Alabama WR Ryan Coleman-Williams Gets Honest on His Struggles Last Season

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Ryan Coleman-Williams is just like one of us.

He may have the athletic ability that we could all dream of, but deep down, just because he’s a superior athlete, doesn’t mean he’s unbreakable.

We all have things in life we’re good at, but when the lights are too bright, sometimes it’s hard to show up and show out.

When he burst onto the scene at the University of Alabama, Coleman-Williams was just a 17-year-old who was renowned as the next big thing to come out of Tuscaloosa.

The Mobile native was a five-star recruit, who reclassified his class so he can start playing at the next level, because he believed the next step needed to be taken.

His freshman year came with ups and downs, but the ups indicated that he had the word “superstar” written all over him.

Incredible athleticism, slippery in space, and the personality that eventually turned him into “Hollywood” Ryan Williams, before he added the “Coleman” to his name.

Maybe for a 17-year-old, that was too much. Because with great performance, came with great expectations. And in his sophomore season, we saw a significant dropoff to the kind of player we saw.

Chris Low of On3 did an in-depth exclusive piece on the third-year receiver, and received some insight on why this was such a rocky road.

“There were some personal things too that were going on,” his mother, Tiffany Coleman said. “It was like when he got his mind right, his body wasn’t right. When he got his body right, his mind wasn’t right. So, yes, it was a seesaw season for him last year.”

The numbers didn’t lie. In his sophomore season, Coleman-Williams had a statistically worse season than his freshman year.

Instead, he posted 689 receiving yards, 14.1 yards per catch, and only four touchdowns – compared to his 865 yds, 18.0 ypc, 8 TD freshman statline.

He suffered a concussion in the first game against Florida State, which kept him out for a game, but he only posted one game where he had over 100 receiving yards.

Not only that, throughout the season, he played with tendonitis and hamstring issues, while he rarely was injured in his time playing for Saraland High School.

“It’s no excuse. It’s football. You gotta battle through those things, but the hardest part is what it does to you mentally,” said Coleman-Williams. “That’s where I struggled the most, but you look back now, and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. When I’m out there now running and working out, I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s supposed to feel like.’

“Physically and mentally, I’m in a lot better place. You’re going to see me whole again.”

Head coach Kalen DeBoer offered support for his star receiver, and sees a bright future ahead of him.

“He’s doing the work behind the scenes,“ DeBoer said. ”It’s silent right now because no one is really paying attention and it’s summer time. The guy is grinding. He wants it bad. He’s the ultimate competitor.”

For a guy that enjoyed the cameras in his face, was a cover boy for NCAA Football 26, hosted his own podcast, and calls himself ‘Hollywood,’ perhaps a shift in energy was needed.

“All this comes to him so fast, and the off-field things were affecting the on-field things,” Coleman said. “The spotlight can be blinding for a lot of kids, and when you’re under that spotlight, you trip over a rock out there and they’re going to make a whole podcast about it. He might have tripped, but he didn’t fall. That’s what I kept reminding him of, and I can’t wait to see him on the field this season.”

Coleman-Williams will be the elder statesman of this Alabama receiving room, and now he’s depended on as a leader.

He may not have looked invincible last season, like everyone had hoped for.

But for perhaps the first time in his football career, he learned that greatness isn’t just about handling success.

It’s about responding when everything suddenly gets harder.

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