University of Alabama commit Ryan “Hollywood” Williams has had a busy week.
Less than a week after announcing that he would be keeping his original pledge to Tuscaloosa, Williams was in Montgomery for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s (ASWA) Mr. Football banquet.
Williams, who won the prestigious award last season after leading Class 6A Saraland to its first ever state title, became the first ever repeat winner of the award in its entire 42-year history after another huge season.
He was also the first-ever sophomore to win the award last season at just 15 years old.
From JaMarcus Russell, to Julio Jones, to Bo Nix and Kool-Aid McKinstry, tons of high profile stars have won the award, but Williams becomes the first of them to do it twice.
RELATED: DeBoer borrows famous line: ‘We’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading’
In 2023, Williams caught over 70 passes for 1,320 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also rushed for nearly 300 yards, threw a touchdown pass and had two return touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2022, he did even more, catching 88 passes for over 1,600 yards and had over 40 total touchdowns.
After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Williams announced he would be reclassifying from 2025 to 2024 and going to college a year early.
In an interview with 105.5 WNSP in Mobile, Williams’ coach Jeff Kelly offered extremely high praise for the receiver.
“For everybody that’s been around Ryan, the young man comes to work every day wanting to get better like he has zero accolades and no one knows his name. He’s motivated by winning and doing the things he can do to get better and help his team win,” Kelly said.
Williams will sign officially on February 9th, his 17th birthday.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP