Stevie Williams (SR/East Los Angeles, Calif.)' accomplishments as a wide receiver are well documented and widely celebrated.
His numerous highlight reel catches since arriving at Kansas Wesleyan have been seen by many, including television viewers worldwide courtesy of ESPN's SportsCenter after a leaping, falling-backwards, one-handed grab against Bethel in 2019.
Williams, a transfer from Pasadena City College (Calif.) before the 2019 season, earned AFCA/NAIA All-America honors his first two seasons at KWU and is on pace to do so again this fall.
He has 24 receptions for 538 yards and eight touchdowns in four games – his latest conquest a mindboggling six-catch, 266-yard, five-touchdown effort against Bethany last Saturday in Lindsborg. The 266 yards were a school record and the five touchdowns tied school and Kansas Conference records.
For all his achievements on the football field, though, Williams' efforts and progress off the field might be more impressive.
"When I first got here, I didn't really know much," he said. "I was a transfer, I thought I knew everything but I didn't."
Williams decided to change and did so while continuing to torture opposing defenses each Saturday in the fall.
"Being a Coyote taught me a lot of things," he said. "It's taught me how to be a man, how to manage time. Everything from the teachers in the classroom to on the field and the coaches.
"As I grew, I had a chance to talk to players, recent and past, and they taught me a lot. I kept my head up and just kept fighting through it. I'm really glad that I chose to come here because it taught me a lot."
The transformation hasn't gone unnoticed.
"His growth from his first year as a great player to now as a great leader and mentor to younger players – leads by example on the field, in the classroom, handles his business the right way all the time – has been an incredible process and so much fun to watch," coach Myers Hendrickson said.
The process has manifest itself in other ways on the field where Williams has become the leader of the Coyotes' high-scoring offense.
"I try to do everything right, try to listen to all the coaches and players, try to help other players on and off the field," he said.
Hendrickson concurs.
"The most enjoyment I've gotten out of Stevie's time here is how he's grown as a leader," he said. "He leads by example and now not only the receiving corps but the whole offense looks to Stevie for advice in a lot of different ways."
After a sensational 2020-21 season Williams opted to return to school after the NAIA granted student-athletes an extra season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The real reason is I felt like I really didn't feel like I did much last season," he said, despite having 60 catches for 903 yards and 10 touchdowns. "If it's a free season I'm going to take it regardless. I felt like there was still some work to be done and had some unfinished business I needed to do."
Williams is quick to credit fellow receivers Eren Jenkins (FR/Chicago, Ill.) and Drevon Macon (JR/Los Angeles, Calif.) for helping him succeed. Jenkins, known as EA, was unstoppable in KWU's 31-24 victory over then-No. 10 Bethel in North Newton two weeks ago when he caught 11 passes for 217 yards and two scores.
"When teams try to key on me, like the Bethel game, then you have guys like EA that step up and have a great game," Williams said. "This past game against Bethany, they left me in one-on-one coverage, they had the safeties on EA's side so I took advantage. Isaiah just threw the ball up to me I had to make a play."
Jenkins and Williams have become a dreaded two-headed monster for opposing defense this season.
"EA brings a different kind of effort to the game," Williams said. "With him every day it's like a competition, we go back and forth. We always joke with each other 'I'm better than you in this rep; no, I'm better than you in this rep.' He gives the receiving corps a huge lift on and off the field."
Macon plays in the slot and is a rushing and receiving threat.
"I feel like next year he's going to be the leader of the receiving corps and everybody's going to follow him," Williams said.
The unbeaten (4-0) and No. 10-ranked Coyotes play Saint Mary at 1 p.m. Saturday at Graves Family Sports Complex. Williams knows his time at Wesleyan is growing short, especially his time on Gene Bissell Field.
But he says he's ready for whatever the future holds.
"I feel like I can take everything they taught me here and take it into the real world," he said.
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The above feature story is republished with permission from kwucoyotes.com.