Star lineman Joshua Williams, Haverford School’s renaissance man, will take his many talents to Stanford

Joshua Williams sits in the head of school’s office at the Haverford School. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive lineman, who typically shies away from the spotlight, displays a calm confidence, rewatching a video that has been viewed over 7 million times on X, formerly Twitter, after House of Highlights reposted the moment.

The video, which shows Williams running 13 seconds in the 100-meter dash as a freshman, immediately captured the attention of college coaches, showcasing speed that’s uncommon for someone his size. It also catapulted Williams into the spotlight for the first time.

“One thing that always stuck with me that my coach would say is, ‘You’ll be a lineman, but you’re just not an ordinary lineman,’ ” Williams told The Inquirer. “And he was always talking to me about how I can move at my size, and the athleticism I have is something that’s a gift that I have and not many others have.

“So when that video dropped and I got so much attention, it opened my eyes to what this will give me.”

Beyond his athletic abilities, Williams is a leader in many areas, on and off the field. The 17-year-old is the junior class president, a leader of Haverford’s peer counseling program, and an active theater member, with a leading role in the school’s fall play. He’s also a Black student union member. The Inquirer spent a day with Williams earlier this month to get a behind-the-scenes look at how he moves throughout his busy schedule.

All eyes naturally draw toward Williams when he walks into a room because of his size. But his parents, Alicia and Denean Williams, say his leadership qualities were something instilled in him at a young age as he followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers, Cameron and Gaven, both collegiate athletes.

“The room changes whenever he walks into a room,” his mother said in a video interview. “We encouraged [our kids] to look at the whole entire world and find themselves, their [own] way.”

“We’re open to other things, not just pure sports people like some families,” Denean Williams added. “We try to instill in them an appreciation for everybody.”

Before the end of Williams’ sophomore year, the school’s theater director, Darren Hengst, approached him about playing a main role in a play later that fall. Hengst always wanted to bring One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to the Haverford School but needed a student of color who was Williams’ size to portray Chief Bromden. Balancing his football schedule with rehearsals was the only hurdle, but Williams, who played Mufasa in a fifth-grade Lion King play in elementary school, jumped at the opportunity.

“And he was incredible,” Hengst said. “Josh is a really empathetic kid, and he understands situations and he understands people. For the chief, the role he played, someone who doesn’t speak for half of the play in a mental institution and then finding his voice and gaining confidence, so much so that he changes his life at the end, was something that Josh took on and grew with every rehearsal.”

Williams fully immersed himself in the experience, bringing elements of his football life into the theater. Standing in the middle of the cast, Williams delivered words of encouragement to the other actors after rehearsals.

“I started this thing for theater where after our practices, after our rehearsals, we all get into a circle. It’s like a football huddle,” Williams said with a laugh. “I think that kind of just made everything feel more cohesive — you’re not just one actor on a stage with other actors. We are a production, we’re a team.”

Added Hengst: “I follow sports and I understand what that is, but him bringing it to the theater, it made me so happy because, that’s the other thing about Josh, is he’s so inclusive of every member of every space he’s in.”

That inclusivity hasn’t gone unnoticed by the student body and his football coach, Brian Martin. Williams’ leadership and motivational skills also translate to the football field, and he’s not also a role model for his peers in the junior class.

Whether its spending his free periods helping classmates through tough times in peer counseling or looking to improve the school as a whole, Williams has his hand in it and relishes serving others.

“Everybody’s capable of doing things, but it’s Josh’s willingness to get it done the way he juggles schoolwork, junior class president, the play, to his other extracurriculars, it’s a credit to him,” Martin said. “Not only did [college coaches] see his athletic piece, but then when they started talking to him, they’re like, ‘This kid is special.’ ”

Added Williams: “I think the main thing I wanted to do when I got the [class president] job is to be somebody that is easy to talk to and that can connect with everybody. It warms my heart that I can be in that position and I want to be that role model to other students.”

Penn’s Wharton School of Business has long been Joshua’s goal. His brother, Cameron, played football and studied there. The family has long looked at Ivy League schools as the gold standard for education, as Williams’ father earned a master’s degree from Harvard.

After Williams’ sophomore season as a starting offensive lineman for Haverford, his expectation of playing at Penn needed to be adjusted as Power 5 schools began to take notice. The first offer, from Boston College, came in May, with many others rolling in thereafter.

» READ MORE: Haverford School lineman Joshua Williams announces commitment to Stanford on Inquirer’s Instagram Live

One university was different: Stanford. In Williams’ search for his future home to play college football, the school needed to be on the level of education equivalent to the Ivy League. Stanford fit the bill.

On Monday evening on The Inquirer’s Instagram Live, Williams announced his commitment to the Cardinal’s football team, with a visit to the campus in the fall “wowing” the junior.

“The mix of academics, the mix of football, the facilities, the weight room, strength, conditioning, it was all great, fantastic. And it made me think there’s no other place I would want to be,” Williams said.

He plans to study finance. It is nearly 3,000 miles away to Stanford’s California campus, but the school has joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, which will allow Alicia and Denean to be within driving distance of some of the Cardinal’s away games.

Williams’ parents are excited about his future, in the academic and athletic sense.

“It made my mind at ease that he’s got the ability to go anywhere he wants across this country in his field or if his talent and dreams take him to the NFL,” Denean Williams said.

Alicia added: “In my mind, he’s just a plane ride away, and that’s close enough. He needs to go explore the world and continue to grow.”

Throughout the recruiting process, several coaches and recruiters mentioned Joshua’s potential to play football beyond college to Williams’ coach and parents. They pointed to his rare athleticism as an offensive lineman, and his 81-inch wingspan is already a huge advantage when blocking opposing defensive linemen and linebackers in high school.

Even with a bright future ahead of him and a year left of high school, Williams has no plans of lightening his already packed schedule. The Haverford School’s renaissance man will continue to embrace his various leadership roles.

“I’ll just try to shoot very, very high [for my goals], and if I land on the moon, then I know I landed somewhere great,” he said. “It might not be the stars, but it’s where I went, and I know I did something great.”