He’s developed two first round picks. Can this TCU coach develop another with Savion Williams?

TCU outside wide receivers and assistant coach Malcolm Kelly has produced a number of NFL receivers since he arrived in Fort Worth in 2019.

Quentin Johnston went from a talented prospect to a first round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft following TCU’s run to the national championship while the explosive Jalen Reagor went in the first round in the 2020 Draft. The opportunity to coach those types of players was a big reason Kelly wanted to remain in TCU when Dykes arrived to take over for Gary Patterson.

“I’ve always thought that TCU was a gold mine,” Kelly said. “The history, the location, you have access to really good players. I had an opportunity to bring in good players and develop those players. You get opportunities to go places, but if you’re already doing it and have a track record of developing guys and getting them where they need to go, I didn’t feel there was a need to move around.”

He’s shown he can produce elite receivers and now his next challenge will be trying to unlock the talented, but inconsistent Savion Williams this season. In terms of raw talent, there’s not a player on the roster with more of it than Williams.

A former four-star prospect Williams stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs over 220 pounds. Despite his size, Williams is explosive after the catch. He’s not quite what Johnston was with the ball in his hands, but Williams has superior ball skills compared to his best friend and knows how to use his frame to out-muscle smaller defensive backs.

“We’ve got a guy like Savion that’s shown flashes of being one of the most dominant receivers in college football,” coach Sonny Dykes said Tuesday. “He hasn’t done it consistently for a variety of reasons, some in his control, some out of his control. When you have a guy like him you want him to play at his very best week in and week out.

“I think that’s going to be a challenge for us. How can we get him mentally and physically ready to come out there and play his very best for 15 or 16 games. I know Malcolm’s excited for that challenge.”

There may not be a better coach to teach Williams than Kelly, who was a dynamic receiver in his own right at Oklahoma in the mid-2000s. He was a freshman All-American and a two-time All-Big 12 selection before being selected in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft by Washington.

Kelly has the ability to enhance his lessons to his receivers by turning on his own film and showing what he did right and sometimes what he could’ve done better.

“I think there’s some credibility that comes along with that,” Kelly said. “I think it helps me grab their ears because they know I’ve laced them up and done it at their position. I’ll say I don’t get as much pushback because of my playing history.”

Like Williams, Kelly was a big bodied receiver at Oklahoma standing at 6’4, but Williams has a different level of speed to his game than Kelly did which is just one reason he sees so much potential in Williams.

There was nobody on the staff more excited to see Williams’ mini breakout run at the end of last season with Josh Hoover. All three of Williams’ highest receiving yards in a game came in the final six games including the 11 reception, 164-yard performance against Texas that surely put Williams on the radar of numerous NFL teams. Dykes says Kelly has been laser focused on making sure Williams has more of those performances this fall.

“Malcolm’s done a really good job, you look at the players he’s developed and his history,” Dykes said. “I think Malcolm is really dialed in this year, I think mentally he’s ready to go and excited about his group.”

A large chunk of that excitement is based around the development of Williams. It was a boost for the program to keep him out of the transfer portal and provide Josh Hoover with a receiver that has potential to be one of the best in the Big 12. Kelly hasn’t been shy about letting Williams know how much will be expected of him.

“I expect him to be the focal point,” Kelly said. “I expect him to come out to take over games, that’s what I expect him to do. That’s the expectation, we haven’t been silent on that expectation. I think with him having done it towards the end of the season now he believes it himself that he can go out there and do it on a consistent basis.”

While there’s pressure on Williams to perform, he won’t be alone on the outside as Kelly helped bring in Boise State receiver Eric McAlister to bolster the other outside position. McAlister was on pace for a 1,000-yard season with the Broncos before entering the portal.

Dylan Wright is healthy and running with the first team, while Kelly also landed another blue chip recruit in four-star freshman Gekyle Baker.

“I feel good about all those guys,” Kelly said. “This is the first time in a long time that everybody’s been healthy and ready to go. Dylan got banged up at the end of the year so it’s good to see him moving around. Eric has been very consistent in what he’s doing on the field, JoJo Earle is another guy that gives up something different. Him and Savion are those two guys who have unique skill sets.”

Kelly was able to maximize his own skill set and become one of the best receivers to play at Oklahoma. He’s already helped Johnston and Reagor do the same for TCU.

If there’s anybody that can get Williams or even a player McAlister to that level, it’s Kelly.