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Williams didn’t hang around campus this summer attending classes and going through voluntary conditioning.

 

He sure didn’t get all flabby, though. He was out there making sure his better got better.

 

Williams spent the summer in Houston, with a job as an Office Max salesman — to help pay for those high gas prices he said — and as a participant in a training program at Velocity Sports — to hone his conditioning.

 

So, what’s all this about getting his better to be better?

 

Well, that’s from the catchy Nike ads, which show intense training techniques and have athletes trash-talking.

 

The program Williams went through — the one showcased in those commercials — is called SPARQ training. That’s an acronym for speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness. And that’s pretty much every tool a cornerback needs.

 

“It was a great experience for me,” Williams said. “I was able to get ready for the season, working on explosiveness and quickness in workouts, preparing mentally for the season.”

 

Williams said, at times, he worked alongside Seattle Seahawks defensive end Jason Babin and New Orleans Saints cornerback Aaron Glenn.

 

“It’s a lot of networking. A good deal,” Williams said.

 

Southern has lost two starters from its secondary, free safety Jarmaul George, a three-time All-Southwestern Athletic Conference first-teamer, and cornerback Efe Osawemwenze, on the All-SWAC second team, and will lean on the dynamic of Williams and Glenn Bell.

 

Bell, who went through the summer workouts on campus, is the feisty one. (He’d seem tailor-made for those commercials.) Williams, one of two team captains as a sophomore in 2006, is the quiet-storm type.

Both are in their fifth years and were virtual coaches, with SU head coach Pete Richardson filling in as the de facto interim defensive backs coach, during spring practices.

 

Williams and Bell, with end Vince Lands and tackle Joseph Selders, are the clear defensive leaders.

Improvement for Williams will be, as always, steady. The preseason All-SWAC second-teamer has just been that solid for that long that you pretty much need a coach’s eye for the game to pick up on the subtle aspects.

 

Williams said he’s learned how cerebral the game is through his five years. This summer, he added confidence and maybe even a better body to his game.

 

So, is his agility already reading the next column? Will his reaction react faster? Will his quick smell like French toast?

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