Craig 'Sqwirl' Williams Ready to Make Comeback Season One to Remember
For Baylor Bears running back Craig Williams, the talent has always been there. Even as a slender 5’8”, 170-pound teenager at Crosby High School, on the northeast side of the Houston suburbs, he electrified crowds and scouts alike with his blistering speed and shifty footwork. Unfortunately, in his time at Baylor, that talent has never quite intersected with opportunity.
He actually got his first action in a Baylor uniform in 2018, which prompted this tweet that's hard to forget:
First career touch for Craig "Sqwirl" Williams is for 14 yards and a first down.#SicKState pic.twitter.com/bGgGS2e0eg
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) October 6, 2018
Setbacks due to a handful of injuries has seen Williams play in six games since the 2019 season. This didn’t stop him, however, from being the team’s leading rusher in 2020 despite only playing three and a half games in the COVID-19 shortened season (197 yds, 2 TDs). That season he injured his ACL and MCL against Iowa State and was still recovering throughout most of the 2021 preseason, which led to him appearing in only two games last year.
When Williams has taken the gridiron, though, he’s proven that he can be an impact player. In those few games in 2020, he averaged over nine yards per carry. He’s able to squeeze through tight holes and keep his balance before hitting the turbo switch and leaving defenders grasping at air.
Bears Head Coach Dave Aranda recognizes just how difficult it is to work through injuries like Williams’, “One of the hard things with Sqwirl being injured last year and a new offensive staff, you're struggling because you're not involved.”
He’s right, it’s pretty difficult to grasp the concept of an offense and find your role in it while hobbling around on crutches. Even so, the fifth-year ball carrier known to friends and teammates as “Sqwirl”, has never let the negativity affect his effort, and because of that, Aranda knows that he can be a huge piece to their offense this season. Aranda continued, “Sqwirl is as electric as anyone” and will tell anyone willing to listen.
"Our offensive staff had never seen [Williams’ explosiveness]. They've just seen someone struggling being injured," the Bears Head Coach reiterated. "From the player's perspective, it's just another thing they have to battle. . . . So, I think for them to continue to build offensively, and for them to build packages and roles for him, it's way cool seeing it all come together. We're hoping Sqwirl has the kind of season we all want him to have."
Williams is hoping to have that season too. He’s got a natural explosiveness that still hasn’t left him, despite the injuries. He showed as much during Baylor’s 2022 spring game this April when he scampered in for two touchdowns.
Great to see @_Sqwirl back in the endzone at McLane. 🙌#SicEm | #BUncommon pic.twitter.com/dd4vku1ton
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) April 23, 2022
With a redshirt year, a COVID year, and a medical redshirt, Williams has a couple years of eligibility left and could be the key to helping Baylor replace their 1,600-yard single season rushing record setter from 2021, Abram Smith.
Smith was an entirely different style of back, content to bully his way through tackles with his 5’11” 221-pound frame. He and Trestan Ebner, as well as power-running quarterback Gerry Bohanon, combined to give Baylor the Big 12’s best rushing attack. But Smith and Ebner have now departed for greener NFL pastures, and Bohanon has transferred to USF, leaving Offensive Coordinator Jeff Grimes with some serious holes to fill.
Grimes and Offensive Line coach Eric Mateos, who coached together at BYU before coming to Baylor, were a huge reason behind the Bears’ 2021 rushing success. Their offensive line last year was undoubtedly the best in the conference, with left tackle Connor Galvin earning Big XII Lineman of the Year honors.
Luckily for Grimes and his unproven running backs, Williams and junior ball carrier Taye McWilliams, who had 181 yards on 17 carries last year, just about every one of those starting linemen is coming back.
Returning to the Bears’ line will be both tackles, Galvin and Khalil Keith, as well as the interior duo of center Jacob Gall and right guard Grant Miller, who are both sixth year seniors. In fact, each of the lineman expected to start next year, including left guard Mose Jeffrey, have four or more seasons of experience under their belt already. They project to be the best line in the Big 12 again this year, which should be music to Williams’ ears. There’s certain to be plenty of holes up front for the lightning-fast playmaker to strike through.
In addition to the likely outstanding offensive line unit, Williams will also have the benefit of working as a safety valve in the receiving game for quarterback Blake Shapen, who beat out Bohanon in spring competition prior to Bohanon’s transfer. Grimes' schemes have been keen on utilizing backs in different ways and Williams shone brightly as a pass catcher during his high school days where he was a four-star recruit in 2018.
Baylor’s new offense has been built on speed demons like Tyquan Thornton and Kalon “Boogie” Barnes, who both wowed with impressive 40-times during NFL pre-draft workouts. If Williams can stay healthy during the 2022 season, his comeback could be about the next Bear scorching defenses on Saturdays.
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