Les Miles talks Pooka Williams' departure from Kansas football - 247Sports
On Monday, Pooka Williams, a two-time first-team All-Big 12 honoree, announced he'd be opting out of the 2020 season, citing a family health situation as the reason for his departure. Williams, who had rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of his first two years, had totaled only 196 rushing yards (three total touchdowns) in four games in 2020, while dealing with an apparent ankle or leg injury.
KU coach Les Miles gave his Monday press conference just hours before the news broke that Williams was departing the program. So the KU's coach first chance to open up about the departure came on Wednesday, when Miles spoke on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
"Pooka is a fine young man," Miles said. "He makes a decision very much like me not going to the game. (Miles did not travel to West Virginia after testing positive for COVID-19 a week-and-a-half earlier.) He was responsible to his mother, and his mother has got a very bad sickness. She's not healthy, and Pooka wanted to go spend some time with her. And I couldn't argue against it."
He continued.
"We expect that he is going to have — he's a wonderful man, and he'll have a very successful departure in what he does," Miles added. "We're going to root for him always."
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With that final comment, Miles could be alluding to Williams' option — if he so chooses — to head to the NFL since he will have been at the post-high school level for three seasons. Williams, a preseason first-team All-Big 12 honoree (in addition to his prior honors), has been projected as high as a Day 2 NFL Draft selection by some analysts.
Kansas football, on the other hand, still has six more games to play — all against Big 12 competition. Miles was asked how the Jayhawks might handle the departure of one of their teammates.
"I think they put that stuff behind them," Miles said, before affirming that Williams made the right call in departing the team. "Pooka has a distraction that is a very serious one. His mom is ill, and so he's going to take care of his mom and be around, which, I think that's a great decision."
One more note — Williams began his tenure at Kansas with a breakout game. He posted 14 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns in a win at Central Michigan in his Kansas debut. Perhaps it was only fitting, then, that what would potentially be his final play at Kansas featured a kick return for a touchdown at West Virginia — the 18th total touchdown of Williams' KU career (26 games).
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"We told 'em just before that, we said, 'Listen, we're going to block for you this time. This time we're going to get you the chance of a lifetime. So certainly you'll want to cut back,'" Miles joked of the score. "After he scored, he said, 'After I did that, what else do I gotta do?'"
David Lawrence, filling in as the host of the Hawk Talk program, followed up, asking if that meant Miles knew an opt-out was coming before Saturday's game took place. Miles responded by saying that he had no knowledge the decision was coming at the time.
Added Miles:"That was something he did [earlier this] week."
2020-10-22 09:09:25Z
https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Article/Les-Miles-talks-Pooka-Williams-departure-from-Kansas-football-153390213/
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