Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has been asked several times throughout training camp who have been the standouts been at wide receiver. More often than not, the Panthers’ head coach has had something good to say about Raphael ‘Poppi’ Williams.
“You know, Poppi Williams had a good day,” Narduzzi said when asked about the receivers’ performance in the scrimmage. “Poppi had probably…he was the guy that popped out to me, Poppi popped out.”
Perhaps having a memorable name has helped Williams stay on the mind of his head coach, a nickname he said was given to him by his mother at birth, but what really has been standing out about the transfer wide receiver has been his playmaking ability.
Williams may be diminutive in stature checking in at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, but when it comes to standing out as a weapon for this offense, he may be as big of an addition this team brought in over the offseason. For his part, it’s because he finally has the stage of playing at the power-four level and he is running with that opportunity.
“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder since I’ve been playing football,” Williams said. “I’ve always been the underdog, but I’m from Florida so I played against the power-five guys and everything.”
Williams’ journey to this point has been anything but ordinary.
It started as a lightly recruited player out of Dillard High School in Florida, a great area for football, but his size let him slip through the cracks of Division-I recruiters. Not many schools were willing to take a chance on him, which resulted in his football career starting at Tusculum at the Division-II level.
He played in a five-game season in the spring of 2021 with Tusculum, playing under young offensive coordinator Kade Bell. When it came time for Bell to move up to Western Carolina, he brought the speedy Williams with him, a move that proved beneficial.
In two season with the Catamounts, Williams flourished in Bell’s up-tempo attack where he posted 120 catches for 1,617 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2021, he was the team’s top receiver and was the conference Freshman of the Year.
Williams looked to move to the FBS level ahead of the 2023 season and found a home at San Diego State, but because he was a second time transfer, he was unable to play last season. The transfer rules are a little more loose now in college football, so reuniting with Bell at Pitt made a lot of sense for his final two years of eligibility.
Because Williams has played in this system previously, he has been able to hit the ground running and make a name for himself immediately. His play has caught the attention of just about everyone on the offense.
“Pop has been doing a great job,” senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew said earlier in camp. “He’s always open now matter what, even contested catches, he’s going to come down with it.”
Williams feels the offense is starting to hit its stride. Over the weekend, that side of the ball won the team’s intrasquad scrimmage, which has given the group plenty of confidence. He is seeing the scheme develop in real time, which has been exciting for someone who has seen Bell’s offense at its best.
“We knew we had it, it’s just about trusting each other,” Williams explained. “Just putting trust in each other and we’re finally starting to believe in each other, we trust in each other, and now we’re rolling.”
While the offense reportedly stumbled in the first scrimmage, Williams gave more credit to the defense than anything else. It’s a lot different than what he was used to practicing against at Western Carolina.
“That defense is a lot better,” Williams said with a laugh. “They move fast and they’re a lot bigger and stronger.”
As the returning offensive players look to gain more confidence in the system, they said it’s been easy to turn to Williams, as well as Desmon Reid and CJ Lee, all guys who followed Bell to Pitt, as guys who can set an example.
“They’re explosive and they’re leaders because they’ve been in the offense for a couple years,” sophomore linemen Ryan Baer said. “They know what they’re doing, they’ve helped out a lot. I’m really excited to see what they can do.”
Pitt was one of the worst offenses in college football last season, and the rebranded attack has created a sense of optimism, but has also raised plenty of questions. It remains to be seen who the starting quarterback will be, which adds enough intrigue on its own. But the idea of Pitt running an up-tempo offense with a young coordinator who has not coached at this level just creates natural curiosity.
For Williams, who has seen it work at a high level previously, he feels it is all coming together at the right time, with the season set to start next week.
“It looks like poetry out there,” said Williams about the offense’s progress. “It’s going to be nice when everyone gets a chance to see it. We looking good.”
