How will Notre Dame replace 2 first-round picks at RB? Aneyas Williams’ time is here

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Aneyas Williams sprinted between Notre Dame’s practice fields on Friday morning, out of habit and intention. The junior running back is in a hurry, no longer blocked from the field by the two first-round picks. And Williams knows he might as well get extra conditioning when he can, creating habits for the rest of Notre Dame’s running backs at the same time.

Williams will try to replace Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, an impossible task everywhere but inside the running back’s own head. Williams played just six games last season after suffering a serious right elbow injury in training camp. He was never right, playing just 47 snaps and logging only 24 carries, even though they went for 224 yards and five touchdowns.

No one really noticed, not with Love and Price in the backfield.

Still, Notre Dame didn’t go into the portal last winter, happy with its running back hand where Williams might be an ace, even after winter surgery to repair a partially torn triceps and clean up the elbow. He enters training camp as Notre Dame’s starter without the Irish acknowledging it. But it appears that time is coming soon.

“He may be the most confident kid I’ve ever been around. And that’s rare,” said running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. “The kid earned the right to play. And that’s what (we) like about him.”

At first glance, Williams’ confidence might seem underserved considering how little he’s played. Yes, there was that 36-yard catch to help beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl, with Seider on the other sideline. “One of the biggest catches ever,” Seider said. “Sent my ass home crying.” And yes, he averaged 9.3 yards per carry on last season’s limited work, which would have ranked second nationally if Williams had appeared in three more games. But Williams played just one snap against Miami. He didn’t play against Texas A&M or USC, the only other high-stakes games on the schedule.

When Notre Dame had a chance to back Williams with reps, it voted for Love and Price.

Yet, when Marcus Freeman was asked about Notre Dame’s emerging leaders before training camp opened last week, he noted Williams set the tone for the running back room, which includes Nolan James Jr., Kedren Young and Jonaz Walton … a group with 14 career carries and no big moments. That’s part of all this running during practice, because nobody ever followed somebody who was walking.

“Man, I’ve been waiting two years … and I wasn’t satisfied with last year at all,” Williams said. “Coach Seider knows that.”

Williams wore out Seider this offseason, trying to get inside his position coach’s brain in what might be a contract year. If Seider was going to coach Williams like an RB1, he needed Williams to see the game as he did. A former college quarterback at West Virginia, Seider coaches his position like a coordinator, asking the running backs to get closer to a quarterback’s understanding of scheme.

Now, when Williams questions Seider on a play, Seider knows where Williams is coming from. And when Seider asks Williams to correct a technique, the running back doesn’t need a translator.

“Bowling, golfing, over at the house. I can’t get rid of them during the spring and summertime, which is a good thing,” Seider said. “That’s where we build confidence, because that’s what allowed me to coach them. And they know it’s coming from the right place.

“In my mind, I’m anticipating the ball is going to cut back, and he can tell me why. And I can trust him now on understanding that. Because, hey, we’re in Year 2 together. We’re talking the same language. We trust because we’ve seen it work. He saw two guys developing that he played with. And he felt like he was as good as those guys.”

Williams won’t be a like-for-like replacement for Love or Price, though. He’s never hurdled anyone or defied the laws of physics like Love did. He hasn’t brought back kickoffs for touchdowns against USC or helped Notre Dame win at Texas A&M as Price has. But Williams can offer things that Love and Price did not, mainly helping in short yardage.

When Williams was a freshman, he carved out a role helping on third down and turning his fire hydrant physique into a battering ram. The Irish struggled in short yardage most of last season, unable to get Love or Price loose. Williams seems to have a knack for moving the chains, even when it takes getting dirty. A third of Williams’ carries went for first downs last season, the highest percentage of Notre Dame’s backs.

“One-on-one matchups in short yardage, that’s what we’re trying to create, and I want to win that one-on-one matchup every time because that’s my role,” Williams said. “I think I just (have) the right mindset, the right feel, and I’m not going to be stopped.”

When quarterback CJ Carr took a collection of Notre Dame’s receivers to Jacksonville to throw during the offseason, Williams tagged along. He didn’t want to miss a moment. When the Irish opened camp, it was Williams taking first-team reps. And when Notre Dame kicks off against Wisconsin next month, odds are Williams will get the first carry.

He believes he’s simply Notre Dame’s next great back, following Love, Price, Audric Estime and Kyren Williams, without taking a back seat to them. That became even clearer after Friday’s practice when Williams was asked whether the NCAA’s shift to a five-for-five eligibility rule would favor him, wiping last year’s slate clean after burning a year of eligibility by playing in just six games.

“I never plan on using it,” Williams said, “To give you an honest answer.”