CJ Williams is a big fan of the 80s.
That was apparent when Williams arrived in Honolulu on a recruiting visit hosted by the University of Hawaii football team.
“When you travel in the South, you put on the whole jumpsuit and get warm and cozy,” said Williams, a defensive back who grew up in Florida. “I got off the plane, and it’s 80 degrees. It’s December, and the first thing they ask is: ‘do you want to go to the beach?’ It’s December, and I go into the water, and it’s 80 degrees. I said, ‘I love it here already.’ That’s my perfect temperature. I don’t like the cold. That’s why Hawaii is the perfect place for me.”
Williams, who joined the Warriors in June, quickly ascended the depth chart. He is viewed as the No. 1 nickelback in the Warriors’ 4-2-5 defensive scheme.
“He’s got a unique set of talents,” defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said of the transfer from Shasta (community) College in Redding, Calif. “He’s a good man-coverage player. He runs well, but he’s stout (5-8, 180 pounds) and physical and he can hold up in blitz packages or run fits. … Playing man coverage in the slot is probably the hardest place to play man. But he can do it.”
Williams has learned to adapt to different situations. After graduating from Godby High in Tallahassee in 2019, he spent a semester at Central Florida. “Just for school, not to play sports,” Williams said. “When I was growing up, I was always the type of person who wanted to leave home and expand and see the world.”
Deciding to resurrect his football career, Williams sought a junior college. Shasta defensive coordinator Craig Thompson, who coached Williams’ father in 2001, extended an invitation to join the Knights. “They took me in with open arms,” Williams said. “They gave me an opportunity, and I took it.”
But California community colleges do not offer athletic scholarships. Williams relied on grants, loans, food stamps and a job in Shasta’s cafeteria. “Working at the caf, that was my morning meal,” he said. “I’d go to work in the morning, get a sub or a wrap, and then go to classes and practices in the afternoon. It was a busy day. That was my life: work, school, practice, and whatever extra workouts I could get in, I’d get in.”
Williams said he bonded with Shasta teammates. “We’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “People from all over the world, all over the map, were in one spot looking for a chance. We made the best of it.”
When finances were low, they helped each other. “There might be nights where your (friend) might have some bread but no peanut butter and jelly, and you’ve got peanut butter and jelly, and we mingled in. That’s how we built bonds.”
During games and practices, Williams was “thinking next level. Even though I was at Shasta, my mind was, hey, in two years I could be at Hawaii or whatever (NCAA) school. It was always be where your feet are but have your mind in the future.”
While reviewing videos of junior college games, Yoro noticed Williams’ play “just popped up.”
Yoro and Josh Brown, who was UH safeties coach at the time, contacted Williams. “They came out of the woodwork,” Williams said. “Hawaii came in week six or seven of my last season. They bit the hook hard.”
In turn, Williams has fallen hard for Hawaii. “My first week here, I was in the dorms, and I was looking (in the makai direction),” Williams said. “There was nothing but water out there. To me, that’s just eye candy. It’s amazing to me. Where I come from, it’s more dirt and grass. Out here, it’s beautiful.”
He often places FaceTime calls to friends and family, then points the iPhone’s camera toward Diamond Head. “I appreciate the view,” he said. “I get up in the morning, look out, and I’m blessed.”
As for UH’s facilities, he said, “it’s a lot better than what I came from. A hundred people in the stands was a big game for us. I don’t complain at all. All this is new to me. I love it here.”
