‘This is a business year’: The mindset behind WSU WR Kyle Williams’ second season with the Cougs

PULLMAN – Kyle Williams could have sworn the snack was a donut. It was shaped like a lollipop, a sphere of a light brown something on top of a wooden stick, handed to him by a greeter at this week’s two-team Pac-12 media day.

As he walked into the dimly-lit ballroom in Las Vegas, a glitzy chain with giant “K$” lettering hanging from his neck, Williams wasn’t sure what to make of this treat. Washington State’s senior wideout made a number of guesses. Finally, he settled on a donut.

Then he took a bite. He laughed as he realized his mistake. It was chicken.

Turns out, it’s one of the few missteps Williams has taken this summer. All of the sudden the Cougars’ most tenured wide receiver, Williams has stayed in Pullman during the break, hitting the field for workouts that have gotten him in the best shape of his life, “which is actually crazy,” he said. He’s taken care to build relationships with teammates new and old.

“That leadership role,” Williams said, “I’m a lot more comfortable with it.”

At least among the wideout corps, that might be the best news yet for WSU, which will need Williams to replicate the electric year he submitted last fall – and perhaps top it. Gone is the Cougs’ No. 1 receiver last year, Texas Tech wideout Josh Kelly, and none of WSU’s returners wield the kind of experience Williams will. It puts the spotlight on the Los Angeles native in a way he has never experienced.

Which is why, he says, he’s taken this offseason more seriously than others in his past.

“I feel like I’m gonna have one of my best seasons this year,” Williams said. “I just feel like I’ve been working really hard, training on my speed, agility, conditioning, everything. And something that I can improve is my intermediate route running – a little bit smoother at the top of the route. That’s really it.”

Will that help Williams log better numbers than he did last fall? Here’s his line from 2023: 61 catches for 842 yards and six touchdowns, his longest reception a 63-yard bomb on a touchdown in a win over Oregon State, the only other program hanging around in the Pac-12. At least at WSU, Williams has always fashioned himself a deep ball threat, a guy with the speed and range to force defenses to honor even his longest routes.

His next challenge might be rounding out his game, becoming a No. 1 option who secondaries must respect in all areas of the field. No matter who the Cougs start at quarterback – incumbent backup John Mateer or Bryant transfer Zevi Eckhaus – their first read will often be to Williams.

That’s another reason why Williams has committed himself to the practice field this summer. He’s also stayed locked in to another medium.

“In the film room,” Williams said. “That’s why they say 90 percent of the game is emotional but 10 percent is mental. I’m always in the film room, seeing what I can get better at. I’m my biggest critic at the end of the day, and that’s how I feel like all the greats are.”

Later on, roughly half an hour after he took a bite out of what was decidedly not a donut, Williams made something else clear.

“I’m not skipping nothing,” Williams said. “This is a business year.”