Six months ago, Rawleigh Williams III looked like a candidate for SEC Media Days. He was coming off a 2016 season as Arkansas’ leading rusher and was expected to be a big part of the Razorbacks’ offense in 2017.

Things changed in April, however, after he suffered a neck injury. After talking things over with coach Bret Bielema, team doctors and his family, Williams announced he would be retiring from football. The way Williams handled the situation left a lasting impression on Bielema.

“I just lost a player that — and there’s no doubt in my mind he was an NFL player. He’s a tremendous human being,” Bielema said at SEC Media Days. “I think as coaches we lose sight. We learn so much from our players. What I learned from Rawleigh Williams, you can’t put in words.

“The things I witnessed when I was on the field just sitting with him and his family to the time when I went and saw him in the hospital to when I was reading a quote from him a day after he decided to leave the game where he said, ‘You know, I always thought I had a great plan, but I got reminded once again that He has a better plan,’ referencing his faith.”

Bielema said reading Williams’ quote helped him gain a new perspective.

“And it was a moment where I had to take a step back and realize where he was going and what he was talking about,” he said. “That is a moment as a head coach that is so precious, it’s better than any game, anything you could ever learn, is when you know you truly have your players’ safety at their heart, in your heart. That’s a big deal.”

Bielema isn’t the only one inspired by Williams.

“Really good football player, the nicest guy you’ll ever meet in your life,” Austin Allen said of his teammate. “Football might be done for him but he’s been given this opportunity to do something very special away from the football field.”

With it being Williams’ second neck injury, Allen looks at the bigger picture that his former teammate wasn’t paralyzed or injured worse.

“Really it was tough because of how hard he worked to get back, to get to that point where he led the league in rushing,” Allen said. “He was having a great spring… We’ve done that drill 150 times. He really dodged a bullet again.”