Southeast Missouri State football signee: Stephon Williams

Stephon Williams

The Basics

Name: Stephon Williams

High School: Calvary Christian (Clearwater, Fla.)

Position: Linebacker

Measurables: 6-foot, 236 pounds

Statistics: 93 tackles (61 solo), six sacks, one fumble recovered

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Profile

Stephon Williams was Calvary Christian's top tackler. He was the Warriors top offensive player, too, rushing for more than 1,000 yards.

The well-rounded senior, who is listed at 6-foot, 236 pounds, and from Clearwater, Florida, signed with Southeast Missouri State today and is expected to be a linebacker for the Redhawks.

"He hates to lose," said Calvary football coach Todd Yoder, whose team finished 7-3 in Williams' senior season. "He was the kind of kid that in our closest games would basically shoulder the whole load of the team and be like 'Give the ball to me, I'll make every tackle, and I will win this game for us.' You don't find that much where a kid's willing to step up and meet the challenge, and is not scared to basically combat almost a whole other team by himself. That's what he was able to do for me this year, and I look forward to watching him progress in college. I think he's got all the physical and mental attributes to be a phenomenal football player."

Williams garnered interest from several schools, according to his coach, but his first offer came from Southeast, which was all he needed to make his decision.

"I think he felt kind of loyal to the fact that they were the first ones to step up and give him that offer," Yoder said. " ... I think in his mind, once they gave him that opportunity, that's where he wanted to be and that's where he was going to go."

Yoder, who met with Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz and defensive coordinator Bryce Saia, said the coaches were "stand-up guys."

"He feels like they really genuinely care about him," Yoder said. "I think they're the type of coaches that are looking for outstanding young men to mentor them and develop them, and basically get good football players that they can teach and mentor of how to get better and go out and play. To me they were adamant when they talked to him about, 'If you come out there, you're one of us, you're a part of a team, a part of a family. We're going to take care of you when you get out here.' Taking a kid out of Florida and asking them to go to Missouri, that meant a lot to me as a coach ... that you're going to send your kid out there and they just seemed like the kind of guys that truly meant and were really passionate about what they said. I think they're passionate about their football and building a program out there that's going to be very successful."