Ian Williams started all four years on the defensive line at Notre Dame. An injury sidelined him for part of his senior year and ultimately is what prevented him from being picked in April’s NFL Draft. But the moment the lockout ended, his phone was ringing off the hook and Williams signed with the San Francisco 49ers. Williams was back at Notre Dame this weekend during the 49ers bye week to see the Irish take on their bitter rival USC. But he took a break from the pre-game festivities with his Notre Dame family to talk to us.
The CFB Girl: As a defensive lineman at Notre Dame when head coach Brian Kelly was hired in 2010, describe the defensive scheme he implemented?
Williams: It’s mainly a 3-4, which means three down linemen and four linebackers that stand up. But it’s a 3-4 hybrid, which means, every now and then we’ll go to a 4-3, which is four down lineman with three linebackers standing up. The way it’s lined up, you have a nose that is head up over the center and two ends, which are head up over the tackles in a 3-4. Then you have two middle linebackers and two outside linebackers. And with that it’s mainly a GAP SCHEME, which means whichever way the ball is run, that side is your gap.
The CFB Girl: How does that defense compare to the one you’re playing in San Francisco?
Williams: We’re kind of running the same defense out there. Just different calls…and we have different coaches, but the scheme is pretty much the same.
The CFB Girl: As a defensive tackle, when you switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 how do your responsibilities vary?
Williams: They vary a lot. In the 3-4 you are actually reading the offensive linemen. But in the 4-3 you’re actually not doing any reading. You’re just getting off the ball and reacting to whichever way the ball is run.
The CFB Girl: So how do you read your opponents in the 3-4?
Williams: If you’re head up over the center and the center takes a step to his left, you have to take a step to your right. Little things like that. You’re kind of mirroring him—he steps, you step.
The CFB Girl: How would you describe Coach Kelly?
I loved him. He reminds me a lot of Coach Harbaugh [Jim Harbaugh is the head coach of San Francisco, who has received some recent negative attention for an almost-fight with Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz]. Both of them are young and fiery and both of them are great coaches. They’re young and they’re passionate about the game and they care about the players. I feel there are a lot of similarities between the two.
The CFB Girl: Coach Kelly has received a lot of criticism about his temper now that he is showcased on a national stage. What do you think about that?
Williams: I think it’s blown out of proportion. It’s college, not grade school or Pop Warner, where the kids have to play. It’s college—you don’t have to play. He’s trying to win games and he’s got to get through to his players. Sometimes yelling is the only way to get through to a player. I was part of that logic, with coaches yelling at me because I needed it sometimes. Sometimes you need that kick in the butt. That’s what coach Kelly does. Whatever he’s been doing, we’ve been doing pretty good.
The CFB Girl: In your transition from college to the NFL, what is the biggest difference?
Williams: A lot has changed. In college you have classes, you have papers. So you have so much going on and you’re so busy with everything so you really can’t devote all the time you want to football, to watching film. In the pros you don’t have anything else to do but football. So you’re there all day every day just working on it…working hard…looking at film… practicing…meetings…keeping your body healthy.
The CFB Girl: What do you miss most about Notre Dame?
Williams: I miss the people. I miss the atmosphere of being here. The camaraderie. Especially on game day. I grew up by myself so I like having people around., having my guys here on campus. I had a couple of guys who stayed with me—my roommates. It was good to have them there and around if we said hey let’s go do this, or do that.
The CFB Girl: What dorm did you live in on campus? [At Notre Dame, your residence hall is a big deal and they function as fraternities and sororities for a campus without Greek life].
Williams: I lived in Fisher.
[The importance of this? There was another San Francisco 49er who lived in Fisher Hall…none other than Hall of Famer Joe Montana. From Fisher Hall’s website “ NBA stars LaPhonso Ellis (’92) and Orlando Woolridge (’81) once walked our halls. The one and only Regis Philbin (’53) called Fisher Hall home as well. And the legend among legends, Joe Montana (’79), is proud to call himself a Fisherman.”}
The CFB Girl: And speaking of Notre Dame, Bryant Young has been brought up many times to you as he played at Notre Dame and then went on to play for the 49ers as a defensive tackle for his entire NFL career. His last season at Notre Dame was the last time ND (1993) was ranked #1 in the nation. What is it going to take to get Notre Dame back to #1?
Williams: I think Coach Kelly has them on the right path to get them to where they need to go. I think as of right now the program has come alive and I was lucky to say I was a part of the beginning to be able to get them back to a BCS contention and one day a national championship.
The CFB Girl: (somewhat skeptically) You think Kelly has what it takes to get it done?
Williams: He’s a great coach. You see what he did at Cincinnati…what he did at Western Michigan. Give him a couple more years and we’ll be playing in BCS games.
The CFB Girl: Okay I’m going to cut this short so you can get back to your weekend at Notre Dame so I have one final question for you and it’s something that I’ve read about lately as an issue in the NFL (Steelers defense concerned…NFL needs to look into protecting defenders)…what are cut blocks?
Williams: It’s when an offensive linemen uses this instead of hitting a player up high, they actually cut their legs. They go for their knees and cut their legs. It’s kind of dirty, but it’s part of the game. I wish it would be a part of the game they would get rid of. Because a lot of guys do get hurt. A lot of players get ACL tears, blown-out knees, broken legs. Stuff like that. It’s mainly just used to cut players. If a player’s getting beat a lot, he’ll try to cut a player—slow him down—things like that. That’s really what a cut block is for.
The CFB Girl: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today…and go Irish!
