When he entered the transfer portal this offseason, it didn't seem like James Williams had his mind made up at the start of where he wanted to go.

And, yet, it seemed very likely from the start that the defensive line transfer was going to end up wherever Terrance Knighton ended up next as a coach.

When the two were together the last two seasons at Nebraska -- Williams as a defensive lineman and Knighton as the defensive line coach -- they built quite a special bond. So much so that Williams says Knighton is closer to a father in his estimation than a father figure.

As such, it didn't come as much of a surprise when Williams committed to Florida State on Dec. 17, shortly after wrapping up his visit and 11 days after Knighton was hired as FSU's next defensive line coach.

"He's seen me go through a lot of different adversity," Williams said. "The fact that he stood by me through so much going on in his personal life, lots of different stuff that he's going through and he incorporates me, all that just means the most to me."

Williams' journey through football to where he is now is certainly fascinating. An unranked, zero-offer prospect out of Kansas City, he played one season at Iowa Central Community College and racked up seven sacks.

He was discovered by the Nebraska staff that next offseason at a postgraduate football camp and got an offer on the spot from Knighton and then-Nebraska (now FSU) defensive coordinator Tony White.

"I was a kid who just showed up at a summer camp and they were like, 'Hey, come join our Division-I football program.' This wasn't like I was joining the YMCA or something like that."

After finding Williams and getting him to Nebraska, it sounds like Knighton helped keep his career on track through some serious adversity in 2023. In a candid postgame interview after a Nebraska win last October, Williams talked openly about how Knighton saved him.

"I've been through hell and back. I've lost family, I've lost so much. To be here today in this moment is not where I thought I would be..." Williams said after Nebraska's win over Rutgers. "My family fell apart. He was there, he picked me up, he put me back together. I was a shattered human being at the end of (the 2023 season) ... There were so many times that everybody else around here could have gotten rid of me. I was a mess-up, I was late to stuff and he vouched for me. He's taught me so much about life. I say father figure, he's really my father. I learned so much about life from him. He helped me through everything. That man means everything to me."

Williams never took on a consistent every-down role in his two seasons as a Cornhusker. But his role grew tremendously from his sophomore season in 2023 (48 snaps) to his redshirt sophomore season in 2024 (188 snaps) and he excelled in his role this past season as a third-down pass-rush specialist.

On 142 pass-rush reps this past season, Williams had five sacks (second-most on the Nebraska defense), 11 QB hits and 13 hurries. He ranked third nationally among all FBS defensive ends in PFF's PRP formula.

When you see those production numbers in a somewhat limited sample size, you can see why Knighton started calling Williams "Sack Man" during their time together in Lincoln.

"That would be T-Knight (who gave me the nickname). The only person who ever gave themselves their own nickname would be Kobe (Bryant) and I'm not Kobe," Williams quipped. "T-Knight just randomly one meeting right before my first ever sack, like the first game I ever got a sack in against Northwestern, just randomly called me 'Sack Man' and it just started to stick around the building. I guess it's merchandisable now."

Williams claims to have learned a lot of things from Knighton. No doubt the former NFL defensive lineman has taught Williams a handful of football things. But the thing Williams actually cited is learning from Knighton's work ethic, seeing how his defensive line coach was in the gym working out at 4:30 each morning despite working the grueling hours of a college football coach.

"I take a lot from that. I'm someone who likes to work later on in the day, but just making sure that I get the extra amount of work every single day. I'm not just here to be a recruiting phase for you guys. I'm here to dominate against Alabama. I want to make sure I'm not just good against Wake Forest. I'm ready for Clemson and Miami and all those big games that we have, Florida at the end of the year," Williams said. "Making sure that my body is ready and making sure that I'm specifically ready for the entirety of the season and just like the extra work that goes into that I feel like is the No. 1 thing that he taught me. Because the amount that I do now doesn't separate me from everyone else because everyone else is always lifting and everyone does Tour of Duty and everyone does a couple of running drills in the morning. That doesn't separate me from everyone else and I don't want to be like everyone else."

With FSU losing three defensive line starters off the 2024 team as well as a few other potential rotational players, Williams is aware of the relative void of experience in his position room as he arrives in Tallahassee.

It means he'll likely step into a larger role than he had at Nebraska, playing more on a down-to-down basis and less situationally. Although his experience came elsewhere, Williams is confident that the production he had at Nebraska and his experience in FSU's new 3-3-5 defense make him, along with veteran defensive tackle Darrell Jackson, a prime candidate to immediately become a leader on FSU's defensive line in 2025.

"Being a leader in the room," Williams said when asked what the next step is for him. "Like I told you guys, there's a lot of young guys in the room who I think are very talented, but obviously experience is the biggest thing at this level. There's a reason Penn State is the odds-on favorite to win the national championship, as was Ohio State the year before and Michigan the year before. They brought back the most experience. The experience is the biggest thing because of how changing the landscape of college football is...

"I think me being a leader in the room is probably the biggest thing and Darrell (Jackson) helps a lot with that. You can tell that he's experienced. He already is like an NFL vet, it feels like to me, the way he carries himself, the way he works. I think watching him and how he commands the room and commands the team. I really feel like he's like one of the best team leaders. I think that's the biggest thing for us and that's what we need because that was what gave us success at Nebraska."

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