And, for Whitecotton, Williams’ character and work ethic were as important to his selling points as was the film that everybody has access to.
“You see him make plays, everybody sees him make plays — the guy’s been to Pro Bowls, he’s been an All-Pro — that’s all on display,” said Whitecotton. “But behind the scenes, knowing how he works and how he approaches the game, that’s a window I’ve had for four years that not everybody else had.”
The next question that needs answering is a great problem for the Cowboys to have, in that they now have a total of six Pro Bowls between Williams and Kenny Clark, the latter having been acquired in the Micah Parsons trade one week ahead of the start of the regular season, but also impact players like Thomas and Osa Odighizuwa — while also developing rookie seventh-round pick Jay Toia.
There’s a plan in place, but also an excitement surrounding the more traditional way of bringing the guys into games, rotationally-speaking.
“We rotate enough that all those guys get starter reps,” Whitecotton explained. “It’s not like, ‘Oh gosh, what are we gonna do now?’ It’s a good way for us to keep the mix and the flow going. And then you have different types of players playing next to one another like Quinnen next to Solly feels really different than Kenny next to Osa, and Solly next to Osa feels really different to an offensive line than Osa next to Jay [Toia].
“It’s a really nice way to have options and a mix, and to do some different things with those guys.”
One thing is for certain and that’s the face Williams isn’t worried about how he’ll fit, because he knows he will, and he trusts Whitecotton to figure it all out, the pre-existing trust prevailing.
“Whatever my job is to do, man,” Williams said. “I think that’s mostly the coach’s job to figure out how that is going to happen. Like I said, they’re two elite defensive tackles. …When it comes to the things that they both do, I know Kenny Clark very well. I studied his film like no other when he was at Green Bay in the 2-tech rushing he had.”
“I love to see [Odighizuwa] the things he’s done recently the last two to three years. The pass rushing, the run stuff that he has and the disruptiveness that he has also. And you’ve got Solomon Thomas in that room also who I’m very familiar with, so I’m just super ecstatic to be a part of a group of guys that not only I can learn from, grow with, but work alongside.”
What also bodes well for the reunion is the short amount of time Williams and Whitecotton spent apart, so it’s not as if they need to get wildly reacquainted with each other. Quite the opposite is true, considering the last time they worked together was the 2024 season.
“It’s like riding a bike,” Whitecotton joked. “I mean, we were split up for, what, eight months?”
That’s about right, and while many wonder if the viral clip of the two going toe-to-toe on the sidelines in New York is indicative of their relationship, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Whitecotton cleared the air about the incident and, as one would expect, it was simply a heat-of-the-moment reaction between a coach and his player and, as it turns out, no one watching the broadcast saw what happened next.
“The funny part about that clip is the cameras made sure to turn when we were hugging it out right afterwards,” he said of the exchange with Williams. “It’s a passionate game. We’re both passionate competitors and we want the same thing. … It was all love five seconds later. It probably wouldn’t have ended good for me but at least they know I was ready to go.”
Convincing the Cowboys to bring Williams to Dallas, however, will likely end well for him.