme.

“If he can juke someone, he will,” Larry Williams said. “If not, he will put his head down and get as many yards as he can. I appreciate that he always falls forward.”

All told, the 5-9, 195-pound Williams has 524 rushing yards on 5.8 yards per carry through five games. He’s 10 pounds lighter than his listed weight in 2019, his body more angular, muscles more defined. His 10 catches are tied for third on the team. Even in a shorter season, he’s on pace to be Notre Dame’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Josh Adams in 2017.

“My freshman season taught me I could do this,” Williams said after that breakout first start. “I just needed more time. I was able to change my body. Where I’m at now is where I feel the most comfortable.”

A Welcomed Grind

The first rule of workouts at “The Dirty Hole” is to bring ample water. There’s no shade. No bench to sit on, cover to take or readily available source for hydration. The “hole”, oddly enough, is actually on a raised surface. It’s a middle school grass field in greater St. Louis, on a hill and invisible from the nearby road.

“It’s almost like a hole and you just deal with what’s there,” said Jerry Stanfield, Williams’ running backs coach at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis and his trainer since ninth grade.

“I’ll just tell him to meet me at the Dirty Hole at 3:30, 6:30 or whatever time we want.”

And so at least three times per week this spring and early summer, Williams linked up with Stanfield at the hole to train and reach the goal Williams set for himself: get faster. Maybe nerves got to him that night in Louisville too, and maybe his benching was too harsh. But Williams felt he was too big and a bit too slow. Runs he broke in high school weren’t touchdowns or chunks in practice.

Williams’ speed work consisted of chugging up and down the hill at the Dirty Hole and some drills Stanfield devised to build speed and endurance. The two go hand-in-hand, Stanfield says. There were 300s – 100 yards down, back and down again at sprint speed. Then, a particularly grueling one Stanfield dubbed “four quarters.”

Kyren Williams has three 100-yard games in this season, and he can credit an offseason spent attacking a specific plan.
Kyren Williams has three 100-yard games in this season, and he can credit an offseason spent attacking a specific plan. (@NDFootball)

“Basically, I set up four of five cones anywhere from 5 yards to 7 yards to 15 to 30 to 50 and constantly, he will sprint to wherever I stand,” Stanfield said. “We’ll do that for four periods. It’s continuous running at various intervals in that space, whether it’s 5 yards, 7, 15, 30, I could be standing at 50 for two and come back to 7.”

For two hours, sometimes three, Stanfield put Williams through the grinder. They occasionally ventured from the hole to a public park that had sand volleyball courts with the nets removed and did running and balance drills in the sand.

Stanfield’s boot camp was only part of Williams’ work, though. He lifted weights on his own. He threw the football with current and former area high school stars, including Miami (Ohio) quarterback Brett Gabbert, Ohio State receiver Kam Babb, Tennessee Titans tight end MyCole Pruitt and current Irish teammate Jordan Johnson, a freshman receiver.

“There were times when he would have already done two workouts,” Stanfield said. “He would come to me and say, ‘Coach, can we get a session in now?’ There were times I would have to tell him, ‘Not today. You need to let your body recover and rest.’”

Or, partake in the other part of his makeover.

'I Can Move Much Better'

Larry Williams says his son was never a carefree junk food eater, but his culinary habits would not have been confused with a fad diet either. And going into college, Williams was set on gaining weight so he could take hits. What he plausibly packed on in padding, he lost in mobility. And apparently, figure.

“One day walking to the football complex, one of his coaches mentioned, ‘Kyren, you’re looking kind of thick there,’” Larry recalled. “He took that to heart.”

Williams and his mother, Taryn, came up with a new dietary plan when his spring semester ended prematurely. More chicken and fish – lean protein. Greens. And a lot of water. Most of all, fewer carbs, which meant fewer trips to his favorite fast-food joint, Chipotle.

Stanfield thinks Williams was pushing 210 pounds when he returned home. The weight dripped off and a leaner figure was sculpted with every Dirty Hole visit and chicken breast meal. At one point, Stanfield said, Williams was down to 193 pounds. He returned to campus in mid-June for summer workouts, where Notre Dame strength coach Matt Balis handled the final stages of his development.

“When he first came back to camp, he was like, ‘I can move much better at this weight, I feel like I can absorb the hits at this weight,” Stanfield said.

The results back him up. Per Pro Football Focus, Williams has 24 avoided tackles through five games. For comparison, Adams had 44 in 13 games in 2017. Only once in nine rushes on third down with 3 or fewer yards to go has he been denied a first down. In a 45-3 win over Pitt Oct. 24, he was twice hit before the line to gain on a third-and-1 carry, but converted anyway. There’s a V8 engine in that 5-9 stature.

“In some circles, you may say he’s not very big,” Kelly said. “But he plays big.”

Those around Williams say his leg strength, vision and even speed were there all along, though. In that sense, Williams’ offseason was about retooling and refining a skill set more than it was creating one. He was off track. He figured out how to put himself back on it, how to make college feel like high school.

The solution was in the dirty work.

----

• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable.

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.

Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement