Williams: Band Loss, USC Gain : Trojans: Linebacker gave up the saxophone for football in high school. He leads the team in tackles.

Since USC has a 330-pound drum major who might be able to help out in the offensive line, it seems apropos that the Trojans also have a saxophone-playing inside linebacker.

Brian Williams, who leads the Trojans in tackles, used to perform with a four-man all-sax group that played gospel music at churches in Dallas, his hometown. Among them was East Gate Baptist Church, where his mother, Patricia Wormly, is choir director.

“He wasn’t just a sports fanatic,” his mother said.

Williams put his music career on hold after enrolling at Bishop Dunne High.

He got too busy with sports after Dewey Wakefield, who coaches the school’s football and track teams, pulled him out of a freshman band class and talked him into going out for the football team.

By the time Williams graduated in the spring of 1991, he had earned 11 varsity letters--four in baseball, three in football and two each in basketball and track.

The band director might not have liked it at first, “but I think everything worked out pretty well,” Wakefield said.

As a running back, inside linebacker and punt returner during his senior year, Williams led Bishop Dunne to the Texas Assn. of Private and Parochial Schools state 3-A championship.

He ran for about 800 yards, led the defense with 143 tackles, six sacks, 17 forced fumbles and four interceptions and returned two punts for touchdowns, leading Bishop Dunne to the only unbeaten season in school history.

“We built everything around him,” Wakefield said. “He did everything but drive the bus.”

Several major colleges noticed, among them USC and Miami.

Williams visited both, as well as Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.;

USC’s tradition won him over.

“I got letters from a lot of people, but USC’s kind of stood out,” he said. “On the (stationery), they have (listed) all their national championships and all the bowl games. And I thought, ‘You can go places at USC.’ ”

He started four games as a freshman last season, earning notice because of his speed and aggressiveness. It has been more of the same this season.

“Brian has been consistently dominant,” Coach Larry Smith said.

Williams is averaging 8.3 tackles for a USC defense that is fourth in the nation against the run and ninth overall. The Trojans have given up an average of 89.8 yards rushing and 270.5 overall after yielding 187.6 yards rushing and 386.6 overall last season.

Williams leads the Trojans with seven tackles for losses.

“He’s just a pure talent,” said Ricky Hunley, a former NFL linebacker who is in his first season as an assistant coach at USC. “He’s got good size, he’s got good speed. He can cover the field from sideline to sideline.

“He reminds me a lot of Byron Evans, who played with Philadelphia. Same tools, same skills, same athletic ability.”

The 6-foot-2 Williams says he thought he might be moved to safety in college, but he has filled out to about 225 pounds since arriving at USC and remained at linebacker.

“He’s a natural there,” Hunley said. “With his elusiveness, he’s able to escape blockers and run by people. He can cover backs out of the backfield; he can cover wide receivers down the field.

“He’s got outstanding speed for an inside linebacker. A lot of inside linebackers are short and stubby and slow. They’re just pluggers. But Brian is a pursuer.

“As he matures, I think he’ll get more and more responsibility. You’ll see that he’ll be a big-time money player.”

Because of Williams’ skills, Hunley said, he has been put into a position where he has a chance to make more tackles than any other player on the team.

Asked if he enjoyed that type of responsibility, Williams laughed and said: “It’s not a question of whether I like it. They just give it to me and I just have to do it.

“I just run to the ball as fast as I can. I’m just trying to make plays, help the defense out and stop the ball from going anywhere.”