Born in Jefferson County, Texas, Williams attended Central High School in Beaumont, where he was a two-sport athlete.

[5] He followed this up with another gold medal in the 4×100 meters relay, setting a junior world record of 38.66 seconds with teammates Omole, Trell Kimmons, and LaShawn Merritt.

[7] Shortly after, Williams broke the 10-second barrier for the first time, running a new 100 m personal best of 9.94 seconds in the quarter-finals of the 2008 US Olympic Trials.

[9] However, he failed to progress beyond the semi-finals: Williams was beaten into fifth place, and out of qualification, by Xavier Carter by just a thousandth of a second.

[10][11] He ran a personal best of 6.52 seconds in the 60 meters at the 2009 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, reaching the final as the fastest qualifier.