As the Tiger Stadium crowd erupts on Saturday night, the familiar tingle of excitement shoots up Josh Williford’s spine as he paces the LSU sideline.
It takes every ounce of willpower to resist throwing on a helmet and charging onto the field for just one more play under the blinding lights of Death Valley.
But as chants of “Go Tigers” reverberate through the stadium, the former LSU left guard is forced to accept the fate of a career cut short, and the unwanted knowledge that he will never again feel the rush of a perfectly executed block in a collapsing pocket.
“When the crowd gets pumped up, that’s the best part,” Williford said. “Being on the sidelines, I feel like I don’t get the full effect like I used to. … I want to run out there and yell at somebody when they do something wrong. It’s different for sure.”
Williford’s football career was ultimately ended by a series of major concussions, beginning with a dangerous head injury sustained during LSU’s 2012 game against Florida.
The final straw for the hulking lineman was a pile up that left him unconscious for at least five minutes during team camp just weeks before the start of the 2013 season.
Williford said the injury sent him into a spiral of depression when he learned he would never wear a pair of shoulder pads again.
But nothing was going to keep the former lineman off the field. Whether it was working with trainers or helping equipment managers, Williford wanted to try anything if it meant he got to remain part of the Tiger program.
Then something happened that Williford didn’t see coming — something that would be a saving grace for the battered lineman and provide him a place on the sidelines of the program he spent three years fighting for.
What if he became a coach?
“[LSU] Coach [Les] Miles presented the opportunity to me, and I was going to try to be a part of the team no matter what,” Williford said. “As a player, that’s something you’re going to take because you want to be a part of the team in any way you can. I felt that was the best opportunity for me to be a part of the team.”
Just before the season, Miles offered Williford the opportunity to work with the defensive scout team in preparing the offense for that week’s opponent alongside permanent graduate assistants Chris Kragthorpe and August Mangin.
The man who once spent hours scouring defensive game tapes in order to prepare himself for Saturday’s ensuing battle now scouts that same film with the new goal of teaching his squad to mimic the defense to the best of their abilities.
“I understand how the coaches get so mad now,” Williford said. “You can ask any of the scout guys — I yell at them all the time now. I feel bad because, like 10 weeks ago, I was out there with them. You get to see both worlds, and I understand the coaches a lot more and what they’re saying.”
LSU sophomore offensive lineman Trai Turner said the offensive line was able to adequately fill in for the loss of Williford on the field, but it’s harder to fill the senior’s leadership role off it.
Turner said the unit doesn’t treat its brother any differently now that he’s on the sidelines and is always there to give advice to his former unit.
“He advises us more than anything,” Turner said. “He’ll say, ‘Hey, I don’t know what [offensive line coach Greg Studrawa] is telling you to do, and I don’t know what you were thinking, but you could do this to better your technique.’ … He’s a senior and he’s played more football than us, and we just have to take it for what it’s worth.”
Coaching has given Williford new life.
A distinct change in demeanor swept over Williford’s face as conversation shifted from his injury to his new responsibilities, but the slightest smirk crept across his face as he talked about the possibility of new career direction into coaching.
The Alabama native said life after football wasn’t something he planed on deciding for at least another eight years. Williford wanted to enjoy his senior season, graduate and possibly pursue an NFL career. Everything else could wait until later — the future wasn’t his problem five months ago.
But now it is, and the decision is knocking at the door.
Williford will earn his degree in agricultural business in December, but he said he hasn’t ruled out coaching as a future option despite having no plan of action at the moment.
“I’ll tell you this,” Williford said as the subtle smirk returned to his face. “The only plans I have for December as far as jobs or coaching, I’m not positive yet about what I want to do, but the only thing I know for sure is that deer season closes Jan. 31 and I want to be hunting somewhere for a little bit.”