MIAMI – As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

For Jamaican midfielder Speedy Williams – who had spent four seasons and more than 100 appearances in the colors of Louisville City FC, reaching four Eastern Conference Finals, three USL Championship Finals and lifting his second and third USL Championship Titles – the time had come this offseason to find a new challenge.

“To be honest, I just felt like I needed something new at the time, you know?” the new Miami FC midfielder said this week. “The Miami opportunity came up and I decided to take it.”

There was no question that Williams entered free agency at arguably the most marketable moment of his career. While he had been a fixture for Louisville across his four years, 2020 might have seen Williams produce the best soccer of his career so far. His four goals were a career high while he also completed 86.5 percent of more than 1,150 passes, finished second among outfield players with 141 recoveries in the regular season, seemingly covering more ground than anyone else game-in and game-out to lead another successful LouCity campaign.

As a result, he earned Championship All-League First Team honors for the first time to go with the three Championship Final winners medals he already had in his trophy cabinet. There were also plenty of good memories to take away from his four years in Kentucky, too.

“Really inside the locker room, all the guys, we had a good relationship,” said Williams. “I think my favorite memories stem from the locker room and the bond we had with all the players.”

Williams believes the trip is going to be an important one for the 30-man-squad’s preparations, with the potential some could be suiting up alongside each other for the first time in their country’s colors. Now one of the more experienced heads in the squad – at 29 years old, Williams is one of only two players listed as midfielders with at least 10 caps in the squad, the other being Phoenix Rising FC’s Kevon Lambert – he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from his two younger teammates so far.

“They’re two great talents, and I’m really happy for them that they can be a part of this system going forward,” said Williams. “They’re better than me when I was that age, much better than me when I was their age.”

Jamaica has reached the Semifinals of the Gold Cup each of the past three tournaments, reaching the Final in both 2015 and 2017 before falling to Mexico and the United States respectively in the Final. Williams believes the Reggae Boyz have the potential to make a similar run this year, with the side facing Costa Rica, Suriname and a to-be-determined qualifier in the group.

“Most definitely, we definitely have that potential,” said Williams. “We just have to go out there and do it as a team. One of the biggest plusses is our experience. A lot of the players in the team now are quite experienced at the international level, and even at the club level, and I think experience is a big thing going into these events.”

After looking to help Jamaica to success, Williams is also aiming for the same in Miami, which takes on Florida rival the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday in a major test to how far along the side is in comparison to the defending Eastern Conference Title holder. Miami’s squad now isn’t the finished product, but Williams believes they can be a contender by the time it’s all said and done.

“Teams get better as the season goes, so I definitely feel we will get better as the season goes on, and then anything is possible in the playoffs. It’s just about sticking to the process and working together. That’s big,” said Williams. “We’ve got a lot of experienced guys who know how to win, and we have a lot of young talent that wants to win, so anything is possible.”