CaneSport’s Inside the Lines with Miami Hurricanes S Markeith Williams: “Everybody should be ready to be a starter”

Miami Hurricanes safety Markeith Williams may not be on the field as a starter come Game 1, with coaches indicating it’s Mishael Powell and Jaden Harris with a leg up on the first team jobs there as of now.

But Williams is still competing with that starting job in mind and regardless will be a key piece backing up both spots, especially considering there is no other roster player with any real kind of experience at the spot.

“Everybody comes in every day trying to take everyone’s position,” Williams said. “We’re all competing, and that makes the team better as one. Even if you get the job (or don’t) you still got better. So I feel that’s the biggest thing, just competing and taking it game by game.”

INSIDE THE LINES SERIES: C Zach Carpenter … QB Emory Williams … WR Jacolby George … OL Francis Mauigoa … DT Ahmad Moten … OL Samson Okunlola … OL Matthew McCoy … RB Jordan Lyle … WR JoJo Trader … DL Tyler Baron … CB D’yoni Hill… DT Joshua Horton… DT Artavius Jones

Williams started last year’s bowl game and ended with 15 tackles.

With Kam Kinchens and James Williams gone, he needs to step up and be a key piece helping a revamped secondary that also lost two starting corners.

“We’ve still got the same job ever year – talk, run, hit on the field,” Williams said. “I know it’s a big question mark on the secondary because we lost a lot of secondary members, but I feel this secondary can be very special if we do the basics, the details coaches tell us to do.”

Williams was a Class of 2022 arrival and saw action in four games off the bench that year and had three tackles, one for a loss. Then this past season he had the aforementioned 15 tackles as a backup with the one bowl game start.

He had solid grades per Pro Football Focus, checking in at 69.7 percent overall with a 77.5 run defense grade, 76.7 tackle grade, 59.1 pass rush grade and 62.6 cover grade. That was in 75 total reps.

Williams says he finally truly understands the ins and outs of the defense and that he’s ready to be a starter.

“I can go on the field and tell everybody `You do this you do that, be the quarterback of the defense,” Williams said. “Everybody should be ready to be a starter – someone can go down in the blink of an eye.”

His overall take on this defense?

“Everyone is communicating, everyone is looking great out there,” Williams said.

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