Inspired by his mom’s perseverance, Damonic Williams continues to chase football dreams at OU

Cicily Freia is still figuring out just how good her son is.

Freia, the mother of OU defensive tackle Damonic Williams , is still in shock at her son’s ascent in the college football world. Last spring, he was considered the top defensive lineman in the transfer portal, leaving TCU and garnering offers from some of the best college football programs in the country. After a chaotic recruitment process, he eventually landed on the Sooners, where he’s expected to be a star in the middle of OU’s defense.

“I still don’t realize it,” Freia told SoonerScoop.com. “When he transferred here, I was like, what if he goes somewhere and doesn’t play? Are you going to go somewhere and just sit on the bench? People are like, you don’t realize what you have at home do you? No, apparently I don’t.”

But maybe what’s harder to believe for Freia is that Williams is even in this position. The 6-foot-1, 319-pound defensive tackle has faced tremendous adversity in his pursuit to live out his football dreams. No, this isn’t a story about a three-star turning into a five-star caliber player. Williams, and his family, have faced true adversity.

Freia is a single mom, raising three boys — 15-year-old Joshua, 19-year-old Damonic and 24-year-old Devin. She is a two-time cancer survivor and a domestic violence survivor. Williams is the first member of his immediate family to attend college, with intentions of graduating next spring with a degree in multidisciplinary studies, hoping to one day put that degree to good use and help those who have faced similar hardship.

NFL is the ultimate goal for Williams. And he appears on track for that, as he’s already had tremendous success and is now a pivotal part of a talented OU defense. Making it to the next level would truly be life-changing for his family.

But for Williams to get this far, with his mother by his side, is a success story in and of itself.

“Three black boys in one house with a single mother, statistically speaking, doesn’t usually wind up the way it has for us,” Freia said. “It was so hard on all of them. But Dom paved his own way. He figured it out on his own. He didn’t really have a lot of loyal (male) mentors. That’s kind of one of the tough lessons he endured. It was a blessing and a curse.

“But for Dom, he used it as motivation.”

‘Football opened the door’

Freia attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in California, where she was a standout softball and basketball player. She did not attend college, instead going to trade school and becoming an adolescent psych nurse, which remains her profession today.

She had her first son, Devin, at 22 years old and Williams at age 27. In 2009, the same year she gave birth to Joshua, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Five years later, in 2014, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Today, she is cancer-free.

“Being a single mom there were times when things were a struggle. Moments of — almost to the point of depression,” Freia said. “Dom has seen his mom kind of have rough times. He’s seen a lot in his life. And football opened the door for him to do a lot of different things.”

Williams took to football at a young age.

Born at exactly seven pounds, Williams wasn’t the biggest baby, but it didn’t take him long to become a big kid. He had a growth spurt at age 4 when he started playing football, in which he played a couple of grades above his age.

Coaches started to notice Williams’ potential when he transferred to Bishop Alemany (Calif.) High School as a sophomore. His athleticism at his size was unique. But he was a raw talent, which is why he didn’t garner much Power Five attention until late in his recruitment.

His work ethic though, was unquestioned. Born and raised in Torrance, Calif., Williams lived an hour and a half away from Bishop Alemany High School. But wanting to pursue a dream of college football, Williams woke up most days at 4 a.m. to get a ride to Alemany in time for 5:30 a.m. football workouts.

“That’s when I realized he was dedicated,” Freia said. “Because I told him he could go to a different school if he didn’t want to wake up at 4 in the morning. He would come home tired and sometimes grumpy. But he loved it.”

Williams received his first Division I, Power Five offer from Cal during his junior season. He committed to the Golden Bears a few months later. But on Signing Day in 2021, he flipped to TCU, which recruited him late in the cycle after Sonny Dykes was hired.

For Freia, it was a surprise. She wanted her son close to home and Cal offered that.

“It was hard. It was really hard,” Freia said. “It’s almost like God knew what I needed when Dom was born. My oldest, he’s just like me. My youngest is a little firecracker. And Dom is just kind of in the middle of that. So when he left, the house was kind of chaotic. Dom was always the one who calmed us down.”

Williams was an immediate star for the Horned Frogs. He started all 15 games, helping TCU to the national title game while totaling 27 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He had another great season as a sophomore, totaling 33 tackles, five tackles for loss and 3 sacks. TCU, though, had a losing season, resulting in defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie being fired in December.

That’s when Williams first considered entering the portal. But after his mom convinced to stick out for at least the spring, Williams stayed. Following spring practice though, he knew it was time for a change of scenery.

“Originally it was because coach (Joe) Gillespie, what happened,” Williams told local OU media. “Once I heard that news, I would talk to a whole bunch of the defensive players. ‘What are you gonna do?’ I wanted to stay for the longest. And then I’m like, even now, I’m like, ‘Damn, it’s crazy to see that I’m not in purple no more.’ But I’m glad to be in this crimson and cream. I didn’t make that decision in December because of the love I have for my players. I’m a real relationship type of guy. I’d rather stick it out with them than go somewhere else but then seeing what I felt like I couldn’t, I guess, produce what I was most capable of producing, that’s when I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s probably time to go.’”

‘The whole package’

Oklahoma was Williams’ first visit after entering the portal.

Defensive line coach Todd Bates was the first coach to reach out to Williams. Co-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell also played a hand in getting Williams on campus, having a previous relationship with those in Williams’ circle.

Williams visited Norman the same weekend as the spring game and was blown away. It was Brent Venables that impressed him and his family the most.

“He reminded me of my dad, Dom’s grandpa,” Freia said of Venables. “My dad was a cop and was very animated when he spoke. He’s not going to lie to you, he doesn’t curse like a sailor — his demeanor was very personal. I remember on the visit, they’re driving us around in an escalade and (Venables) climbs into the back. I was like, ‘You can sit in the front, you know?’ But he climbed all the way to the back like he was family, like we had known him for years.”

For Freia, the family and faith aspect is what sold her. She spent time with all the coaches’ wives and connected personally with Venables, after realizing his wife, Julie, was also a breast cancer survivor.

She was sold on OU from the moment she stepped into Venables’ office and so was Williams, who nearly committed on the spot.

“This place had the whole package,” Freia said. “You know how when you have company come over, you’re going to put things under the bed, in the closet. But what if somebody opens the door and everything falls out? Oklahoma did its best to put things away. You know what I mean? Everyone else it was, ‘I don’t know if I like that part of it.’ There was nothing we didn’t like about Oklahoma.”

But Williams wanted to be thorough in his search for his next home.

He visited Texas next, went to Missouri after that and finished with LSU. During all those visits, NIL became a major talking point for the media covering the recruitment. And OU certainly did its part in offering a great NIL package. But behind the scenes, Freia said that was never her or Williams’ priority.

“I told Dom I didn’t want the NIL package,” Freia said. “I didn’t want him to feel like, ‘I’m doing this for my family.’ That’s a whole other level of pressure that I didn’t want to put on him. I didn’t want him to take whatever was the most money.”

Williams and his family valued two things: The ability to develop Williams as a football player and as a man, with the latter taking priority. OU offered both.

“Dom wanted to be where the best coaches are. But he also wanted more,” Freia said. “At the end of the day, it was between OU and another school and when we sat down, I said, ‘You will get the same coaching, but which school is more family-oriented?’ And it was this one. Now, if the other school had great coaching and the family option, it would’ve been a difficult decision. But the other school didn’t. It just felt like everyone here was genuine and not just trying to get Dom for his ability.

“Oklahoma opened doors beyond football. Other places were like, just come here and play football for us. Oklahoma wanted to build the whole man and that was the selling point for me and him.”

‘Proud’

It hasn’t taken Williams long to settle in at OU.

He has quickly become one of Oklahoma’s best defensive linemen in fall camp, while also taking on a leadership role as one of the more veteran players at his position. That’s something he’s still adjusting to, as the staff has pushed him to be more vocal. He’s always been a quiet and unassuming kid.

“Schmitty threw me into the fire into having to take a leadership role,” Williams said. “But having the team embrace me with open arms from day one, BV had me get up on the podium and speak to them … and I get a little nervous when I have to speak publicly. I started sweating and they were just laughing, but they were like ‘it’s all good bro. Just take your time and do what you got to do.’ Just having them behind me, I love it.”

Williams figures to play a critical role for the Sooners this season. Senior Da’Jon Terry is the only returning defensive tackle who has played more collegiate snaps than Williams. Venables has thrown him into the fire, having him work primarily with the first-team defense.

And so far, Williams has excelled.

“He likes to work. He likes to compete,” Venables said. “Dom’s done a really nice job. He’s fit in well. I think the No. 1 reason he’s fit in well is that he’s had humility and respect for the work and respect for the guys around him. Then, he’s come in great shape. He worked really hard all summer. So, he’s not on a ventilator trying to learn to do what we want him to do, both scheme-wise and fundamentally. From that standpoint, he’s really given himself a chance to make improvement daily, and you’ve seen that.”

That work ethic and humility have always been there for Williams. From waking up at 4 a.m. for high school workouts to growing up with a mom fighting cancer and domestic violence, Williams is no stranger to perseverance.

Dominating on the football field is easy compared to the tribulations his family faced growing up. And he’s hopeful that one day he can make a difference, wanting to open a boys and girls club for fatherless children.

He’s grateful for the opportunities he’s received, thanks to the sacrifices his mom has made.

“That’s part of his ‘why.’ I told him not everyone gets this opportunity,” Freia said. “And I can die at peace knowing that you have set yourself up to not be living in a box somewhere. You set yourself up to not just help you, but I can trust that if something were to happen to me tomorrow, Joshua can get on a plane tomorrow and live with you and you’ll be OK, even though he’s only 19.”

Freia is finally starting to figure out just how good her son is. The chaos of the transfer portal helped with that, as well as watching a few of Oklahoma’s fall practices. Though, she jokes that when she watches Williams play, she says to herself, “That’s not my peaceful baby.”

But as she watches, she is also overwhelmed with pride, knowing all that he and she have overcome together.

“I tell him, ‘I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but thank you for making parenting easy,’” Freia said. “And again, he’s not the perfect kid. Nobody’s perfect. But he’s made it easy. I tell people, all the bad stuff I had to go through at this point, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Even if the NFL doesn’t happen, just getting him this far and his little brother being able to see — ‘if I get good grades and work hard at football and stay out of trouble, this is what I can do.’

“Dom’s journey has made all of it worth it. I am so proud of him. I can’t even describe it.”

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