Oklahoma State Football: A Q&A With Tyrese Williams

Earlier this week, Offensive Line Coach Josh Henson continued to make a splash in his first season back at his alma mater as he secured another big-time commitment - his fourth of the season. This time, it was three-star Tyrese Williams.

Williams is a 6-3, 285 pound man who is looking forward to playing center at the next level.

I was able to get a few minutes with Williams and talk to him about his commitment to Oklahoma State.

Williams made his first visit to Stillwater for the Spring Game. As is the case with many future students, all it took was one visit to fall in love with the campus. He said his favorite part was seeing the culture of Oklahoma State.

“Usually on visits, you aren’t there for the big Spring Game. You don’t have all the fans come out. You don’t get to see all the people that are there to support you. It was nice to see the mass amount of people that showed up.”

Williams was first recruited by Josh Henson, the new offensive line coach, and it was Henson that sold him on Stillwater.

“Us recruits know the kind of talent he is recruiting and who he is pulling in. We know who else he is trying to get on the team. Knowing everyone that is going to be put on this one team in the same year, we know we are going to be a good squad coming into 2018. That helps convince us to jump onto the team.”

Programs such as Cal, Houston, Utah and others all offered Williams a scholarship. He said it he had always been drawn to the Big 12, and OSU was just a perfect fit.

“I wanted to play on a bigger platform than Houston. But I’ve never been fond of SEC football. I’ve always enjoyed watching Big 10 and Big 12 football. Early on in my recruitment, location wasn’t really a big factor for me. Then I started visiting schools on the East Coast and West Coast and I would stay there for days and I got to realize that my family won’t be able to see my games. I want my family to be able to drive up in one night and be able to watch my game the next day.”

Williams enjoyed the attention he got from the recruiting process.

“Every recruit loves the attention, whether they say so or not. Two months ago, I had one offer from North Texas. That was before I went to the Nike Opening. At the Nike Opening, I got MVP there and my whole recruiting process really sparked. All these coaches I wasn’t really used to talking to were hitting me up all the time.”

Williams believes he will excite Cowboys fans because of his skills.

“I think I bring a really powerful asset to the O-Line. I’m a really mobile lineman and I can really play any position. Anywhere they want me to play, I can play that position and be really good at it. I can move a lot. [Oklahoma State] has a mobile offense, and I’m a good attribute for that.”

Williams says he expects to play center when he puts on the orange and black in the fall of 2018, based on his frame.

“Right now I’m 6-3, 285, and that kind of fits in the center range. I play guard at my high school right now. I played center my freshman year and go back and forth at times now, but most likely I’ll play center my senior year of high school so it will be a good transition into OSU.”

Williams said he will miss the city of Houston a lot, but doesn’t think the transition to Stillwater will be that difficult.

“There’s just no other city like it. I have been to Utah [Salt Lake City] and Cal [Berkeley], Northwestern up in Chicago and just the feel and the vibe of those cities just doesn’t match Houston.

“I’m sort of used to Oklahoma. I have family who lives up in Grove, which is a small town in Oklahoma about two-and-a-half hours away from OSU so I’m kind of familiar with the area. The best thing about Oklahoma is it is still down South. When I was analyzing where I wanted to go, I realized football in Cal and Utah and places on the East Coast was way different than football in the South. Football in the South is a game of its own. Plus, with Oklahoma being so close to Texas, a lot of recruits come from Texas, so I’m pretty sure I will be able to fit right in with those guys.”

I then asked him if we was going to take his official visits, just to get a vacation.

No. I'm set on OSU. Don't need to see anything else.

That’s what I like to hear. Though honestly, I may have taken a couple visits to University of Hawaii or somewhere exotic just to get away from it all.

Once again, I’d like to thank Tyrese for taking the time to speak with me before he officially becomes a Cowboy. You can follow him on Twitter at @48tyrese.

Welcome to the Cowboy family!