Williams needs players to jell quickly

Bert Williams is no stranger to success. Entering his 17^th year as head coach at GMC, he has reached three NJCAA national championship games and won one. He’s the winningest head coach in program history with a record of 127-45.

And he’s the only active head coach to be inducted into the NJCAA Football Hall of Fame.

After an 8-4 finish last season, Williams said this year’s players will have to jell as quickly as possible in order for his team to succeed like teams have in the past.

“The faster these guys come together, play together and learn what we’re doing, the better we translate to success on the field,” Williams said. “So kind of challenging those sophomores, ‘Hey, spend the time. You know what it takes. Do a good job in the spring. We’ll pull these guys along in a hurry.’ ”

In a two-year program, first-year players are often important to the team’s success. Williams said he had to rely on many first-year players last season all across the starting lineup.

“We had an extremely young group — a lot of guys that were first year for us, whether it was freshmen or transfers. It took a little while to jell and (to do) some of the things we were truly capable of doing,” he said.

But with many of those first-year players now returning, the Bulldogs boast starting experience at nearly every position on the field.

Offensively, GMC brings back starting quarterback Cameron Rosendahl, running back Kawon Bryant, wide receiver Isaac Zico, tight ends Reece Mulkey and Javon Redding and offensive linemen Dennis Daley and Bobby Klem.

Zico and Bryant, specifically, are players Williams said to watch for this season. Bryant led the team in rushing last season with 574 yards and four touchdowns on 8.83 yards per carry while Zico caught 15 passes for 295 yards and five touchdowns.

Williams said the 6-foot-1, 185-pound receiver ran a 4.40 time in the 40-yard dash at Auburn this summer and had a great spring, as well.

“He really caught some eyes in Power 5 conferences in summer camps,” Williams said

But Zico isn’t the only one garnering attention from FBS programs. Defensive linemen Chad Stevens and Brandon Henderson return and have received some attention from Division I programs, as well. Both the linebacker corps and secondary also return starters.

“I feel like we’re starting out at a higher spot than we did last year,” he said. “You’re always going to be relying on freshmen in two-year programs — you can’t go away from that — but there’s really not one position where we have to rely on freshmen.”

But that won’t mean freshmen won’t make an impact. Williams said running back Ty’Juan Fulton was one of the fastest players on the team at spring practice while cornerbacks Kevin George — who is 6-foot-3 — and Kishawn Miller were also impressive.

Williams also spoke highly of wide receivers Erron Price and Malcom Cunningham as well as defensive lineman Jabari Ellis, who will be added to the duo of Stevens and Henderson. With new talent on the roster and starting experience returning, Williams said one of his major goals is to make sure his players try to improve every day.

“Every day is a personal challenge to get better — to be the best you can be this day,” Williams said. “The way you work, the attention you put into your work, the detail that you put into your work ... all of those things.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Williams needs players to jell quickly."