Doug Williams leaves UFL, returns to Grambling

Doug Williams leaves UFL to return to Grambling

Posted by Mike Florio on February 21, 2011, 1:39 PM EST
http://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/ny_a_williams_200-e1298313540263.jpg?w=200When word emerged that Virginia Destroyers coach Jay Gruden was on the Panthers’ radar as a candidate for quarterbacks coach, Destroyers G.M. Doug Williams mused that, if Gruden leaves, Williams may replace him.
“If he gets it, maybe I’ll have to come down and get back to coaching,” Williams said in January.
Gruden has since left for the Bengals, and Williams will now indeed get back into coaching. But not with the Destroyers or any other UFL team. Williams will return to Grambling as head coach, where his son plays football.
Williams joined the Destroyers last June. Originally slated to be an expansion team in 2011, the league moved the Florida Tuskers to Virginia after the 2010 season and ultimately tabled expansion plans.
“I was looking forward to working with the Destroyers, but this is a great opportunity for me and it is very rare that a father gets to coach his son at the college football level,” Williams said. “ I went to school there, I coached there, and now I have a great opportunity to coach there again.
“I will keep tabs on the Destroyers and know they are going to do well. They have a great fan base in an area that is a football hotbed and the UFL will succeed there.”
Williams was a standout quarterback for the Buccaneers, leading them to the brink of the Super Bowl in only their fourth season. Eight years later, Williams led the Redskins to an unexpected Super Bowl win to cap the 1987 strike season, which was shortened to 15 games and included three played with replacements.
He first became coach at Grambling in 1997, succeeding the legendary Eddie Robinson. Williams later left the Tigers to join the front office of the Buccaneers.

Grambling is a better job than a UFL team. He's their hero anyways...perfect fit. He did a great job after a legend left (Robinson) and they won 3 straight conference titles under him.

I'd always hoped he'd be a QB coach when Campbell was here. I thought he could have helped a lot.

Good for DW. He deserves to be fulfilled and happy.

I thought it was kinda cool that he was starting up that Va Beach squad but i'm def happy for DW ... HTTR

I'm going to Disneyland!

I'm going to Disneyland!

YouTube - Doug Williams "Im Going To Disneyworld Commercial"

Having met Doug Williams more than a few times, I really believe he can be an excellent football coach/teacher/mentor/role model. In the aftermath of his playing career, I really think that is his calling.

I know he was interested in getting into "front-office stuff" but that just does not seem to fit with what he is all about and what he can do best.

His return to the sidelines is a good move for him and for Grambling State University. I really hope he pursues coaching/teaching as his life's work from here on out. He is a winner and a very good person.

GSU Woos Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams Back as Head Coach « Grambling State University News (http://www.gram.edu/life/news/?p=112)

February 22, 2011
GSU Woos Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams Back as Head Coach
Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 2:21 pm

GRAMBLING, LA, FEBRUARY 21, 2011—Grambling State University Athletic Director J. Lin Dawson today confirmed the return of NFL Hall of Famer Doug Williams as the University’s head football coach. Williams, who resigned today as general manager of the United Football League’s Virginia Destroyers, signed a four-year contract that starts March 1. He will greet the media on campus at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at the Eddie G. Robinson Museum.

“I think it is truly an honor to be able too go back to Grambling State University for a third time and to be the second coach to coach his son. The only other guy to do this was Coach Eddie Robinson,” says Williams.
Welcoming Williams back to campus, Dawson said, “One of Grambling’s favorite sons will return home to lead the next era of championship football. Doug Williams has been a champion at every level of competition. The stage is now set. The level of excitement here on campus is far-reaching!”

GSU President Frank G. Pogue considers the signing a major coup for the University. “Doug Williams’ phenomenal leadership skills as a collegiate athlete, in the National Football League and as a college football coach are a tremendous gift to our football program. We are absolutely delighted that he agreed to come back home.”

Williams was drafted out of Grambling by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He led the Bucs to the playoffs for the first time—and repeated the feat twice in four years. In 1986, Williams joined the Washington Redskins. He led the team to its Super Bowl XXII win over the Denver Broncos, and earned the game’s MVP honors. Williams was the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and is the only black quarterback to win the game. This past weekend, he was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

Williams replaces former GSU head coach Rod Broadway, who recently resigned to take the head coaching position at North Carolina A & T. His son, D. J., also a quarterback, begins his freshman year at Grambling State in the fall.

Having met Doug Williams more than a few times, I really believe he can be an excellent football coach/teacher/mentor/role model. In the aftermath of his playing career, I really think that is his calling.

I know he was interested in getting into "front-office stuff" but that just does not seem to fit with what he is all about and what he can do best.

His return to the sidelines is a good move for him and for Grambling State University. I really hope he pursues coaching/teaching as his life's work from here on out. He is a winner and a very good person.

Doug is [imo] all that you describe. This is what he had to say about going back to coach at Grambling. [quote]

"I was looking forward to working with the Destroyers, but this is a great opportunity for me and it is very rare that a father gets to coach his son at the college football level,'' said Williams, who was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Atlanta. "I went to school there, I coached there and now I have a great opportunity to coach there again.'' [unquote]

YouTube - Doug Williams "Im Going To Disneyworld Commercial" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytxQtxn1G_s)

YouTube - Doug Williams's virtuoso performance in Super Bowl XXII

Thanks, Longtime.