Jordan Williams (American football)

Williams played his first three years of high school football at P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, Florida.[1][2] During his junior year, he broke his collarbone in the fifth game and missed the rest of the season.[3][4] While at P. K. Yonge, he spent time at middle linebacker, nose tackle and tight end.[3][5]

After his junior year at P. K. Yonge, he transferred to play his senior year of football at Gainesville High School in Gainesville.[1][6][7] In Williams' senior season in 2010, he played defensive end and tight end while also spending some time at long snapper.[8][7][9] In 2010, he was named to both the Super 11 team and Class 5A-AA First Team of the Gainesville Sun.[4][10][6] Gainesville High finished with an 11–2 record and advanced to the state semifinals.[6][11][12] He played in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA)/Reebok North-South All Star Football Classic on December 22, 2010.[13][14][15] He played at Gainesville High with future Tennessee teammate Trevarris Saulsberry.[16]

In the class of 2011, Williams was rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN.com and 247Sports.com.[6][17] He was also rated the No. 42 strongside defensive end in the country by Rivals.com,[18][19] the No. 45 defensive end in the country by Scout.com,[20][21] the No. 61 defensive end in the country by ESPN.com,[22][23] and the No. 34 strongside defensive end in the country by 247Sports.com.[17][24] He was also rated both a three-star recruit and the No. 40 strongside defensive end in the country on 247Sports.com's composite rating, which takes into account the ratings of all the other major recruiting services in the country.[25][17][26]

He committed to play college football for Tennessee in October 2010.[1][18][27] He also received offers from other schools, some of which included Arkansas, NC State, Oregon, South Florida, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Maryland, Duke, Louisville, Iowa State, Troy, UCF, Michigan State and Marshall.[1][18][8][28][2][29]

Williams played for the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee from 2011 to 2014 under head coaches Derek Dooley and Butch Jones. He majored in Arts & Sciences at Tennessee. He was a recipient of the Horne Athletic Scholarship.[6]

He played in nine games his freshman year in 2011 as a defensive end, recording four tackles and a sack.[6][7][30]

He was moved to jack linebacker his sophomore season in 2012.[6][31][32][33][34] Williams appeared in ten games, of which he started in half of them, and totaled two sacks and 17 tackles, four of which were tackles for loss.[35][36] In April 2012, he was one of four recipients of the team's John Stucky Award, which is given to the "player who shows the most dedication and work discipline to improve strength as selected by the strength and conditioning staff."[37][31]

Williams was shifted back to defensive end for 2013 and played in 12 games, with three starts.[6][7][38] He recorded 1.5 sacks and 18 tackles, 1.5 of which were tackles for loss.[39][38] He was named to the 2013 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll.[40]

He moved to defensive tackle his senior year in 2014.[7][31] He played in 13 games, all starts, and totaled two sacks, four pass breakups and 27 tackles, four of which were tackles for loss.[6][41][42] He was named to the 2014 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll.[43] He played in the 2015 Medal of Honor Bowl as part of the National Team.[44][42]

Throughout his college career, Williams played in 44 games and started 21 of them.[45][46] He recorded career totals of 6.5 sacks and 66 tackles, 10.5 of which were tackles for loss.[45][42]

Williams was rated the 54th best defensive end in the 2015 NFL Draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[47]

Williams' father, Keith, was a defensive lineman at Florida in the mid-1980s, was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 12th round of the 1987 NFL Draft, and later played for the Chicago Bruisers, Dallas Texans and Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League from 1988 to 1991.[6][66][67][8] Williams's sister, Janine, played volleyball at Florida and UCF.[68][6] He held the first annual Jordan Williams Skills Camp on July 14, 2016.[69][70]

• College stats