Four days earlier, he had signed a contract to return to Washington that was set to pay him in the mid-$4 million range and put him at the top of the market for college football. According to sources, Washington is continuing legal action to enforce the contract.
Williams’ online announcement that he was leaving soon became a touchstone for a sport and system where there is already significant doubt over the viability of signed contracts.
What happens next with Williams will say a lot about the future of college football and the enforceability of contracts, providing a signal for this new era of college sports.
“It’s a very bright line,” said a high-ranking college official. “Will we honor each other’s contracts? It’s that simple. If we can’t protect it, nothing else matters.”
If Williams follows through on his desire to leave Washington — LSU is the likely favorite for his services, but others are also expected to be involved — his case will be a litmus test for a new era of rules. And it will probably end up in court.
The situation can be boiled down to a simple point that has been an ongoing issue and embarrassment for college sports: Are contracts enforceable?
“This situation is a consequence of 2026 football,” a key athletic director told ESPN. “Where the story ends is one of the big moments in college football — or really, college sports — and what we do next.”
When initially contacted, the quarterback’s father, Demand Williams Sr., declined to comment.
If Williams does attempt to leave for LSU or another school, it would likely be a bigger saga than former Tennessee quarterback Niko Emalieva’s jump from Tennessee to UCLA last year.
It’s also a potentially high-profile version of the legal fallout — still unresolved — from the departure of Wisconsin defensive back Xavier Lucas to Miami.
Wisconsin sued Miami, claiming that the school committed wrongful interference by knowingly forcing a player to break the terms of his deal with the Badgers.
Williams is a household name among Big Ten and college sports fans, as he threw for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. He also ran for 611 yards and six touchdowns. Williams originally committed to coach Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss in 2023 before moving to Jade Fish and Arizona. He followed Fish to Washington when he took the head coaching job there in 2024.
Another high-ranking college official said, “This won’t happen in professional sports.” “Things like this show that people think they can do anything.”
The college sports world is keeping a close eye on this. A general manager at a top program told ESPN on Wednesday: “It’s disgraceful that the system allows this. There is no stability at all. How are people sitting there watching everything collapse? What are the leaders doing? What are the commissioners doing? How can we not get everyone in a room and walk out until there is a solution.”
One veteran head coach laughed at the lack of oversight: “I don’t even know who we send complaints to.”
Washington sources say the university is prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce Williams’ contract. The Big Ten has also been active on the issue, and the league has been vocal in the past about how important it is that “agreed upon obligations are honored, respected and implemented.” Williams used a traditional agency to complete his deal. Sources said outreach from people outside the agency to schools has been ongoing for more than two weeks. The agency that signed her was taken aback by Williams’ portal entry.
According to sources, one person who has contacted schools about Williams is Cordell Landers, who generally refers to himself as a mentor and has been revealed as one of the central figures in Imalewa’s departure from Tennessee. Landers denied to ESPN that he was involved with Williams.
ESPN obtained some details of Williams’ Washington contract on Wednesday. There are two things that are emerging in a big way. The deal includes a buyout to leave that is up to Washington’s “sole discretion.” The contract also states that “the institution is not obligated to enter the student-athlete into the transfer portal or otherwise assist or facilitate the student-athlete’s transfer to another college or university.”
Lucas’ move to Miami shows that moving through the portal is not a necessity for players, but it is another complicating factor.
The Williams case speaks to a larger issue in which sports contracts – linking schools to leagues, coaches to schools and players to programs – are being largely ignored.
The situation highlights flaws in the system, including the absence of a single entity in charge of the interworking of contracts in a billion-dollar business. The Williams contract issue does not fall under the purview of the new College Sports Commission, which handles third-party name, image and likeness deals to meet legal settlement rules, sharing revenue with schools without regard to the cap and roster limits.
The NCAA deals with tampering that can occur in sports. However, tampering has become so mainstream in college athletics that it is almost impossible to enforce. Modern legalities also complicate oversight, as a federal judge’s ruling in Tennessee in February 2024 made the NCAA’s role in enforcing anti-tampering more challenging.
The demands of new rules are even more complex. The lawsuit seeking a legal ruling was filed on January 31, a day after Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman revealed in a letter to the NCAA that the school’s athletic department was being investigated.
Although there are calls for reform, there is inherent resistance whenever regulations arrive at a school’s doorstep.
Suddenly, Williams’ situation has emerged as a flashpoint for a flawed system.
“This is a very important moment in our region,” a high-ranking official said, “how we are going to behave.”
ESPN’s Max Olson contributed to this report.
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