'11 NY OLB Ishaq Williams (Signed ND LOI-EE)

[BeauBenken]

haha...funny story about Ishaq.

The night before the spring game. a few of the players were over at the house playing video games.Manti and RJ are straight going at each other in NCAA. RJ running his mouth like normal...then the door opens and Ishaq peaks his head through and once he sees Manti he busts out this smile from ear to ear. I leaned over to my buddy and i was like "Ishaq smiles?" haha But as the night went on Ishaq and I were playin ncaa, i destroyed him by about 20 in the first game. As soon as it ended he was like rematch. So in the 2nd game goes on its closer...and at the end he wound up kicking a FG as time expired. When it went through ishaq jumps up starts yelling "WHAT NOW SON, WHAT WHAT!" and was running around the room. It was hilarious seeing him get a lil fired up over xbox. But he is definitely a quiet kid, but once he gets around his peers he is about as outgoing as a person can get haha.

And I found it quite funny just reading the posts when he verbaled haha. "The server is gonna crash" posts were outstanding haha

I pictured that all so well. lol

You know he's got that big cheesy smile. haha

 

[TheTurningPoint]

haha yeah. You could tell just with him interacting with Manti/Flemming/Filer/RJ that night that the upperclassmen are helping out, as well as there was def a mutal respect. I think that is another thing Kelly is doing....there are no egos between the upperclassmen and the newbies. I think we all remember the Sullivan/Clausen experience.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

This is the most important point that I have heard in a long time. I suspected as much. When I talked to the guys that were handling the Perkins commit, they brought up the team development and the change of the old guard (Weiss) versus the new (Kelly leadership) as the key factor to how fast the team developed. The when, in terms of it's not if, it's when.

 

[BeauBenken]

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[BleedBlueGold]

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27925894?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe>

All business. Gotta love the determination and the lack of complacency. All of these guys are focused on being the best and "helping the team win."

 

[ClausentoTate]

City Sizzle 2

For anyone questioning Ishaq's lack of emotion on the field and reading too much into it, watch this. I know it was posted previously...

His personality is one that's nearly always calm and collected. While he may in fact be homesick, etc. I think it's really just his personality. Just like in the video above, he's collected on the field but is lively in the locker room and with his teammates. He just needs to come out of his shell a little bit, but it'll take a little bit of time.

He's probably my favorite 2011 recruit, other than Cam, because of his incredible first step, dreads and collected demeanor. He may not be as celebrated as Lynch/Tuitt, but I think he'll be as important as those two going forward. He'll be an incredible LB in one or two more years... no that he isn't pretty good right now grin:

Go Irish!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

From an Eric Hansen article published today:

Ishaq Williams will immerse himself this weekend in his Notre Dame football playbook and his school books, hardly shocking behavior for a freshman outside linebacker - except for one small but significant piece of context.

Notre Dame has an open date Saturday, and Irish head coach Brian Kelly has given his players Thursday through Sunday off. Virtually all of them will head home for a few days.
Williams instead has chosen to play catch-up.

“It was my choice not to go home,” the 6-foot-5, 255-pounder from Brooklyn, N.Y., said matter-of-factly Tuesday evening after practice. “I miss my family and friends, but I have work to do.”

Williams was part of a vaunted recruiting haul of defensive front-seven talent last winter that changed the way a lot of observers viewed the school’s climb back to prominence.

He is one of 10 freshmen to see playing time so far, five of whom play in the defensive front seven, and yet has one of the more mortal stat lines:

Three tackles in six games - two more than freshman kicker Kyle Brindza, one fewer than freshman backup defensive end Chase Hounshell, who made his collegiate debut Saturday against Air Force.

“He’s physically able to compete right now,” Kelly said of Williams. “He’s learning how to play at a fast speed all the time. The jump was large for him in terms of the consistent speed of the game.

“When he turns it on, he’s a very impressive football player. It’s just that he needs to grow as it relates to play after play after play. And he’s getting there. It’s just really been about him getting a hold of how fast this game goes.”

There was bound to be a quantum adjustment, even with Williams enrolling early (in January), even with him being rated a five-star prospect by most recruiting services.

The state of New York, especially New York City, is largely a recruiting wasteland. It ranks 44th per capita in producing NFL players, ahead of only West Virginia, New Mexico, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

Most kids in New York City haven’t played organized tackle football before their freshman year in high school. Williams played in an outside league for two years during his middle school years and flag football for another.

“You don’t grow up with a lot of football around you,” he said. “You grew up around basketball. But I loved football, and I was going to work hard to get better at it, no matter what I had to go through to get there.”


He did play hoops for Abraham Lincoln High - which produced NBA players Sebastian Telfair and Stephon Marbury, among others - his sophomore year, but pushed it away for lack of interest and to focus on football.

The football competition in New York City, though, is uneven, and the position which Williams plays at ND - cat (outside) linebacker - only added to his climb.

“He was never a guy who was in pass coverage (in high school),” Kelly said. “So all of that was foreign to him in terms of drops and things of that nature. But we’re happy with his football intelligence.

“Again, it’s the speed of the game and playing fast every single play. We’ve made it pretty clear that when he plays faster, he’s going to be a really good player.”

Serious dedication. It hadn't occurred to me prior to reading this article, but it must be hard for Ishaq to watch as some of his classmates make a big impact while he struggles to learn the most complex position in Diaco's defense.

 

[NDdomer2]

From an Eric Hansen article published today:



Serious dedication. It hadn't occurred to me prior to reading this article, but it must be hard for Ishaq to watch as some of his classmates make a big impact while he struggles to learn the most complex position in Diaco's defense.

His learning curve is higher than theres. He will benefit from it in the long run.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

From an Eric Hansen article published today:



Serious dedication. It hadn't occurred to me prior to reading this article, but it must be hard for Ishaq to watch as some of his classmates make a big impact while he struggles to learn the most complex position in Diaco's defense.

Impressive kid. He gives the coaches a true chance to prove their ability to develop and coach up elite, raw athletes. Like it says in the article, he was rarely if ever dropping into pass coverage in high school and now he's learning zones, blitzes and man coverages.

Ishaq will put in the work and he will succeed.

 

[BeauBenken]

Keep up the work Ishaq. We all know you're going to be a force when your time comes.

I really hope he does realize that he is learning a difficult position and that he embraces the challenge.

 

[Buster Bluth]

That is some excellent dedication he is displaying right there and helps me say--err, type with confidence that he won't be a guy who has all of the tools but never fully grasps the position.

Without question, he's had a quiet first half and that was expected. I hope he turns it on in the latter half of the year and makes some memorable plays to get some confidence for his starting job in 2012.

It will help that he will have the same coaches teaching him, that will probably expedite his acclimation. You couldn't say that under Weis' revolving door of defensive coaches.

 

[ThePiombino]

This is the difference between ND and MOST FBS schools- it's what will separate us from the rest in a short few years. Find me one kid at U$C that is going to study for class, film and playbooks on his weekend off... Presumptuous? Yes, but it's how I feel and I'm sticking to it. GO ISHAQ!!!

 

[NDinL.A.]

This is the difference between ND and MOST FBS schools- it's what will separate us from the rest in a short few years. Find me one kid at U$C that is going to study for class, film and playbooks on his weekend off... Presumptuous? Yes, but it's how I feel and I'm sticking to it. GO ISHAQ!!!

Robert Woods.

USC has plenty of guys that we recruited on that roster. They're not all thugs over there...not even close. Do they foster an environment conducive to getting an education like ND? No, but they do have some good guys over there...

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Robert Woods.

USC has plenty of guys that we recruited on that roster. They're not all thugs over there...not even close. Do they foster an environment conducive to getting an education like ND? No, but they do have some good guys over there...

^This

There are good kids...no, great kids...in almost every locker room.

 

[irishog77]

This is the difference between ND and MOST FBS schools- it's what will separate us from the rest in a short few years. Find me one kid at U$C that is going to study for class, film and playbooks on his weekend off... Presumptuous? Yes, but it's how I feel and I'm sticking to it. GO ISHAQ!!!

Stephen Garcia

 

[NDdomer2]

Stephen Garcia

I think you've got the other USC. Unless this was sarcasm.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I think you've got the other USC. Unless this was sarcasm.

Your sarcasm meter is completely broken, as your last 2 posts have shown (people like to joke around...you don't have to correct them on every 'mistake'; they're just effing around)...

 

[NDdomer2]

Your sarcasm meter is completely broken, as your last 2 posts have shown (people like to joke around...you don't have to correct them on every 'mistake'; they're just effing around)...

Sorry, thought sarcasm was to be in italics...

 

[Carlyle Javar Holiday]

Robert Woods.

USC has plenty of guys that we recruited on that roster. They're not all thugs over there...not even close. Do they foster an environment conducive to getting an education like ND? No, but they do have some good guys over there...

NDinLA is right. Wish we got Woods. Over the summer he learned the whole playbook for all three receiver positions and learned the defensive playbook as well. That is why they are able to get the ball in his hands so many times. Him and Lee really scare me when we play them. Lee is probably just as good and more talented physically and he has never lifted weights in his life.

Anyways, good for Ishaq, would love to see him on the field making plays.

 

[irishog77]

Sorry, thought sarcasm was to be in italics...

Some people use it, I generally don't. In life, I've often found that if you have to explain a joke (i.e. and always have to use real or imagined italics), then the joke isn't as good.

Stephen Garcia went to the other "U$C" and was just kicked off the team yesterday. Considering most of the posters on here are pretty knowledgeable about the sports world in general (and the fact a thread was started about Stephen Garcia yesterday), I figured most of the people who saw it would have understood the sarcasm. Was my one-line "Stephen Garcia" post an example of knee-slapping hilarity worthy of going viral via email, facebook, and twitter by lunch today and to be used by Jay Leno in his monologue tonight? No, it wasn't. But then again, it was merely a 2 word sarcastic post on page 85 of a Notre Dame player's thread on a Notre Dame message board.

 

[NDdomer2]

Some people use it, I generally don't. In life, I've often found that if you have to explain a joke (i.e. and always have to use real or imagined italics), then the joke isn't as good.

Stephen Garcia went to the other "U$C" and was just kicked off the team yesterday. Considering most of the posters on here are pretty knowledgeable about the sports world in general (and the fact a thread was started about Stephen Garcia yesterday), I figured most of the people who saw it would have understood the sarcasm. Was my one-line "Stephen Garcia" post an example of knee-slapping hilarity worthy of going viral via email, facebook, and twitter by lunch today and to be used by Jay Leno in his monologue tonight? No, it wasn't. But then again, it was merely a 2 word sarcastic post on page 85 of a Notre Dame player's thread on a Notre Dame message board.

Was aware of him being kicked off. I made sure to ask if it was sarcasm. Just wasn't positive. Was nothing personal.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I hope we don't hear anything about suspensions,but just so you guys hear it first. I was just on FB and Ishaq's profile said "Disappointed in myself.Breaking rules...smdh.Jus trippin."

Hope everything is ok.

 

[BeauBenken]

I hope we don't hear anything about suspensions,but just so you guys hear it first. I was just on FB and Ishaq's profile said "Disappointed in myself.Breaking rules...smdh.Jus trippin."

Hope everything is ok.

Let's hope it's just another case of missing class.

That being said, I hope we never see something like this again.

 

[Cali_domer]

I hope we don't hear anything about suspensions,but just so you guys hear it first. I was just on FB and Ishaq's profile said "Disappointed in myself.Breaking rules...smdh.Jus trippin."

Hope everything is ok.

smdh= So Much Drama Here or Shakin my Damn head. Not good.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

shake my damn head.

 

[irishandy]

What's going on w/ Ishaq...doesn't sound like good news.

 

[clashmore_mike]

Huh? Where is that coming from?

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

What's going on w/ Ishaq...doesn't sound like good news.

Is this something new? Or are you reading a old post from ~3 weeks ago?

 

[irishandy]

Is this something new? Or are you reading a old post from ~3 weeks ago?

I was reading old posts from 3 weeks ago.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Don't scare us like that!!!