Miami Hurricanes Avantae Williams 6 game suspension right future decision

The decision by the Miami Hurricanes to suspend safety Avantae Williams for the first six games of the 2021 season is the right decision for the second-year safety’s future. Williams was reinstated to the Hurricanes on Sunday after being dismissed in July following felony domestic violence charges involving his pregnant ex-girlfriend.

The university issued a statement on Sunday following his reinstatement that read he will have to reach several benchmarks related to the reinstatement. Head coach Manny Diaz discussed the reinstatement on Monday stating that the decision was made with the best way to help Williams moving forward.

Williams was expected to be a key part of the Miami Hurricanes rotation at safety before missing all of training camp in August following his original dismissal in July. The reinstatement of Williams occurred after his ex-girlfriend refused to press charges. Miami-Dade County followed by dropping charges.

Diaz stated the decision to reinstate Williams was made with communication between the university and athletic department administration. Before he returns to practice, Williams will focus on working with the training staff to get back into football shape. Diaz elaborated on Williams’ current condition.

"“Avantae won’t play for us for the first six games of the season and, to be quite honest, Avantae hasn’t practiced or run, or done anything physically. He’s just going to work with our strength-and-conditioning staff for the next two weeks. It’d be unfair to dump him right in the middle of practice.The guy did miss a training camp…Our role is to make the best Avantae Williams we possibly can and that’s why, again, we gave him the avenue back. There are some things that we want him to be able to accomplish that we think will help him and, again, by helping him, that ultimately helps us as a football program.”"

Diaz stated that if the university and the football program had to make the same decision over again regarding Williams’ dismissal the same decision likely would have been made. The Hurricanes head coach felt that a suspension or dismissal is focusing on semantics. Williams’ dismissal was based on the information in July.

With the information available at the time of Williams’ dismissal, Diaz felt that the right decision was made at the time. The charges bring dropped provided new information that Diaz commented gave them a new perspective and opportunity to make the decision to reinstate Williams based on the benchmarks being reached.

Williams has a rare second chance to become a vital member of the Miami Hurricanes football program. Given the seriousness of the charges, Williams is fortunate to be invited back to the Hurricanes despite the charges being dropped. Midseason, Williams will be a talented addition to the Miami football team.