Report B.J. Rains of The Idaho Press covers Avery Williams' ('16) amazing journey as an "undersized" football player who is now making impressive strides as a walk-on player at Boise State.

BOISE — Marvin Williams played football at USC, so he thought he knew a thing or two about talent. And his son, Avery, looked like he had plenty of it.

Avery Williams was All-Area as a defensive back his junior year in high school, and earned Trinity League Co-Most Valuable Player as a running back his senior year in one of the most competitive leagues in California.

Sure he was a little bit undersized, but statistics and game film should count for something, right?

Not to college coaches. The phone never rang, and when it did, it was a coach returning Marvin's call to say they weren't interested in recruiting his son.

"I have friends at other colleges like UC Davis, and they wouldn't give him a call or even look at him," Marvin Williams said. "How does that happen? How do you get lost when you're in the Trinity League and tied for the MVP? We were going 'how does this happen?' There was no rational, no logic. There really was no logic. His grades were OK. It was mind-boggling."

Avery and Marvin both agree that Avery's 5-foot-9 frame had something to do with it. Avery played safety at St. Francis High School before transferring to JSerra Catholic for his senior year. It wasn't until then that he took weight lifting seriously and transformed his body in the weight room, and by that point it was too late for many of the college programs to notice.

Williams enjoyed playing safety and enjoyed his time at St. Francis and credits the time there as key for his development. He started his sophomore and junior years, but elected to transfer to JSerra, south of Los Angeles, for senior year. He also switched to running back.

He had a strong senior season running the ball and was the co-MVP of the competitive Trinity League after rushing for 1,175 yards and 14 touchdowns. A few smaller schools called, but none of them offered him a scholarship. No FBS schools. No FCS schools. Nobody.

"That was a big year for me physically and mentally," Williams said. "I stopped worrying about the offers and focused on bettering myself as a player."

Marvin had his sons play everything from golf, basketball and baseball to bowling, swimming and even fencing while growing up. Believe it or not, Avery and his older brother, Mason, a defensive back at Duke, were the top two fencers in their class.

"They were giving money away to Stanford for that stuff," Marvin said of fencing.

But ultimately it came to football. He followed his dad, a youth coach, around to camps when he was little and fell in love with the game. So when he didn't get any scholarship offers or interest from schools, there was no thought of giving up.

Williams was determined to find some opportunity to keep playing football somewhere. Even if it meant doing so as a walk-on.

"He wanted football and he was going to chase it down one way or another," his father Marvin Williams said.

"He was going to stick it out. I'm almost certain we would have found some other place where he would have got a chance. I called anybody and everybody I could and we were just blessed with how it worked out. It was meant to be. For some crazy reason, he ended up at Boise."

How he ended up at Boise State came from a connection between his defensive backs coach at JSerra, Scott McKnight, and Bronco assistant Kent Riddle. McKnight's son, Scotty, played for Riddle and some of Boise State's coaches at Colorado.

Williams took a visit to Boise and the Broncos offered a chance to join the team as a preferred walk-on. He quickly accepted, and arrived in Boise along with the other incoming freshman in the summer of 2016.

His career at Boise State, ironically, started as a running back, because that's the film coaches had to go off of when they recruited him as a preferred walk-on. His time on offense lasted one day.

"My senior highlight tape was primarily running back, which is kind of what got me in the door here," Williams said. "My first day I was a running back and then coach Riddle called me and said I would have a better chance at corner and I could get on the field quicker there, so I said OK."

Williams developed a close bond with Riddle and was recruited with his special teams duties in mind as well. Riddle had talked to him about the possibility of returning punts and kicks, which was intriguing.

But after one day, he was a defensive back, and the rest is history. Williams impressed immediately on the scout team that fall while redshirting, doing enough to earn Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Year.

He recorded an interception of Brett Rypien in the spring game the following year in 2017, and received the unthinkable after the first practice of fall camp later that year — a scholarship.

"I was going to take whatever I was dealt and handle it," Williams said. "I felt like I did and it's put me in the position I am in today."

Williams wasted little time taking advantage of his opportunity. Given a chance to be the starting punt returner as a redshirt freshman last fall, he took his first return 81 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against Troy. He added a 53-yard punt return touchdown against San Diego State later in the season, and had two interceptions on defense after moving into the starting lineup at cornerback midway through the year.

He was named the preseason Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year in July, and already has an interception and two pass break-ups through two games in 2018.

"Since the time he's gotten here he's just been impressive," Boise State defensive coordinator Andy Avalos said. "Avery is a guy that, he has that 'it' factor. When he walks off the bus is he going to be the biggest guy? No, but he has the 'it' factor. He's self-motivated, he's very accountable and he works extremely hard. He's just got those intangibles, and he's fun to be around. He'll light up the room with that smile, and based off what he did last week, if you didn't already know, he's a pretty tough kid, too."

Just how much does Williams value the opportunity to be on the field and play for the Broncos? Despite dislocating his elbow in the season opener at Troy, he found a way to play against Connecticut the next week by wearing a big, bulky brace. And of course he came away with an interception.

"I'd just say my drive, my passion for this game – when people give me an opportunity I'm going to give them everything I've got. I'm very grateful that I've been given a chance here at Boise State so I'm going to give them 110 percent every time."

His teammates and coaches weren't surprised that he found a way to get back on the field last Saturday despite it not looking good when the injury occurred.

"We were all terrified for him because obviously we've seen how hard he has worked since he's been here," Pierce said. "When you saw it on the field, he dislocated it, so we saw his bone not where it's supposed to be at. He came to the sideline and we were freaking out like 'man, he just broke his bone, he's going to be out for eight weeks or however long' and then they said he only dislocated it."

As for finding a way to play and even recording the only interception of the game, Pierce said, "that's kind of just Avery. He's always in the right spot at the right moment. He works for it, and he gets what he deserves."

Williams didn't return punts last week against Connecticut but could be back there this week at Oklahoma State. If there's a chance he can do more to contribute to the team, he's all for it.

Saturday will be the next chapter in an already storybook journey for Williams. From no offers to earning a scholarship to landing in the starting lineup, the redshirt sophomore will reach a new milestone. He'll play in front of 60,000 fans in a Big 12 stadium on national television in one of the biggest games in the country all weekend.

"I never thought I'd actually be here, playing and actually starting," Williams said. "It's a dream come true. When I was younger I used to make Road to Glory on NCAA and I made myself Boise State. Now I'm actually playing here. It's pretty crazy."

And to think nobody else wanted to give him a chance.

"It's pretty amazing," Marvin said. "A lot of things just fell into place, and he was ready."