Willie Williams

CAREER: Nation’s most highly recruited linebacker in 2004 is looking to work his way into the starting lineup…Missed all of his freshman season in 2004 with a knee injury suffered in August practice…Played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman and led the team in tackles on special teams…Outstanding all-around athlete and a big-play defender… A hard-hitting, agile defender who has exceptional closing speed…Has a nose for the football…Has great change of direction and exceptional speed for a linebacker…A disruptive blitzer who can dominate games…Liberal arts major.

2005 (FRESHMAN): Prized athlete who saw his first playing time as a redshirt freshman in 2005…Played in 10 games as the backup weakside linebacker behind Jon Beason…Totaled 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and one QB pressure in limited time…Starred on special teams, leading the team with 19 tackles…Played in his first game as a Hurricane in the season opener at Florida State. Played on special teams and saw limited action as a reserve linebacker but made no tackles…In Game 2 at Clemson, played on special teams and as a reserve linebacker, playing just six plays, but making four tackles (three assists, one tackle for a loss). Also blocked a punt that was recovered by Clemson for a first down…Saw action on 15 plays vs. Colorado, registering five tackles (three solo, one for a loss)…Had no tackles in limited playing time vs. South Florida, then tallied two tackles and a QB pressure against Duke…Played very sparingly against Temple and North Carolina, then made two tackles at Virginia Tech…Registered four tackles at Wake Forest…Did not play the next two games (Georgia Tech, Virginia) because of a hamstring injury…Played as the backup weakside linebacker in the Peach Bowl vs. Louisiana State, but did not make any tackles.

2004 (REDSHIRT): Redshirted as a true freshman…Suffered a knee injury during practice in August, then broke a finger while falling in October, undergoing his second surgery since arriving at Miami…Played on the scout team in December for practices leading up to the Peach Bowl.

HIGH SCHOOL: Carol City…Widely regarded as the nation’s top linebacker prospect…Was deemed unblockable by many observers during his senior season, as he played against Florida’s top teams…Named to the 2003 EA Sports High School All-America team…A U.S. Army All-American…A SuperPrep All-American…Rated the No. 2 prospect in the nation by SuperPrep…Rated the No. 1 prospect in Florida by SuperPrep…Rated the No. 1 linebacker in the nation by SuperPrep…SuperPrep Dixie Defensive Player of the Year…Rated the nation’s No. 10 prospect overall and the nation’s No. 1 linebacker prospect by Tom Lemming’s Prep Football Report…Member of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super Southern 100…Rated the nation’s No. 6 prospect by the Miami Herald…The No. 1 prospect on the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Top 25…The No. 1 prospect in Florida on the Miami Herald’s Florida Top 25…Selected first-team All-South by Fox Sports Net’s Countdown To Signing Day show…The nation’s No. 6 prospect on the Rivals.com National Top 100…The nation’s No. 1 outside linebacker prospect by Rivals.com…The No. 4 prospect on the Rivals.com Southeast Elite 88 list…The No. 2 prospect in Florida on the Rivals.com Top 50 in Florida…As a senior in 2003, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Class 6A Florida state championship game, when he made 11 tackles, including four tackles for losses, had two sacks and forced two fumbles in Carol City’s 13-0 victory over Orlando Edgewater…Had 18 sacks his senior season…Transferred to Carol City for his senior year…Attended Monsignor Pace High School prior to attending Carol City and played three seasons for Pace…As a junior in 2002, was voted the Class 3A-1A Player of the Year in Dade County, was named first-team All-Dade and first-team All-State when he made 218 tackles, 15 tackles for losses, broke up 10 passes, had eight sacks and intercepted four passes…As a sophomore, earned second-team All-Dade honors when he was credited with more than 120 tackles, including eight tackles for losses and three sacks…Chose Miami over Florida State, Florida and Auburn…Coached by Joe Zaccheo at Pace and by Walt Frazier at Carol City.

WILLIE WILLIAMS’ CAREER STATISTICS

Additional statistics: 1 blocked kick in 2005
Special teams tackles: 19 in 2005