Southern Illinois quarterback D.J. Williams (1) said he will put his trust in Salukis head coach Nick Hill (left) to help decide his future in college football. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Barry Bottino
Southern Illinois quarterback D.J. Williams wants to play one more season of college football.
The biggest question facing his desire is whether that season will be in Carbondale.
The dynamic Williams, who produced 40 touchdowns (22 passing, 18 rushing) this fall, told Prairie State Pigskin that he will discuss his future soon with SIU head coach Nick Hill.
“All the paperwork has been sent in (to the NCAA),” Williams said. “I haven’t played four full seasons of football.”
Williams, who missed most of last season at SIU with a hand injury, also sat out the majority of the 2022 season at Murray State because of a knee injury in the season opener.
No matter where he plays next season, should the NCAA approve, Williams wants Hill’s input. He considers his head coach a close confidant and a trusted voice in his life.
“Saluki Nation and Coach Hill have been great to me,” he said. “We will sit down and have a talk about what’s best for my future. We have that type of relationship where we can talk about anything.
“If he feels it’s best for me to move on and go to another program, I’m going to do that,” Williams said. “But if he feels it’s best for me to stay here and be a Saluki, that’s what I’m going to do. Whatever he feels is best for me, I trust in him and believe what he says.”
After the Salukis upset then-No. 11 Illinois State in Normal, 37-7, on Saturday, Hill’s wishes for the quarterback’s future were crystal clear.
“If he leaves it up to me, I will play with D.J. the rest of my life,” Hill said with a laugh during a postgame interview.
The coach said Williams has been contacted during the season by various people outside of SIU to discuss his future in a game in which FBS programs hand out millions of dollars in Name, Image and Likeness contracts.
“Look, college football is different right now,” Hill said. “I’ve told him, he’s handled it outstanding. Agents calling, the distraction of the transfer portal, outside people worried about it. The players don’t deserve to have that pressure. But everybody has options.”
Williams has drawn that attention because he was responsible for the second-most points in FCS this season (246), rushed for a career-high 847 yards and fell only 154 yards short of becoming the fifth quarterback in school history to pass for 3,000 yards.
On Tuesday morning, he was named one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the best offensive player in FCS.
Any discussion about Williams’ future, said Hill, will include all available options to the quarterback, including another season in Carbondale.
“Southern Illinois wants D.J. Williams back playing as a Saluki for as long as he would ever want to,” Hill said. “But I’m also going to advise him like I would my brother or my son. I would be foolish to not say, ‘Let’s lay everything out there.’”
Hill said both he and SIU are committed to doing “everything we possibly can to bring him back.”
As the clock was running out Saturday in Normal, Hill said he and Williams shared a memorable moment on the sidelines.
“He kept hugging me and telling me that he loved me,” Hill said. “I don’t want that to be the last game that I coach him.”
Two weeks ago, Williams chose to be recognized as part of the team’s Senior Day activities at Saluki Stadium.
“The reason I walked for Senior Day is because you never really know what’s going to happen,” Williams said. “You can’t be 100% about anything. I wanted to have that moment with my brothers, my teammates.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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