Inside The Huskies

Ex-UW Safety Cam Williams Reunites with Will Harris at Georgia Southern

The defensive back is one of four Huskies who have entered the transfer portal since the regular season ended.

Dan Raley

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In a rare moment of candor, Cam Williams this past season described how the previous University of Washington football coaching staff was divided and didn't get along.

If he had to choose sides, the junior safety from Bakersfield, California, on Tuesday showed where he stood, committing to Georgia Southern and his former defensive-backs coach Will Harris, now the Eagles defensive coordinator.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Williams — a 10-game starter, with most of them coming when he was a true freshman in 2019 — apparently didn't mesh well with Kalen DeBoer's first-year UW staff and had been in the transfer portal since the regular season ended.

He pulled the plug on his Husky football season, asking to redshirt after appearing in four games as a reserve to preserve his eligibility. He can play two more seasons.

Williams is one of four UW players who have entered the transfer portal since the Apple Cup, and three have found new homes. Redshirt freshman cornerback Zakhari Spears will join Connecticut and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Kuao Peihopa has gone home to play for Hawaii. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander Jr. entered the portal on Monday and remains unclaimed.

Williams, who left the UW with 48 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 pass break-ups, clearly had his moments in Montlake, showing off both his physicality and finesse.

A year ago, the defensive back was playing injured when he caused a game-ending fumble on the goal line in overtime against California, preserving a 31-24 victory at Husky Stadium.

In 2019, Williams came up with a pair of interceptions in a 28-14 victory at home over a USC team coached by Clay Helton, who will be his head coach at Georgia Southern.

Helton actually hired a pair of Jimmy Lake's UW coaches in defensive-line coach Rip Rowan and Harris. In their first season together, they've shared in a 6-6 team that beat Nebraska and will finish up in the Camellia Bowl against Buffalo on Dec. 27 in Montgomery, Alabama.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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