Tré Williams fought to come back to the game he loves

Williams showed what he can do closer to 100% health-wise with a big game at BC.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thu Oct 13 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON - Redshirt sophomore Tré Williams has had to fight through various injuries to come back and play this season for the Tigers.

“Honestly, it’s been tough, but it really was all worth it, just trusting the process,” Williams said. “(The coaches) make it really easy to fall in love with the work.”

The third-year defensive tackle dislocated both of his shoulders last year, the first against Georgia Tech and the second against NC State. He then fractured his foot in a freak training accident. For some players, this could crush them emotionally, but Williams persevered.

“I’m just a positive guy. I see the best in everything. I’m a believer in God,” he said. “I’ve definitely gotten mentally tougher over time, but I’ve been through worse things in life than injuries playing the game I love.”

Despite these painful injuries, Williams continued to play. He said the thing that finally forced him to stop playing was the fact that he could no longer walk. When asked why he continued to push himself, he talked about the strength of his mother raising him and his younger brother by herself.

“I’m from a single-parent household,” he said. “I just grew up seeing how hard my mom worked to provide for me and my little brother, and I kind of just make sure she doesn’t have to work as hard anymore after I leave here.”

In addition to having to learn about mental toughness, he has also gained plenty of football knowledge from his fellow players and coaches. Williams explained that he didn’t know how to break down an offensive lineman on tape, but his fellow offensive linemen helped him to be able to grow as a player.

While he’s excited to be back playing the game that he loves, he does have one other goal: “I want a touchdown.” Williams said that a sack is second-best, but he clearly wants the touchdown.

Williams actually had his first sack of the season in Clemson’s win against Boston College. It was also the first solo sack of his career. Furthermore, he had a career-high of four solo tackles. The last time he had four tackles in a game (only three were solo though) was the first game of his career against Georgia Tech in October of 2020.

With Williams back, as well as defensive end and ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week Xavier Thomas, in addition to the expected return of redshirt sophomore Bryan Bresee, the Clemson defense is finally getting their starting defensive line healthy. Williams sees a great deal of talent in the Clemson defensive line with their depth and the talent they have returning.

“We can be as good as we want to be, as long as we continue to put in the work week-in and week-out,” he said.

Clemson’s defensive line will have another challenge going against Florida State in the Tigers' last away division game of the season on Saturday night (7:30 p.m./ABC). The Tigers have been rather dominant in this rivalry, not losing to the Seminoles since September of 2014 when FSU was ranked No. 1 in the country. Clemson will come into the game on Saturday No. 4 in the country, while Florida State remains unranked after losing a close game to NC State.