Jven Williams following in footsteps of greatness at Wyomissing

When Jven Williams was offered a football scholarship by Virginia Tech earlier this fall the first person he thought of was his offensive line coach at Wyomissing, Steve O’Neil. He invited his position coach to go with him on a game-day visit to Blacksburg, Va..

Williams knows O’Neil is a huge college football fan and has long wanted to witness the “Enter Sandman” experience at the start of Hokies games at Lane Stadium. He knows O’Neil is a Notre Dame fan, and that’s who the Hokies would be playing.

Mostly, he wanted to thank the man who has been instrumental in his emergence as one of the top line prospects in the nation.

“He’s impacted my life,” said Williams, a 6-4, 295-pound junior who busted out on the recruiting circuit earlier this season, drawing eight Division I offers in the span of the week. “I wanted to show him some love.”

O’Neil, a former All-State lineman with the Spartans, is a players’ coach. He’ll scold his guys, berate them, push them. But he’ll also be the first to put his arm around one of them to show appreciation. He works with his guys off the field. Mentors them about more than just line play.

“He’s gonna get on you, but he’s gonna show you why,” said Williams, who appreciates the support.

Williams is an enormous physical talent — big and fast and strong. Better, he’s dedicated to becoming the best, whatever it takes. Wednesday he was honored as the Berks Offensive Lineman of the Year; All-State recognition could follow later this month.

He’s been a huge reason the Spartans are unbeaten as they head into Friday’s PIAA Class 3A semifinal against Neumann Goretti at Pennridge High School at 7.

He understands he hasn’t gotten to this point by himself.

“To have someone who really, really cares, and checks up on me, talks to me about school . . . it means a lot,” said Williams, a Grizzly on the field but a teddy bear off it.

The player and coach bonded several years ago when Williams was in junior high and took an interest in throwing the shot put and discus. O’Neil coaches throwers in high school and occasionally works with the junior high kids, as well. He first met Jven while working with Rushard Williams, Jven’s older brother. (They each won District 3 gold medals last spring, Jven in the shot and Rushard in the discus.)

The relationship grew from track to football. O’Neil appreciated Williams’ dedication, and Williams saw his coach as a true mentor and role model. Williams, who until this season had played mostly offensive tackle, learned that O’Neil played Lance guard for the Spartans and decided he wanted to play that spot, too.

The Lance guard is the “glamour” line spot in the Wing-T system. It’s the guy you most often see pulling around the edge to lead a sweep. At a generally anonymous position it provides rare visibility.

“You get your picture in the paper more,” jokes Wyomissing head coach Bob Wolfrum. “Ross used to say: If you go to Wilson, you want to be the tailback. If you go to Wyomissing, you want to be the Lance guard.”

Ross would be Ross Tucker, the former Wyomissing lineman who went on to block for Emmitt Smith and Tom Brady in the NFL. When Williams learned that Tucker — who helped get Williams’ name out on the college circuit — also played Lance guard for the Spartans he was all in. He wanted that spot.

“He knows that’s the money spot,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil challenged Williams to learn the position. He and assistant coach Chris Blickley put together a video tutorial to study. Williams tackled it last offseason. By the spring he knew not only the job of the Lance guard but every spot along the offensive line.

“He became an X’s and O’s guy because he has the drive to be great,” O’Neil said.

Williams began the season playing the strong-side tackle; Jack Miller, a converted fullback, proved fully capable at Lance guard. As the season progressed Williams saw more and more time at the guard spots, most recently to give Miller — who also goes full-time at inside linebacker — an occasional break.

Now he’s become adept at either of the tackle or guard spots. When Plug guard Jack Gartner was injured and lost for the season a few days before the district semifinal against Middletown Williams moved there.

“He’s really sharp,” Wolfrum said. “For that Middletown game, he picked up (Plug guard) in a day and a half.”

Last week, in the 35-14 win over Scranton Prep, Williams may have been at his best. He was all over the place, playing Lance guard on one snap and strong tackle on the next. He showed off his speed and agility — rare for a lineman this young and this big — leading sweeps all afternoon. The Spartans running game was so good they never needed to throw a pass.

“He really knows what he’s doing, and he’s just getting better and better at it,” Wolfrum said. “He really works at all the skills he needs. He’s very serious about getting to the next level. He knows that takes a lot of work.”

Williams knows he has much to do in the offseason. He wants to get stronger, put on more weight and improve his conditioning. Next season he plans to go full-time on both offense and defense. He’s looking forward to being the full-time Lance guard.

He’s a far better player in December than he was in September, when schools such as Penn State, Michigan, Illinois and Virgina began offering him (He now has a total of 17 offers.)

“I’m not making as many mental mistakes (now),” he said. “I feel I had an attitude where I was starting and didn’t have to do anything to get better. I changed that. When the offers started rolling in, that’s when I started taking it a more seriously.

“It’s playoff time, so I can’t play like I was against Boyertown, Hamburg (early in the season) — it was unacceptable,” he said. “We’re at the level right now where that just can’t happen. It’s plain and simple: We play bad this game, we’re not going to the next game. We can’t have that happening, and I sure don’t want it to be my fault.”