Lenny Williams Jr. goes about his days with a purpose — to compete.
When the former Sto-Rox quarterback found himself being pushed out of Temple after the 2014 season, he just wanted to find a place to compete. He had no interest in sitting out another year after redshirting his freshman season with the Owls, and he didn’t want to go to another school that was going to just bury him on the depth chart.
After battling feelings of not feeling good enough, Williams found IUP. So far, Williams has done nothing but solidify his ambitions of being a successful collegiate quarterback.
“I imagined myself being here. I always believed I was good and wanted to work hard,” Williams said in reflection prior to the Crimson Hawks opening summer camp. “It didn't work out at Temple, but I found a new home and I'm able to keep going and playing the game I love here.”
Williams was a two-star dual-threat quarterback his senior season at Sto-Rox in McKees Rocks where he set then-WPIAL records for career passing yards (8,509) and touchdowns (102). He also rushed for nearly 3,000 yards during high school.
He drew interest from schools like Temple, Akron, Bowling Green, Robert Morris and Rutgers. But when he signed with the Owls, he went to Philadelphia to compete for a job as a starting quarterback. He never got the chance. He was redshirted his first season and then was asked to change positions. Though he was open to that, he never got the chance to do that, either.
The way he tells it, he was basically cut from the program.
“People think I just picked up and moved, but that wasn't the case,” he said.
Williams said he had a meeting with the coaches and was told he wouldn’t be getting a shot at quarterback. He was then told he could seek a transfer if he wanted to. So, he came back home to think about things.
He went back to Temple to inform his coaches that he would stick around and try to earn a spot elsewhere on the field for the Owls. His coaches then told him that wasn’t going to happen, either.
“They told me they didn't have a spot for me,” he said “They basically told me they didn't want me back.”
For the first time in his football-playing career, Williams let self-doubt creep into his life. He questioned his ability. He questioned his work ethic. And he was now faced with either hanging up his pads or finding a way to get on the field somewhere else.
He didn’t want to go to another Division I program and sit out. And junior college, he said, was out of the question, too.
“I had a friend at IUP, and he said they had a perfect situation for me,” Williams said.
That perfect bounce-back situation? They already had an established quarterback.
Competition.
“It was good. It was fun. I love to compete. I never shy away from competition,” he said, his voice beaming with confidence even over the phone.
Williams competed mostly with Chase Haslett, the Crimson Hawks’ starter. But coaches let it be known that they didn’t know who would start Week 1.
It turned out to be Haslett, but the two rotated series in what wound up a 34-33 loss to Kutztown. Williams, though, completed 12-of-24 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown while rushing 13 times for 52 yards and another score.
He earned a start the next week and hasn’t looked back since.
During that first season with the Crimson Hawks, Williams was one of 38 nominees for the Harlon Hill Award — given to the top player in Division II football — after completing 119 of his 206 passes for 1,549 yards and nine touchdowns to go with 1,229 yards rushing and 12 scores. He was named the Super Region One and PSAC West Freshman of the Year and led IUP to the second round of the NCAA D-II playoffs, ending with a 17-13 loss to Shepherd, which went on to the national championship game.
“It was fun, absolutely,” he said. “I went a whole year without playing, and I knew what I was capable of and knew what my weaknesses were and what held me back from getting that spot at Temple. For me, it was just about getting the opportunity. It was just good for me to able to do that and show that I can play.”
He had his confidence back.
The next season, Williams had IUP sitting at 8-1 with just a three-point loss to Cal (Pa.) as a blemish on its resume. He again was a Harlon Hill nominee.
But he threw just one pass against Mercyhurst before tearing his right ACL and MCL.
He watched his Crimson Hawks go through that game to a 31-20 win before rattling off a 42-13 win to close the regular season out without him. Then, IUP made it again to the second round of the playoffs but was bounced with 44-23 loss to Cal.
And Williams couldn’t do anything about it.
“It was tough. I've never really been hurt seriously like that in my life,” said Williams, who could only point to a minor ankle injury and a non-football related finger injury as injuries up to that point. “I understood where we were at at that point in the season and we still had a good shot in the playoffs, and not being a part of that, it was hard. I feel like I let a lot of people down. I felt like I owed it to them. There was nothing I could do, but I was mad at myself for being hurt.”
Williams could have thrown himself a pity party, but he didn’t let it show on the sideline. Instead, he got himself ready for the next season.
Though a coaching change ensued, Williams was very much a vital part of the Crimson Hawks' future, which would now be in the hands of then-defensive coordinator Paul Tortorella.
Tortorella hired Tate Gregory to take over as the team’s offensive coordinator. He was also in charge of quarterbacks.
The two were familiar with each other as Williams was the quarterback that shredded Gregory’s Charleston team in 2015 in the playoffs, completing 10-of-15 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown and added 151 rushing yards ands four more scores on the ground.
Gregory knew about him, too, from IUP coach Luke Barker.
“When I saw some of the numbers he was putting up, I pulled up some highlights on YouTube to see how he looked and was obviously impressed," Gregory said. “As an opponent, he was really frustrating to play against. He made so many plays with his legs that really weren’t even there. Just when it looked like our defense had him bottled up, he’d find a way to do something special and turn it into a positive play for IUP. Fortunately, I’m on the other side of that equation now.”
The pairing has been a good match for all involved, Williams agreed.
The offense, though, changed a bit under Tortorella and Gregory. Rather than sticking to a run-heavy style, the Crimson Hawks became balanced. And Williams led the charge.
As a redshirt junior in 2017, Williams completed 215 of his 329 passes for 2,789 yards and 31 touchdowns, surpassing all of his totals from the previous seasons combined. On the flip side, he rushed for just 406 yards on 96 carries, scoring once.
Williams again was a nominee for the Harlon Hill and began his ascent into the IUP record books.
Knee injury? What knee injury? New offense? So what. Williams still made plays.
“My game, I’m ready for whatever,” Williams said. “If I gotta run, I’ll run. I feel like in the past, I kind of took it personal and wanted to prove to people that I could pass. But as long as we’re winning, I’ll do whatever I need to do. My game will be what it is.”
IUP finished the regular-season unbeaten in 2017 and rolled all the way to the national semifinals before falling to West Florida in Gregory's first season controlling the offense.
Now, with the past five years serving as a reminder to not take any football for granted, Williams continues to let his competitive fire burn. That, though, is starting to begin in practice and in the film room, Gregory said.
“He’s got a great work ethic and is constantly pushing himself to get better,” Gregory noted. “One of the things that impressed me the most when I got here last March was the way he approached our QB meetings. He was always locked-in, completely focused, taking detailed notes and asking a ton of questions."
Williams said one thing that has stuck with him is the realization that he was never much of a good practice player.
That’s changed.
“I’d describe his approach to practice as very business-like. He understands what we are trying to accomplish as a team and what he needs to do to help us get there,” Gregory said in terms of Williams’ practice demeanor. “He’s not a real rah-rah guy or overly vocal but he brings good energy to the field every day and does a nice job leading the offense.”
Now, Williams comes in on Sunday — typically an off day for the players — and watches film with Gregory. They go through the highs and lows of the game before, what opponents were able to do against them and figure out how the team could improve. Throughout the week, Gregory said, Williams is constantly analyzing the gameplan and giving feedback.
The redshirt senior owns the single-game, single-season and career record at IUP for rushing yards by a quarterback as well as the single-game record for passer rating. A look down the school’s all-time leaderboard for Williams shows him fourth in passing touchdowns, needing 31 to break the record; fifth in passing yards, needing 2,240; and fifth in most completions, needing 212.
His name is already mentioned in talks for the Harlon Hill Trophy once again, and the Crimson Hawks are staring at another trip the playoffs if Williams plays up to the hype. They were picked to finish first in the PSAC West once again this season by the league's coaches.
But numbers and awards aren't what impress people around the program, Gregory said.
“It's his 30-4 record as a starter,” Gregory said.
Tortorella agreed.
“The bottom line is he's a winner,” the head coach said.
Williams, though, just enjoys the chance to compete another day.
“Going into my last year, I've got to leave it all out there,” he said. “We’re trying to come away with the big one.”