Derrick Williams only needed a few minutes on the phone with Rick Houchens Tuesday to let his high school coach know he would be ready for today's Pro Day.

"I said, 'You've been slipping ever since you left me,' " Houchens recalled telling Williams. "He was telling me 'That's because I was running to get away from you.'

"We were just messing with each other, stuff like that. That's the competitiveness in him."

Williams will hope to ease the minds of the former Eleanor Roosevelt High School and current Carroll High School coach and many NFL scouts when he and at least 18 other Penn State football players showcase their skills at the private session today.

For Williams, Pro Day will be a shot at redemption after disappointing scouts at the NFL combine in Indianapolis a month ago.

The wide receiver ran just a 4.58 40-yard dash and as recently as Tuesday was listed as ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s No. 1 "fallen star."

But Houchens, who was with Williams at a pre-draft camp in Orlando in the days leading up to the combine, insists his former player was bugged by the flu and bronchitis, saying Williams made it through the workouts on will power alone.

"He was coughing, it was not something you could hide," Houchens said. "He kept me up almost all night the night before we left."

Houchens feels Williams is looking at today as a chance to display what was missing in Indianapolis.

His only concern was that the Greenbelt, Md., native would be too riled up heading into today.

"He's fired up right now because he knows he didn't get a chance to really showcase his talent because of being sick," the coach said. "I think that he's primed and ready to show who he really is."

With a strong showing today, Williams can follow in the footsteps of another Nittany Lion who was in a similar circumstance just two years ago.

Linebacker Tim Shaw used Penn State's Pro Day in 2007 to befuddle scouts with faster times in the 40-yard dash, broad jump and three-cone drill than those he put up in the combine.

Shaw was selected in the fifth round by the Carolina Panthers in that April's draft.

Although Shaw performed different drills for his position than the ones Williams will endure today, such a breakout is not surprising given the nature of Pro Day atmospheres, Dan Shonka said.

The Ourlads.com draft analyst feels many players perform better in familiar surroundings after going through their normal routines.

"He's in a comfortable environment, he's not traveling anywhere, he's sleeping in his own bed," Shonka said. "He's gonna come over to the fieldhouse and run. He's in a more comfortable atmosphere so that will definitely help him."

Shonka believes Williams' combine performance will be forgotten should he run below 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

The fact that he's a potential threat on kickoffs and punt returns will likely give more NFL teams a reason to take a chance on him, Shonka said.

"He was probably a second- to third-round guy on most peoples boards," Shonka said. "If he runs well [today], that's where he'll finish."