OT: Doug Williams joins Buccaneer front office

[HornedFrog Purple]

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1733275&partnersite=espn

Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams is quitting his job as Grambling State's football coach to work in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office.

The NFL team scheduled a news conference Thursday to introduce the former Bucs and Washington Redskins quarterback as a personnel executive. Williams will work in the scouting department under director of pro personnel Mark Dominik.

"We believe that some of the greatest assets of the league have been underutilized," Bucs general manager Bruce Allen said in a telephone interview, explaining the decision to pursue Williams, who led the Redskins to the 1988 Super Bowl title.

"Doug has been successful at every level of football he has been involved in, and we think he'll help us become a better team," Allen said.

Williams leaves his alma mater with a 52-18 record in six seasons.

"It's a big shock, a huge shock," Grambling State spokesman Peter Forest said Thursday. "This is a huge loss to Grambling, no question."

Williams played for the Bucs from 1978-82 before a bitter contract dispute with former team owner Hugh Culverhouse led the quarterback to sign with the USFL's Oklahoma Outlaws.

He led Tampa Bay to the playoffs three times, including a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 1979 NFC championship game. After he left, the franchise didn't post another winning record until 1997.

"What he accomplished here in Tampa was truly remarkable when you look at what happened here before his arrival and what happened after he left," Allen said. "I was in the USFL and remember how happy we were to get a player like Doug Williams."

Williams joined the Redskins in 1986 and led them to a 42-10 rout of the Denver Broncos in the 1988 Super Bowl. A back injury forced his retirement in 1989.

Williams became the second football coach in Grambling State history, replacing Eddie Robinson in 1997. Before that, he was a head coach at Morehouse, and his overall record is 55-26.

He also worked as a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars and coached at Zachary, La., Northeast High School and Navy.

I am very happy for him. He was one of my all time favorite players (yes even when he was a Redskin). I even remembering watching the USFL so I could see him play.

[cthomer5000]

I thought he had cursed them when they released him? Is that grudge over?

[Samdari]

I am surprised by this. Was he still the Grambling coach, or had he already left that job?

[Bubba Wheels]

As long as Jimmy the Greek doesn't come along and refer to him as 'the Big Buc."

[Mike D]

Actually, he said his feelings towards the Bucs were forgotten once Hugh Culverhouse was dead and buried.

My main concern now is when will a reporter ask, "So, Doug, how long have you been a black scout?"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Doug Williams has apparently had a change of heart and has decided to remain at Grambling as the school's football coach instead of joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office, a source told ESPN on Saturday.


The decision came after a tearful meeting with the team on Friday. An official announcement is expected on Monday or Tuesday.

On Thursday, the former Super Bowl MVP quit his job at Grambling, his alma mater, to work as a personnel executive for one of his former pro teams, evaluating players and assisting in the recruitment of free agents. He planned to return to the Bucs in time to attend next week's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden approached Williams last month about working for Tampa Bay. Williams was interested in Gruden's offer, but didn't want to discuss it until after the college football recruiting period ended last week.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1735558

[Cringer]

I hope he really does stay at Grambling. He seems to have done a good job there, and for some reason i just think he should just stay there a long time, maybe not Eddie Robinson long, but a long time......

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I hope he really does stay at Grambling. He seems to have done a good job there, and for some reason i just think he should just stay there a long time, maybe not Eddie Robinson long, but a long time......

Agreed

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I hope he really does stay at Grambling. He seems to have done a good job there, and for some reason i just think he should just stay there a long time, maybe not Eddie Robinson long, but a long time......

Well, if they were a major program that would make sense. But since all the black colleges (well, Florida A&M is moving up to D1-A this year) play in a self-segregated world of relegated D-1AA football, where most don't even bother to play in the playoffs, opting instead for the Bayou Classic or whatever it is, I guess he feels like there isn't much upside to staying there until he's old and grey. I don't blame him for that, at all.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1736667
ESPN.com news services
Doug Williams said Monday that he will be leaving his post as Grambling State head coach for a job in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office.


"My phone has been running all day," Williams told the Shreveport (La.) Times. "I'm going to Tampa. I spoke with [Bucs general manager] Bruce [Allen] first thing this morning -- and I told him I would see him on Wednesday.

"I'm ready to get started."

A source told ESPN on Sunday that Williams had returned to Grambling on Friday to formally withdraw as football coach, but after a tearful meeting with the team, he put off the move. As of Sunday, Williams still had not formally left his job at Grambling.

Allen told the Shreveport Times that Williams had assured him he would begin as Tampa Bay's personnel executive starting Wednesday at the NFL's scouting combine in Indianapolis.

According to the newspaper, Williams told his Grambling coaching staff to disregard Sunday's report.

"He told everyone not to believe what they might have heard [on ESPN], that he was going to keep the job in Tampa Bay," Heishma Northern, the Tigers' defensive backs/special teams coach, told the Times.

[Cringer]

Bummer.....i wish him well in the NFL or wherever his future takes him. He was one of the players i first considered one of my favorites as a kid.

[Fonzie]

The funny thing about this whole thread is that I didn't even know Bucc had a front office.

I oughta get me one of those.