The most impressive part of his skill set, especially at that position, is when you get the guys around you wanting to play for you and not just with you. That says a lot about who you are as a player. You think about all the great quarterbacks that you hear folks talk about. Most people don’t just want to play with those guys, they want to play for those guys. You raise their level of play with your presence and being in the huddle with them and being on the field with them.

Especially coming in here (at USC) in Year 2, this was a team that those guys weren’t recruited together. It was a team that was made up and had to bond and find those brotherhoods and friendships and trust factors that most teams spend years developing. And they figured it out and found that quickly within a matter of months, and that speaks to the character of those young men on that roster and he was a large part of that.

— What is it about him that makes him someone people want to play for?

He’s definitely an unselfish team guy, and he’s going to bring energy every day to practice. And he’s going to be one of the first guys in the building studying film and trying to perfect his craft. So obviously when you’ve got one of your better players that’s giving and willing to share but also working hard, that within itself makes you want to raise your level of play.

— In the predraft process, what were some of the biggest misconceptions you had to address about him?

Just about his emotional state. Most people were like, “OK, is that just for show or is that really who he is?” I was like, obviously you guys don’t understand and know this kid because he truly is about winning championships and winning football. That emotion comes because he feels like he didn’t do everything he had to do and he let his brothers down. That wasn’t an act.

— At rookie minicamp, he was talking about how he doesn’t like making mistakes and he has to learn how to handle those at this level. How does he handle those situations?

That’s why he invests so much time in the film room and extra time out on the field to minimize those. But he’s one kid — and I think this is what his teammates appreciate about him — if he does make a mistake, he owns up to his mistakes. It’s not like he tries to point the finger or the blame at someone else.

— Matt Eberflus has praised how Williams learns. How did you see him approach that during his time with you?

He’s got good retention and good memory. There are going to be looks he’ll see and disguises that he sees that will get him for the first time. But he has a pretty good retention rate, so you ain’t going to be able to show it to him too many times where he doesn’t remember it, even if it’s from a previous team.

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