Ole Miss DT Will Echoles on Breakout Season, EA Sports Rating and Giving Back

Will, how did you, you know, take some time off during the bye week? Anything you do fun or special? Actually, I had went to Starkville to watch State play Alabama. So, you know, I ain't really been a spectator to a game in a little minute. So it was good to go watch a college game. How was that for you? It was fun. Fun experience. Do you have a lot of friends over there in that game? Yeah, I do. Actually, you know, a lot of guys that was in my class, Mississippi, you know, going to Mississippi State. So I still got connections over there. Yeah. How far are you, you know, there at Ole Miss to Houston, Mississippi? It's about an hour, 45 minutes, something like that. Okay. So, like, are you going home pre-off or not really? Are you locked in on campus? Oh, I used to go home a lot when I was, like, a sophomore, freshman. But now I be up here. I be up here all the time, basically. Just so much to do, too much football, too locked in. Yep. Okay. Will, I saw this story that you were not happy with the football game, EA College Football 27, with the rating. it was it was 92 for you you wanted 95 uh have you been playing the game are you trying to find ways to to improve that because you have been playing pretty well yeah i think they boosted my rankings up to like a 94 but the only like the only thing else that i don't like is they got they got me wearing knee braces like on my character i was like bro i look crazy were you wearing knee braces last year or what's the reason i've never worn knee braces in the game you got you got to find somebody from EA to to get an explanation to remove the braces like you're not this like old guy in the NFL yet you know yeah i got to man okay uh how did you feel about seeing your your uh teammate uh Lacy on the cover by the way how was that yeah it was amazing man he uh he worked for it uh super you know he was super he's a good person man he deserved it you know played really well last season and you know i'm happy that he was chosen to be um on the cover you know so once a lifetime opportunity so i'm glad that he got to host yeah and and you've been getting a lot of you know a recognition yourself getting some spotlight i'm just curious well after that that dominant performance you got against LSU where people like hitting you up but hey man i saw you play you you balled that or anything like that yeah yeah i mean a couple people was but i mean it's it's like i mean i've been like people act like they were surprised like what i did because like but honestly i mean every time i didn't gain i did that practice you know i've been this i've been a player i've been a caliber player she's like she's i've been here honestly you know it just like when i get the opportunities to actually go play and where it's like get my one-on-ones in the all in the game then you know that's the result you're gonna get yeah it probably was because there was so much tension in that game it was like a prime time game everybody was watching you and you really stood out well but like you mentioned you've been doing that on a weekly basis you've been doing it when the camera's not turned on uh you've been doing it since i think you were like a three-star recruit four-star recruit man so you've been uh on this grind for a few years now but to kind of maybe have a moment for you to reflect maybe you don't want to do that because you're always probably thinking ahead you know how does it feel to maybe prove some of those doubters wrong that were saying hey maybe you're not a five star oh man you know i've been doubting my whole life you know especially like when it came down to the recruiting standpoint and as far as like the ratings like i was me i was a three star my throughout my high school career and i had got my uh i got my fourth star i think like right after my senior year going to my senior year so i made it all you know it is what it is you know people had their own opinions you know honestly that's what that's what all this stuff is recruiting especially like with the stars all it's a it's somebody's opinion you know can't nobody say how good you are as a player and you know as you can see all the players who's right above me you know i've kind of i'm gonna say surpassed them but like i'll say to that same level as them you know i got a lot more work to do but i mean you see the results yeah it's kind of funny how things quickly change the narrative and the opinions and all that and again you're doing great right now but on the other side of it is it a little hard to not maybe pay attention to the outside noise because again you know it could be regardless of negative or positive attention but you're getting a lot of you know NFL you know NFL draft attention you're like you know moving up i don't know if you care about stuff like that uh but is it hard to like not pay attention so you could be focused on what you're doing there at Ole Miss i mean i see it all the time man you know it's always in the back of my mind but i mean at the end of the day i know i gotta go play well to get what i want so i just try to keep that mindset because you know i know the same people that'll build you up or take you down too cause i mean you know you don't see them before in the media so i mean i just try to keep a level head keep working every day Yeah, no, that's definitely fair. well things just change on a daily basis but you know again i'm going back and forth i'm looking ahead I'm looking back. But I read that, you know, your freshman year, you didn't play too much. and that was maybe a little bit of a challenge for you you know, mentally to just, you know, stay locked in on the path that you want to be on But how much did you grow from that freshman year to learn and maybe being on the sideline and maybe in a way being at that college game last week being on the sideline and watching could be beneficial sometimes. I didn't realize until last year when I started playing a lot how much I was not ready for that moment. I had guys in front of me like Washington Olin, first-round draft pick. I talked to him to this day. And J.J. McGee played for the Raiders. So, I mean, I couldn't do nothing but learn from them guys. They set the example of how to be a pro and everything. So, I just embraced all that, you know, just kept following their footsteps. And like I said, once I got my time to play, you know, I realized I wasn't ready. So, I'm glad that I didn't get thrown that fight too early because, you know, that could build your confidence or take your confidence down. So, you know, I was just happy to be able to experience and just learn and grow. Yeah, from those two guys you mentioned, Will, what did you learn from those guys watching them on a daily basis? Man, with JJ, how to be a good person. You know, he's from Oxford, so he's Oxford native. man people love him here you know he come with the same attitude every day everybody love him in the city of Oxford in the building and you know just uh from Walt really just how to like Walt probably the only person I've been around the only player that I know they can just turn it on and turn it off and I ain't saying that's a good thing but I'm saying like his mode of play and how he was so disruptive as a player you know that just showed me how to go out there and play yeah no that makes sense because like yeah when you're on the field you want you want to be a beast you want to be ferocious but off the field you gotta you know maybe be a different a different uh kind of person in different mannerisms so i definitely get that uh will you know you know again just playing in your home state you know and you get to go home you know you know you know pretty frequently maybe not as much as you did as a sophomore but uh you know and you mentioned you know your teammate how he's he was or he is beloved there in oxford but for you to be in your home state you know do you kind of find time to like give back to community and just kind of be around the youth and say hey you could do it too you could follow my path the same way i did Yeah, I'm very involved with the community. Actually, I've done some kind of some drives. I did a trucker drive last year for Thanksgiving. I did a tour drive for Christmas this past December. In May, I created my own scholarship. I got my own foundation, God Willing Foundation. So I created my own scholarship just to be able to give back to a college, a high school graduate going to college. You know, this year I started with Houston, my hometown, my high school, but I'm looking to expand maybe to Oxford and maybe to, you know, all over the state. That's very cool. What does the scholarship consist of? And maybe break it down a little more for me if you can. Oh, so it was, so the requirements, you know, I had to write an essay, you know, just explaining how you was great, person how he's a great person to the community how you help people and how like you know how he's a good person and you know the scholarship was worth a thousand dollars um so you know that they can either go towards your books or or your um your needs honestly or whether whether that's like stuff you need for college or anything man that's very cool but now i think about will uh I guess where did you get that trait of giving back and wanting to you know you know help out the community is that something with people there in Oxford that told you to do that or maybe your family was always like that very inviting very welcoming and helping helping people well my mom she's a very she's a very welcoming person like even if you if you came to my house she'll treat you like she has like like you're her son so she's uh she welcomes everybody with open arms and also from JJ you know just seeing him uh do so many events in Oxford you know it's just inspiring to give back because you know God put me on the platform to uh to help people i feel like um if i wasn't doing that i'm not serving my purpose uh when uh when your mom's up being the host and welcoming people or does she uh get down in the kitchen and offer food and stuff like that yeah man i got so many bonus brothers you wouldn't even imagine like my for my birthday it happened during like uh like beginning of fall camp so man she had invited the whole d-line to my house so we all eating and stuff so i mean it was a good time what'd you guys eat man we ate steak salmon man it was she cooked a bunch of stuff i ain't gonna lie so i mean but it was it was a fun experience you know also it was a good bonding moment for you know just me and my position yeah that must have been a lot of food man for the d-line there it's a lot of work uh when you when you guys are hosting do you play a part do you or you get on the grill do you do anything like that man yeah yes actually like um i i grill a lot honestly um whether it's like me and my brothers and i have brothers that stay with me in oxford and all my friends but for the d-line man we try to get together you know just hang out you know create that chemistry that we need going into the season you know having each other back you know just getting to know each other more you know just building a team bond yeah that's that's the way to do it especially you know having that family bond you know with the team well uh just curious do you have a big family do you have a lot of siblings or a company tell me tell me about your family i do i have a big family i have five other siblings i have three older brothers and i have an older sister and i have a i have a twin sister that's actually almost with me really so uh yeah i got a pretty big family i got well i got three nephews and two nieces so yeah we loaded so you and your your twin a sister you guys are the youngest you said right yes we are okay so yeah so they call you uncle will or you know things like that yeah yeah they call me uncle will you know man my oldest nephew man i basically raised him like just me being a high school, his dad on the road working and stuff, he's always at home with me and my sister, you know, just watching him grow up, he's in sixth grade now, you know, it's been so cool, wow, he's uh is he playing sports? yeah, he played, he played everything, he played baseball, me or he actually played for me and my friend like one my best friends from Houston, uh, we got a travel baseball team out of Oxford actually, wow, he plays for our team, so man, it's just fun, just watching him go go, you know, i usually, i know the the game is different now with with uh in the college era with NIL and all that, but i've never really heard of a college player having like a travel team a scholarship, like usually you do that when you get to the pros and when you get older but you know, you know, how was that just having a travel team and do you coach at all? Do you participate? What was the idea for that, too? So, I play baseball myself, so, I mean, I always loved the game. I think if I wasn't playing football, if I was playing baseball, this is how much I enjoyed the game. But, well, you ain't going to know him, but he's a dude that he coached me when I was younger, Hassan Holiday. And so, I stayed connected with him. He moved to Oxford, so he invited me to – He really invited me and my friends to, you know, just help out and come coach the team. But we ended up getting our own team. And last spring, we was 11 youth, and this year we're 12 youth. So last spring, I had time because it was in the spring, we won the season. So I go out there and coach, you know, but it's really more than coaching, you know, just being able to interact with kids because, you know, we was in that position one point in time in my life. So I know how they think, you know, I just give them words of encouragement. I know how they be. And also, it just builds character, you know, just showing them that they can do anything they put their mind to but you know as far as in the fall you know this this past week we had a bye week so i was able to go out there and coach and the week before that i think we played on we end up playing on we played so we played last saturday but they played on that sunday so i got to go to the game sunday uh how's the team doing are they winning a bunch of games they're still playing so i'm assuming they're doing well yeah we're doing well you know every week is a work in progress but you know we're trying to build a build them As men, as young men, actually. But, you know, it's fun being out there. Of course, our goal is to win, but, you know, we never know sore losers. But it's all, at the end of the day, it's about having fun and, you know, playing for the person next to you. So you think if you weren't playing football, you'd be playing baseball right now? Yeah. I mean, I was, in baseball, I was okay. I ain't going to say I was the best, but I felt like if I would have put my mind to it and actually, like, tried, more like I tried with football, I feel like I could have played somewhere. Well, what position were you playing? I was strictly first base, bro. First base. First base, man. Big man. Yeah. Were you a power hitter? I was. I ain't going to lie. Either I was going to hit it out or I was going to. Sometimes I hit it in the gap. Give me a little double, something like that. Okay. But I was, either I would hit it out or hit it hard somewhere. I was probably going to strike out. I'm assuming you're playing cleanup. You're a number four hitter in the lineup. Yeah, I'm right in four, five, six, something like that. Okay. Very cool, man. So when did you stop playing baseball? I actually stopped my junior year of high school. I didn't play my senior year because I didn't want to get hurt. Honestly, I wish I would have played. It was so much fun, but I stopped playing my junior year. Well, that's cool. You're still kind of part of the game being a coach and giving back to the community and with the travel team there. Just curious, do you watch baseball? Do you get locked in during the October baseball playoffs? Yeah, that's the only time I watch it. It's so many games. It's a long season. I was just watching. I think the Braves playing, though, is it the Dodgers or the Padres? One of the two. Either way, though. Yeah, they're playing the Dodgers right now. Yeah, you're correct. Yeah, the Dodgers. Yeah, so I've been watching the postseason. Okay. But, man, you know, that's cool. Fascinating that, you know, you're really into baseball. But, you know, just curious, Will, you know, for football, you know, who are some guys you like to study or who were you watching when you were growing up? As far as watching, I mean, I just like football, honestly. But, you know, I'm from the same hometown as Chris Jones. So he's always been a person to look up to. But for me, you know, like him, Chris Jones, Quentin Williams, you know, Jeffrey Simmons, he's from Mississippi too. So it's not too far from where I'm from. So, you know, just them guys, Fletcher Cox, stuff like that. So just seeing them guys. But as far as right now, it's probably Quentin Williams and Milton Williams. I think he played for the… Patriots. Patriots, yeah. I like watching him. Wow, I forgot. You are related to Chris Jones, right, in a way? Yeah. Do you guys keep in touch and talk? Yeah, I talk to him. We was in Miami together. I had went right before fall camp started. Right before fall camp started. And so we had a little fun out there. Okay. That's probably my time is up here. I know I've been chopping up too much here. I love talking to you, man. Last thing here, man. You know, how do you want to end out this season here at Ole Miss? It's been a fun ride for you guys so far. Man, we just getting started, man. We got to win some more games. Honestly, we got to get better every week. We've got some big games coming up. We've got a big game this weekend. We'll play Texas in a couple weeks, Missouri at home for next week. And we've got Georgia coming up. So, I mean, I'm looking to win these games. Just continue to build my stats, keep having a good year, and, you know, hopefully be clear for the draft.