Wake Forest Athletics
Williams Brings ACC and Power-5 Experience to Clawson's Staff
2/25/2020 3:06:00 PM | Football
"It’s not about stars, it’s about evaluating athletes, evaluating talent and developing that talent. I don’t care where you are." - Paul Williams
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By Les Johns
The 2003 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team claimed an Atlantic-10 Conference championship thanks in part to a 51-45 triple-overtime victory over UMass, then marched all the way to the NCAA I-AA title game where they destroyed Colgate 40-0 to claim the championship.
Wake Forest defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill joined Delaware coach K.C. Keeler's staff the following season, joining two current Wake Forest coaches who won a championship the prior year: assistant head coach for the defense Dave Cohen and cornerbacks coach Paul Williams.
Williams credits Cohen for helping break him into the coaching business, and despite sending 13 players to the NFL Draft in his 23 seasons of coaching, he considers that championship season the highlight of his career.
"That's the goal," Williams said. "That's why you do this, to win a national title. That's your goal. Wherever you go, that's the objective."
Given his close relationships with Cohen and Hemphill, Wake Forest became a perfect fit for Williams when an opening in the staff became available.
"It was just a great opportunity," Williams said. "I've known of Dave (Clawson) for years, back when he was at Villanova, Fordham and Lehigh. We've always had mutual friends. I'm really good friends with coach Cohen, who coached me at Delaware. He actually got me in the business.
"I've known of Dave Clawson, and followed and respected him. I know (associate head coach) coach (Kevin) Higgins and (Wayne) Lineburg. I'm very familiar with those guys."
Before spending the last four seasons split between Illinois, Houston and Texas, Williams had a lengthy tenure with the Miami Hurricanes under head coach Al Golden. With Wake Forest being the Atlantic Division of the ACC and Miami in the Coastal, the two programs only play once every six years, so Williams and then-Wake Forest defensive coordinator Mike Elko could stay in touch.
"Being in the ACC, when I was at Miami, I would visit coach Elko, because we didn't play each other," Williams said. "We were friends from way back. I coached Mike at Penn. He was a safety when I was a restricted earnings coach. We have a relationship."
But it was during those visits with Elko that Williams got more of a first-hand view of what Wake Forest has to offer — both in terms of commitment to facilities, but also the quality of the coaching staff.
"You look at what he's done since he's been here," Williams said about Clawson, who has led the Demon Deacons to bowl games the last four seasons. "I know it's an academic school, but he's done a great job of recruiting and he's won. The ACC is talented. There's talent everywhere in the ACC. Clemson has been in national championships, and you have Florida State, Miami, Carolina, Louisville, Duke, NC State — there's talent around this league.
"You can win anywhere, if you have a head coach and staff who are on the same page. It's not about stars, it's about evaluating athletes, evaluating talent and developing that talent. I don't care where you are. I was at Temple when we were one of the worst programs in the country. We got it turned around by evaluating and developing. It's about having an eye for talent. I think that's what they've done here, and that's what intrigued me. Coach Clawson does a great job of evaluating talent, and he's a winner."
Williams is inheriting a challenging situation at cornerback this season. The Deacs have just graduated two seniors in Essang Bassey and Amari Henderson, who each started all 13 games last year. Bassey earned All-ACC honors while Henderson was arguably snubbed. The pair combined for 100 tackles, 21 pass break-ups and five interceptions last season. No other corner played significant snaps aside from returning senior Ja'Sir Taylor.
"That's what I enjoy about what we do," Williams said. "It's next guy up. Let's develop, and that's what we're always working toward, is getting that next guy ready. At Temple, we didn't have anybody.
"It didn't matter if they were freshmen or a redshirt freshman. You have to figure out who gives you the best opportunity to be successful and figure out what they can do. Lyle has to call it, based on what they can do, but it's making them as good as they can possibly be out of that. The quicker you can figure it out, the better off you'll be."
After getting hired for the position in early February, Williams has been checking out his stable of cornerbacks as often as he could leading to spring camp opening this week.
"Watching morning workouts and watching them in the weight room," he said. "They get a little bit of drill work, but it's about seeing as much as you can before spring camp. It's just seeing them athletically as possible. Can they run? Can they flip their hips? A lot of these guys haven't played a lot, other than Ja'Sir. There's some athletes here though. They have some ability. Now we just have to polish that ability."
Next Up:
Wake Forest is back on the field for the second practice in spring ball on Thursday. Before the week of spring break, the Demon Deacons will have five practices. They will resume their slate of practices on March 17, running up until the spring game.
The spring game is scheduled for April 4 in BB&T Field. We invite all of Deacon Nation to come get their first glimse at the 2020 team. Admission is free. After the game, fans can go onto the field to meet their favorite members of the Wake Forest team and get pictures and autogrpahs.
By Les Johns
The 2003 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team claimed an Atlantic-10 Conference championship thanks in part to a 51-45 triple-overtime victory over UMass, then marched all the way to the NCAA I-AA title game where they destroyed Colgate 40-0 to claim the championship.
Wake Forest defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill joined Delaware coach K.C. Keeler's staff the following season, joining two current Wake Forest coaches who won a championship the prior year: assistant head coach for the defense Dave Cohen and cornerbacks coach Paul Williams.
Williams credits Cohen for helping break him into the coaching business, and despite sending 13 players to the NFL Draft in his 23 seasons of coaching, he considers that championship season the highlight of his career.
"That's the goal," Williams said. "That's why you do this, to win a national title. That's your goal. Wherever you go, that's the objective."
Given his close relationships with Cohen and Hemphill, Wake Forest became a perfect fit for Williams when an opening in the staff became available.
"It was just a great opportunity," Williams said. "I've known of Dave (Clawson) for years, back when he was at Villanova, Fordham and Lehigh. We've always had mutual friends. I'm really good friends with coach Cohen, who coached me at Delaware. He actually got me in the business.
"I've known of Dave Clawson, and followed and respected him. I know (associate head coach) coach (Kevin) Higgins and (Wayne) Lineburg. I'm very familiar with those guys."
Before spending the last four seasons split between Illinois, Houston and Texas, Williams had a lengthy tenure with the Miami Hurricanes under head coach Al Golden. With Wake Forest being the Atlantic Division of the ACC and Miami in the Coastal, the two programs only play once every six years, so Williams and then-Wake Forest defensive coordinator Mike Elko could stay in touch.
"Being in the ACC, when I was at Miami, I would visit coach Elko, because we didn't play each other," Williams said. "We were friends from way back. I coached Mike at Penn. He was a safety when I was a restricted earnings coach. We have a relationship."
But it was during those visits with Elko that Williams got more of a first-hand view of what Wake Forest has to offer — both in terms of commitment to facilities, but also the quality of the coaching staff.
"You look at what he's done since he's been here," Williams said about Clawson, who has led the Demon Deacons to bowl games the last four seasons. "I know it's an academic school, but he's done a great job of recruiting and he's won. The ACC is talented. There's talent everywhere in the ACC. Clemson has been in national championships, and you have Florida State, Miami, Carolina, Louisville, Duke, NC State — there's talent around this league.
"You can win anywhere, if you have a head coach and staff who are on the same page. It's not about stars, it's about evaluating athletes, evaluating talent and developing that talent. I don't care where you are. I was at Temple when we were one of the worst programs in the country. We got it turned around by evaluating and developing. It's about having an eye for talent. I think that's what they've done here, and that's what intrigued me. Coach Clawson does a great job of evaluating talent, and he's a winner."
Williams is inheriting a challenging situation at cornerback this season. The Deacs have just graduated two seniors in Essang Bassey and Amari Henderson, who each started all 13 games last year. Bassey earned All-ACC honors while Henderson was arguably snubbed. The pair combined for 100 tackles, 21 pass break-ups and five interceptions last season. No other corner played significant snaps aside from returning senior Ja'Sir Taylor.
"That's what I enjoy about what we do," Williams said. "It's next guy up. Let's develop, and that's what we're always working toward, is getting that next guy ready. At Temple, we didn't have anybody.
"It didn't matter if they were freshmen or a redshirt freshman. You have to figure out who gives you the best opportunity to be successful and figure out what they can do. Lyle has to call it, based on what they can do, but it's making them as good as they can possibly be out of that. The quicker you can figure it out, the better off you'll be."
After getting hired for the position in early February, Williams has been checking out his stable of cornerbacks as often as he could leading to spring camp opening this week.
"Watching morning workouts and watching them in the weight room," he said. "They get a little bit of drill work, but it's about seeing as much as you can before spring camp. It's just seeing them athletically as possible. Can they run? Can they flip their hips? A lot of these guys haven't played a lot, other than Ja'Sir. There's some athletes here though. They have some ability. Now we just have to polish that ability."
Next Up:
Wake Forest is back on the field for the second practice in spring ball on Thursday. Before the week of spring break, the Demon Deacons will have five practices. They will resume their slate of practices on March 17, running up until the spring game.
The spring game is scheduled for April 4 in BB&T Field. We invite all of Deacon Nation to come get their first glimse at the 2020 team. Admission is free. After the game, fans can go onto the field to meet their favorite members of the Wake Forest team and get pictures and autogrpahs.
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