Later Friday evening, Jonah Williams will begin his journey back to California — the state where the first chapters of his football career were written and his most recent one came to its bitter end.

Only five days ago, Williams and his Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a devastating 28-point defeat to Clemson in the national championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Almost 400 miles down the road in Irvine and even farther from the northern California town where he went to high school, the sturdy left tackle will begin to train in preparation of the NFL draft after he declared his plans to go pro this morning.

“I got a grade that said I should come out,” said Williams, a junior. “That coupled with the fact that I already had my degree were my decision factors.”

Williams will leave behind a considerable void in a blocking front that is also bidding adieu to center Ross Pierschbacher and left guard Lester Cotton. But since arriving on campus in January 2016, he has eagerly awaited this day, knowing he expedited the process of getting there by beginning his tenure at Alabama as an early enrollee. After admittedly feeling he “was definitely not good enough” in the first semester of his freshman year, Williams quickly got the hang of it. He then started all 44 games Alabama has played since, moving from the right bookend position to the left after his first season in Tuscaloosa.

This past year, he was on the field for 908 snaps and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American after grading out as the Tide’s best lineman, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

“I think he’s a smart player, always knows what to do, how to do it, why it’s important to do it that way,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said earlier this past fall. “Prepares very well for every game. I think he’s playing more and more physical. He’s always been really, really athletic. I think the combination of those things has helped him continue to improve and play at a little higher level.”

Williams, who wields a sharp intellect, earned a reputation as a football savant. He understands the nuances of the game and would occasionally provide detailed breakdowns of plays in his sessions with reporters, harnessing the knowledge he accrued from the time he invested in watching film. Even this week, Williams pored over the grisly footage from the 44-16 loss to Clemson.

“I watched the game a couple of times that night,” Williams said. “Then I came back and watched it with the coaches the other day. Losses suck, but they are a learning experience…It’s strange. I think we’re not really used to that here, but it is something happens. It’s rare for a team to win as much as we’ve won and to never lose. So I think it’s a good learning experience; you have to learn how to lose. I’ve been fortunate to be on successful teams, that was the fourth game I’ve lost in five years. So it’s important, it’s humbling. You have to learn how to lose. And a credit to them, they were the better team that night. So it’s tough for it to end that way, but I think there’s always lessons to be learned.”

Williams will apply them in the NFL, the league Williams is projected to enter as a first-round selection in April.

But first he’s going back to Cali, where he will start to write another chapter in his football life.

“There’s a lot of things that I can be proud of,” Williams said. “And I think now is a good time to move on and try my luck at the next level.”

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin