UK coaches get creative with RB 'Boom' Williams

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky football team suddenly has a wealth of talent at tailback with four former four-star recruits and a veteran bulldozer back there, and position coach Chad Scott knows what you're thinking.

"How do you keep all those guys happy?" he said. "How do you keep them involved?

Kentucky's solution: get creative. Freshman Stanley "Boom" Williams is a perfect example. The 5-9, 200-pound speedster will return kickoffs for the Wildcats and spend some time split out wide at as a receiver.

"He's just a guy we need to find ways and just put him in position to make plays," Scott said. "He's special with the ball in his hand, so we'll try to move him around and get him involved."

Sophomore Jojo Kemp, last year's leading rusher, and junior Braylon Heard, an explosive Nebraska transfer who sat out the 2013 season, are UK's co-starters. Everyone else — Williams, fellow freshman Mikel Horton and junior Josh Clemons — will have to make their mark in more specialized roles.

While Williams is the home-run threat — "he's probably one of the fastest guys on the team, if not the fastest," Clemons said — Horton (6-1, 230) and Clemons (5-10, 223) can both be short-yardage battering rams.

"We gotta find a way to get them the ball," Scott said. "We've been up front with them and honest with them going into this camp: You can't really rotate five guys. It just doesn't happen — can't do that. But one of our ideas was try to go in camp and recognize everybody's strengths and find out who the guys are that are reliable and can be every-down guys, and find out with the other guys that can't be, what their strengths are."

Williams' strength — if the nickname didn't give it away — is the big play.

He was rated the No. 4 all-purpose running back and No. 118 overall recruit in the country by Rivals.com and had scholarship offers from the likes of Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and South Carolina. He rushed for 3,364 yards and 45 touchdowns in his final two high school seasons, earning him a loud moniker.

"Boom is basically a name of explosiveness. That's a big part of my game," Williams said. "Whenever I have the ball in my hand, whenever I score a touchdown, a lot of people go 'Boom!' That's a thing I take pride in, and I'm looking forward to hearing it this fall in Commonwealth."

For most of fall camp, he didn't hear it from UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown, who kept calling him Stanley. Brown said Williams would have to earn the "Boom" nickname with him. Lately, it sounds like he has. Almost.

"He's got to make some plays at Commonwealth," Brown joked. "The reason I was giving him a hard time early in camp (was) because he thought that it was going to be the same as high school: You play when you get the ball; when you don't get the ball, you kind of hang out and watch. It's not the case. He's starting to understand … he's got to be a factor when the ball is not in his hands.

"So he's coming along, and we will get the ball in his hands. I do expect him to make some big plays for us this year."

Williams might live up to his nickname faster than his jersey number. He'll wear No. 18 for the Cats this fall. Previous owners: Jacob Tamme, the top pass-catching tight end in UK history, and Randall Cobb, a multi-talented All-American and now NFL star.

Choosing that number here is sort of a big deal.

"Uh, yeah, it is," Williams said. "When I first asked for this number, the first thing that was said to me: 'Do you know what you're asking for?' I did know what I was asking for. Randall Cobb, man, he's a great player. He made big plays for Kentucky. So I'm going to try to fill those shoes. And not forgetting Jacob Tamme. He made some big plays for Kentucky, too.

"I'm just trying to come and do what those guys did: make plays."

It will be up to Brown to give him a chance. Known for the "Air Raid" offense, which leans heavily toward passing, the Cats' coordinator realizes that philosophy might need to be tweaked this fall.

"My job is to get the ball to our best players," Brown said, "and right now, several of our top playmakers are at that running back position."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.