Sam Williams discusses Switchbacks, San Antonio FC and his business venture

Sam Williams’ USL All Access appearance gives Colorado Springs a sharper lens on San Antonio FC before the whistle ever blows. Devon Kerr and Izzy Sullivan do more than introduce a midfielder from the Switchbacks; they turn the segment into a compact film session, a career profile and a reminder that the league’s best pregame content now lives at the intersection of tactics, biography and entrepreneurship.

A film room built around San Antonio FC

The most useful part of the segment is its structure. Williams is not brought on simply to talk about the next match, but to break down San Antonio FC on film, which makes the discussion feel like a live scouting meeting rather than a standard interview. That matters for Colorado Springs, because the Switchbacks entered the period at 4-5-4 in regular-season play, including a 2-2-2 home mark, and every detail in a tight league race carries weight.

The timing sharpened the stakes at Weidner Field, where Colorado Springs fell 2-1 to San Antonio FC in a June 2026 meeting. In that context, the film breakdown becomes more than media filler: it shows how USL teams use player intelligence, not just raw athleticism, to prepare for opponents that already know one another well. A midfielder who can read patterns, recognize pressure and explain the game in real time gives viewers a better sense of how a match can be won before the first challenge is even made.

Why Williams fits this kind of conversation

Williams is a natural fit for that role because his route to Colorado Springs was built on layered development. Born March 18, 2005, and from Tenafly, New Jersey, he came through the New York Red Bulls Academy before advancing to New York Red Bulls II during the 2022 USL Championship season. At just 17, he logged more than 2,000 minutes, a workload that signals both trust and durability in a demanding central role.

His college career at the University of North Carolina added another level of polish. Over three seasons, Williams totaled 4,698 minutes, six goals and five assists, while earning All-ACC Freshman Team and All-ACC Academic Team honors in 2022. That mix of production and academic recognition fits the profile of a player who has been shaped by systems that value structure, repetition and decision-making, exactly the qualities that make a film-room interview feel credible rather than promotional.

The Switchbacks’ own framing of him as a “high-volume central midfielder” also helps explain why his voice matters in a tactical preview. A player with MLS and USL Championship experience, plus the mileage from Red Bulls development, UNC and his time with Chicago Fire and Chicago Fire II, is built for conversations about spacing, ball circulation and how one team’s midfield can tilt a match against another.

From Chicago to Colorado Springs, with a clear role in mind

Colorado Springs acquired Williams on loan from Chicago Fire in February 2026, and the move gave the Switchbacks a midfielder who could immediately plug into a demanding schedule. The loan was not just a roster transaction; it was a statement about what kind of player the club wanted in the middle of the field. In a league where compact margins often decide results, a “high-volume central midfielder” is the sort of piece that can shape possession, recover second balls and stabilize the game when the pace rises.

That is why the interview lands with extra force before a San Antonio matchup. The film session positions Williams as both participant and analyst, which is increasingly common in a league that has become more conversational and personality-driven. USL content now leans into the person behind the shirt as much as the player in the lineup, and this episode shows how that approach can deepen a simple pregame preview into something closer to modern sports reporting.

Beonixe adds a second career track

Williams’ business venture makes the feature stand out even further. He is a co-founder of Beonixe alongside Petra Rack and Abdullah Motiwala, and the company describes itself as an energy honey brand built on raw honey, electrolytes and real ingredients. Its stated mission also includes support for American beekeepers and a push for stronger honey transparency.

That detail matters because it places Williams inside a broader trend in professional soccer: younger players are building identities that extend beyond the pitch while they are still actively competing. Beonixe is not presented as a side note, but as part of the same story as his academy years and his college minutes. The result is a profile of a modern athlete who is not waiting for a postcareer business plan, but creating one in parallel with match preparation and weekly travel.

The entrepreneurial angle also gives the segment a cultural edge. In a sport where player branding often follows established superstar templates, Williams’ path feels more grounded and more USL-specific. He is a young midfielder from New Jersey who went from academy soccer to college football, then into the professional game, while also helping launch a product tied to raw fuel, hydration and a message about the supply chain behind it.

What Colorado Springs and the league gain from this kind of feature

The value of the episode is not just that it previews one match. It shows how Colorado Springs, San Antonio FC and the rest of the USL Championship live inside a media ecosystem that rewards depth. Fans get tactics, but they also get the human and commercial realities that shape a player’s week: a loan move from Chicago Fire, a central role in the Switchbacks’ midfield, and a business built around ingredients and transparency rather than endorsements alone.

That combination is what makes Williams worth watching beyond the scoreline. He is part of a Colorado Springs side trying to climb out of a 4-5-4 start, part of a San Antonio matchup that already produced a 2-1 result at Weidner Field, and part of a league conversation that increasingly values players who can explain the game as well as play it.