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University of Minnesota Athletics
Under The Helmet: Rodrick Williams
9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
The cookies had to be soft.
That was a lesson that Minnesota senior Rodrick Williams quickly learned. Hard cookies just don't sell and Williams was looking to peddle his baked goods on a daily basis.
"I just made regular chocolate chip cookies," said Williams, who ran his own daily bake sales at Lewisville High School, which is about 45 minutes northeast of TCU's campus in Fort Worth, Texas. "But they were soft, not hard. I would sell them to kids at my school for extra money. I got so good that my teachers started requesting cookies. They wanted almonds and walnuts in there so I would make a batch for them."
Williams, who also sold brownies to his hungry classmates, needed the extra money so he could work on his car.
His parents surprised him one day after school with a 2009 red Chevrolet Cobalt. That day was probably the last time his car looked like a normal Cobalt, as Williams has been tinkering with it ever since.
The 5-11, 229-pound running back didn't grow up with an affinity toward cars and never worked on them, but all that changed when he first sat behind the wheel.
"I didn't know anything about cars, but that changed right after I got the Cobalt," he said. "After that most of my paychecks started going toward the car. I don't buy too many clothes or go out very much. If I had a choice between going out or working on my car, I would choose the car."
What has Williams done to his car?
"Pretty much everything I can think of," said Williams, "The first thing I did was change the intake and exhaust and then made some visual modifications to it. I swapped out the supercharger from a Cobalt SS onto mine. We threw a turbo in there and swapped it with an LE5 motor and now it runs on E85. It's better for the car. With the supercharge, stuff runs really hot. The turbocharge motor is better for the fuel economy depending on what you're doing. I'm being environmentally friendly. It runs on E85 and burns a lot cleaner and cooler. It smells like home cooking when it turns on."
Williams often travels north to Blaine to work on his car with two friends who he met online in a car chat forum.
"They don't really care much about football," said Williams, but all three individuals do have the same passion about cars.
The trio believes in the mantra, "Built, not bought," and takes great pride in doing the work themselves. "There's more of a satisfaction knowing you did it," said Williams, who admits to blowing out three motors, but none since 2013.
"He is passionate about it," said Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill. "We knew that when we recruited him. He likes taking things apart and building his own stuff. I think it is a gift and he can do about anything. I sat out on the curb with him one day during the summer and we just talked about vehicles. I was asking him about this model and that model and asked him what he thought. He gave me his opinion on everything. He knows cars inside and out."
Williams learned almost everything he knows through trial and error and has watched some YouTube videos to help him along the way as well.
"I love it and it is what I do in my free time. My mom thinks I should wait until after college, while my dad is all about making sure it runs and drives. He tells me, 'Make sure you know what you're doing or have people there who know what they're doing. If that car goes, you don't have another one.'"
The car has come close to "going," as Williams is on his fourth motor, but has had the same one since 2013. The previous three "just blew up. Detonated," he said.
Williams, who has scoured the internet for parts, upgrades, modifications, additions and a reliable motor, just got bigger injectors and a new fuel rail just recently arrived as well. After those additions he is ready to declare the work finished.
"It runs and it drives so it's done," he said.
What began as a stock red Cobalt is now anything but normal. His next car is a few years away, but don't expect it to be a high-end luxury vehicle that some of his teammates dream about. Williams would much prefer something a bit more comfortable that he can work on himself.
"I would like to have more of a connection with a car that I can make," he said. "Like if I got a 1994 Supra with 2JZ motor and rebuilt that, I'd feel more comfortable."
It's a good thing those cookies he sold at Lewisville High School were soft.
