Southeastern Conference Football Media Days 

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 

Dallas, Texas, USA 

Q. Are you a technology guy when it comes to learning? This year the league is allowing iPads on the sideline during games. Carson didn’t know that.  How do you think that could help you or could it be information overload for someone like yourself? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: I feel like that’s really going to be a huge help for us, especially like in-game adjustments.  That’s where I feel like it’s going to serve its most value, and I feel like I can’t wait to use that. It’s going to be exciting. 

Q. Oklahoma is entering the SEC this season. What can they expect out of conference road games, and what’s been the toughest road game that you’ve played in during your career? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: I feel like Oklahoma should expect loud fans, loud stadiums, tough, hard-nosed, physical opponents, and just good games in the SEC. It’s just tough in the SEC. 

I’d say my toughest road game probably had to be Auburn from last year. I went there, it was loud, they was very good at home, and when we played, it was a great game there at Auburn. 

Q. What was the toughest quarterback you competed against last year and why? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: Last year? That’s a great question. It may have been Auburn because they were in a dual quarterback, a two-quarterback system, and both quarterbacks provided something different. Both of them could run. One of them was more of a passer, one was more of a runner. I believe it may have been Auburn. 

Q. Talking with Coach Smart and Malaki, I was asking about Cole Speer, and he said how he’s grown as a person and a leader, and Coach Smart mentioned how much of a locker room leader he is. What does he provide to this locker room, and do you see him playing a big role for this team this fall? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: I do. He comes in with great energy.  He’s ready to work. That’s what I like about him. I feel like he can come in and he’s going to play this year, like he’s going to have a great role and help us a lot. 

Q. I’d love to hear about who else on the defensive line has been impressing you this off-season.  Anybody you think could have a breakthrough among your teammates? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: We’ve got a variety of guys this year, especially with our young guys. We’ve got a lot of young guys that I feel like really the whole class we brung in, I feel like they can step up and play because they got here early and they learned a lot. They’ll be able to help us. 

I feel like the main guys this year will be what it’s been, like Christen Miller, Warren Brinson, Naz Stackhouse, Jordan Hall. All those guys that’s been here, I feel like they’re going to step up and make it happen this year. 

Q. Do you remember your “welcome to Georgia Kirby Smart” moment where you’re like, this is not Columbus anymore? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. Broderick Jones. I rarely get pancaked, man, but Broderick Jones pancaked me and I was livid by it. I was highly upset. 

Q. The standard is awful high at your school. Is that a challenge? Is that something you guys enjoy? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: Yeah, we really appreciate having that standard here. It gives us something to grasp, something to aspire to, and the standard helps us play to our full potential and be who we’re going to be. 

Q. What have you done to become a better player, and what do you want put on display to the folks who haven’t seen you yet? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: I’ve been working constantly this offseason and proving my pass rush ability and my run stopping ability and also my flexibility period in having that ability to bend around corners and edges. I hope that goes on display this year. 

Q. You were a very highly touted coming out of high school. You had options. What was it about Georgia that made them the right choice? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: The atmosphere I got when I went to a game that really changed my thinking process about how I thought about Georgia and how I felt about Georgia.  Then actually letting them recruit me and seeing what they were about and how the culture was here and how connected everybody was and how everybody was team oriented and wanted to win. Everybody wanted the same goals. It really got me here. 

Q. When you first arrived at Georgia, what was the complicated level of the defense? Is it something that takes you a while to learn? When did you feel you learned it, after that first year, year and a half? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: After my first spring year. It took me just spring. We’ve got a lot of defensive calls. We’ve got a huge defense, crazy package. But the way they break it down and install it to you and put everything in families, it makes it so simple and quick to learn. You really want to learn it, it’s simple to learn. 

Q. I’m curious, are you familiar with Oklahoma at all, their history, their tradition, or Brent Venables at all? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: I am familiar with Brent Venables. I remember he was the DC at Clemson, recruited me for a while, but I’m not too familiar with Oklahoma and their history, but I’m excited they’re in the SEC, though. He’s just a great coach, great defensive coordinator, great defensive mind. 

Q. What is one personal goal that you have coming up this season, and what is the game plan to attain that? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: One personal goal that I have this year is to win, win a lot of games, and the game plan behind it is to go in week in and week out and do the things necessary to win. 

Q. You’re from Columbus. There’s always a lot of talk about South Georgia football. What does that signify to you? 

MYKEL WILLIAMS: Football is different in the south. It’s hotter in the south. Just the way we go about things in South Georgia is different. It’s tougher I feel like. Football in South Georgia is different, and I guess I’m a product of it.