Ryan Coleman-Williams spending offseason in Tuscaloosa: 'He's worked extremely hard'

Once the spring semester ends, Alabama’s players typically spend the month of May training, just not in Tuscaloosa. They have trainers who they’ve worked with in the past, or some that are new, and they disperse to different spots around the country to get ready for the summer.

But one of its biggest stars, Ryan Coleman-Williams, chose to stay on campus this year.

“He’s here this whole month of May,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said on the Always College Football Podcast. “He might have little things on the weekends that he goes and does, but he’s here. Our guys are away from school for the most part. There’s a couple of weeks where they do get that one time of year to get away. Guess who’s here? And that’s Ryan Coleman-Williams.

“And so, I’m excited about what that future looks like. I just think if you just keep working, the good things come to you sooner or later. You want it sooner than later, but that’s going to be the case, I think, for Ryan.”

Coleman-Williams is entering his third year with the Crimson Tide and is looking to bounce back from an up-and-down sophomore season. He finished second on the 2025 team in catches (49) and receiving yards (689) and third in receiving touchdowns (4). But Coleman-Williams dropped the ball way too much, ending the year with 10 — third among all FBS wide receivers.

The Mobile, Alabama, native is extremely talented, as he showed early in his freshman season, but consistency is key. What does DeBoer think UA will get from Coleman-Williams in Year 3?

“He’s worked extremely hard,” DeBoer said. “People, I think, think, ‘Oh, it’s a wake-up call for your football team or whatever it might be.’ Ryan’s been Ryan. Ryan works, and you’re never going to question the work ethic, the character, the personality. He’s competitive as anyone you’re going to find, and it shows. And our team just loves that about him. 

“And then what he’s done as a leader, being really the guy that’s probably taken as many snaps as anyone on the offensive side in particular. He’s in the weight room, and he can lead the charge.”

With Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton moving on this offseason, Coleman-Williams is now the most experienced player in Alabama’s receiving corps. He has to step into more of a leadership role, and he seems to have done that this spring. The Crimson Tide is also breaking in a new starting quarterback, and it needs its star receiver to play well in his junior campaign.

Few players on this year’s roster have played as many snaps in a crimson and white uniform as Coleman-Williams, and DeBoer is hoping that helps the wide receiver and Alabama’s offense.

“We have very few seniors,” DeBoer said. “We have nine seniors — eight on defense, one on offense — and we’ve got a lot of juniors. I think we’re at 19 juniors, guys are in their third year, and a number of them are in the third year in our program. And Ryan would be that, just the experience and what he’s done. He knows what it’s supposed to look like, knows what it feels like. He’s been there.”

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