Winona football coach Joey Tompkins said there is no replacement for experience.
And senior outside linebacker Khristian Williams has plenty of experience. But there’s more to the senior linebacker than experience.
“Kristian is a kid that’s fast and plays fast,” Tompkins said. “He’s a guy that knows what to do and that’s hard to explain to people about experience. It doesn’t matter how good a kid look if they have never played and don’t have the experience and had to do it, they aren’t as good as that kid that has done it. He’s a kid that has done it and knows what we expect and what we want on defense. He’s a guy that has grown a lot since the 10th grade. I just wish he didn’t have the shoulder problem.”
For the Tigers, Williams is a two-year starter at outside linebacker. While Williams isn’t the prototypical outside linebacker, Tompkins said he gets the job done.
“He is undersized for an outside linebacker but he makes up for it,” Tompkins said. “We thought he would end up being bigger than he is but he hasn’t grown since the 10th grade. But he is one of those kids that is going to be in the right place. And he uses his speed and uses his mind. He’s been starting since the 10th grade. He wasn’t great in the 10th grade but he’s all that we had. As an 11th grader, he was one of our better defenders. This year, he will be playing the same position but it will be in a different kind of defense. He is getting it done and knows what to do.”
While he might be undersized at 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, Tompkins said Williams is actually ideal against most of the offense the Tigers face.
“It’s hard to say that he’s undersized but with what you see offensively now, I don’t think so,” Tompkins said. “With the spread offenses, we will use him out in space. So he is out in space about 90 percent of the time. We hardly ever see any tight end sets and that’s the only time we would play him down. He’s a good guy out there in space covering the pass. We have had trouble stopping the outside run but that has a lot to do with safety.”
As a senior, Williams is well aware of his role for the upcoming season.
“I think my role will be to lead the defense and help get everyone in the right position,” Williams said. “With the people who are coming up, I’ll be the leader of the linebacker group. We are young but we are experienced. They had to play a lot last year. They will send me on some blitzes. I think we are looking better and better on defense. It’s a new scheme for us. We are going to have work hard inside and outside the weight room.”
While Williams was solid for the Tigers, Tompkins said he could have been better if not for a shoulder injury.
“He has got a shoulder problem that he just played with,” Tompkins said. “It just pops out of place. He injured that shoulder and the trainer told him that he needed surgery but he wasn’t hearing that because of tennis. He said he could just play through it. It would come out and he would pop it back in.”
When Williams talked with the Winona trainer, he recommended surgery.
“I didn’t know how last year was going to go because I had the shoulder injury going into the season,” Williams said. “They told me I needed to have surgery but I didn’t do it because I wanted to play. I had a knee injury but that didn’t hurt me either. I just play through it.”
While Williams is an all-district defender for the Tigers, Tompkins said his senior’s future probably lies on the tennis courts.
“No doubt, his college future lies with tennis,” Tompkins said. “He’s going to be able to get a scholarship playing tennis, there is not a doubt in my mind about that. Now, there is a question about where that will be. But I know some kids who have played college tennis and I think he is 10 times better than those kids. He’s good in high school 3A tennis.”
Williams played No. 1 doubles for the Tigers but Tompkins said he’s also a solid singles player. Williams said he has been playing since the seventh grade and wants to play college tennis.
“He’s a good tennis player,” Tompkins said. "As a matter of fact, he will probably end up being mixed doubles with my daughter. I’m not the coach so I can’t really say. Last year, he played one doubles but he is a really good doubles player and a good singles player. He is really quick and covers a lot of ground.”
More than his athletic ability, Tompkins said Williams’ best asset is his character.
“He is another good kid,” Tompkins said. “All of these kids are good kids. He hasn’t grown much in two years to be honest. He is another kid that makes really good grades and really tries in the classroom. None of these kids are loud about anything. Kristian is a good kid and comes from a good family. He’s a no sir, yes sir kind of kid.”
