Four-star Zion Williams talks Steve Sarkisian and Kenny Baker

Lufkin, Texas - Steve Sarkisian made stops at a number of schools in January to see top targets in the 2025 cycle. One of those stops was Lufkin High. 

OnTexasFootball 4-star defensive tackle Zion Williams has been a top target of the Longhorns on the defensive front for more than a year. 

Williams, who is 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds with an 80+inch wing span and a size 18 shoe, attended the Texas mauling of Texas Tech in November. At that time, it was then-defensive line coach Bo Davis who was in contact the most with Williams. 

That means January was the first time for Williams to have a meaningful conversation with Sarkisian. 

“Coach Sarkisian came through with Coach Blake (Gideon),” Williams told OnTexasFootball. “That was more just getting to know Coach Sark personally. We asked each other questions. A question I have learned to ask coaches during this recruiting process is, if I were to commit to this school right now at this exact time we’re talking, what would be the process to introduce me into the culture and the family. His answer was he was going to teach me the culture of Austin, which I didn’t know, and get me aquatinted with people around Austin and not just the school. He wanted me to get acquainted with people in the community, and do community service. I was like okay, that’s a pretty good answer.” 

New Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker stopped by Lufkin High last Wednesday, his second day on the road. It was a chance for Baker to make a strong first impression.

“Okay, so he’s a former NFL coach," Williams explained. :His recruiting process was way different than everybody else’s. He had a notepad. It was basically a rapid fire questions. He didn’t give me time to think, so he didn’t give me a chance to process the question. He spit questions and then was writing down my answers. He was seeing how I answered. I didn’t realize it until I looked down because I saw his hand moving the whole time. I was like, 'oh he’s writing down what I’m saying.' That was intimidating in a good way - if that makes sense. He asked what I wanted to do outside of football, what ere my hobbies, my family and stuff like that. He really liked my answers.”

One key piece of news Williams said Tuesday was there are four schools he knows he wants to make an official visit to as of today. 

Texas, A&M, TCU and LSU. 

Williams on meeting with Brian Kelly

LSU head coach Brian Kelly and Tigers defensive line coach Bo Davis made the trip to Lufkin from Baton Rouge in January to sit down with the 4-star. 

“It was basically more of getting to know Coach (Brian) Kelly because Coach Bo (Davis) and I are already cool," Williams said. "It was mostly Coach Kelly and I doing a bunch of talking. For me, in what was about an hour conversation, he’s a pretty cool ole’ dude. You can tell he’s not from the south. I liked getting to talk to Coach Bo again. That was nice. We talk once or twice a week. When he’s not busy, I’ll reach out to him, or he will reach out to me.”

Williams made a first-ever trip to LSU January 20. And it definitely presented a home-like feel. 

“My initial thoughts was that it feels like East Texas," he said. "It’s like really weird how it felt like I didn’t leave Texas at all. And that’s a pretty cool thing to me. It felt like a Piney Woods area. People were cool, nice people. The new coaching staff is pretty cool.” 

Williams on meeting with Mike Elko and Sean Spencer

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko and Sean Spencer also met with Williams last month. 

“It was just talking again," Williams said. "He wanted to let my momma know what his plans are if I were to go down there. He was talking about developing me as a young man, and keeping my head on straight if you know what I mean. He said a lot of places don’t care, you are just a number when you go there. He said he doesn’t want to treat his players like a statistic. I liked that. Coach Elko, I’m not going to lie, was a little intimidating. He didn’t break eye contact at all our entire conversation. I like Coach Elko. He’s a pretty cool dude. When I first met him, I thought about the uncle from Alvin and the Chipmunks. He kind of looks like him to me, that was my first thought. Coach Spencer is loud, but I like it if that makes sense. He’s not an annoying loud. When he starts talking, everyone gets hyped.' 

TCU impresses more on every visit

Williams is a distant relative of former Lufkin High standout, Oklahoma defensive lineman and TCU defensive line coach JaMarkus McFarland. 

Last weekend, Williams was on campus in Fort Worth for Junior Day.

“TCU is a good school," he said. "I like it more and more every time I go up there. The coaching staff is good. I got to meet the new DC, and he is a good dude. While we were up there, JaMarkus got some of his players to come up and talk for a minute. I would say, that was the first time I got to spend with players on a visit. JaMarkus left for a little bit, and I got to ask some questions and I liked the answers I got from the players.”

Texas Tech is a fifth school that Williams is fond of when it comes to the coaching staff. He’s a fan of the energy of Joey McGuire and says he has being a foodie in common with defensive line coach Zarnell Fitch.