Return to Glory

Grambling State coach Doug Williams has perfected greeting people on the run. He had to -- otherwise, he never would get around this little northeastern Louisiana town.

Everybody wants a piece of Williams. Families file into his office, carrying video cameras, pushing shy children forward to meet him. Stacks of letters, filled with old trading cards and requests for autographs, topple off his desk.

“The man is definitely a legend,” senior offensive lineman Kenneth Ogletree said. “He’s lived the dream.”

From college star to Super Bowl MVP, Williams successfully directed football teams as a quarterback. Now he’s doing the same in his fifth season as head coach at his alma mater.

Heading into the Bayou Classic at New Orleans against state rival Southern University, Grambling State is 10-1 -- its third straight season with double-digit victories.

The Tigers will play Alabama A&M; in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game Dec. 14.

Williams had a tough act to follow when he replaced the school’s only other coach. Eddie Robinson started coaching at Grambling in 1941, and he retired in 1997 with 408 victories -- more than any college coach.

Robinson’s teams won all or part of 17 SWAC titles and eight black college national championships. But his last three teams lost more games (22) than his teams lost during the 1970s (21).

“I’ll always be in Coach Rob’s debt,” Williams said. “Everyone at Grambling will be. That’s why it means so much to see the program back where it should be.”

As Robinson’s quarterback, Williams was an All-American, made the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference team and was Black College Division Player of the year.

Williams was a first-round NFL draft pick in 1978, and the highlight of his career was winning the 1988 Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins.

“You had to have somebody like that after Coach Rob,” said Dorothy Conners, 57, a lifelong Grambling fan. “We’re used to having a coach of that stature.”

When Williams replaced Robinson in December 1997, he found a program lacking good athletes and good work habits, according to offensive coordinator Melvin Spears.

“We had a list that included the kind of players we wanted and the kind of program we wanted,” Spears said. “We wanted guys that could make plays. We wanted speed and great athletes. And we wanted a very disciplined group.”

Williams called his first team meeting for 7 p.m. He locked the doors a minute after. The 15 players that showed up late eventually met with Williams, and he told them to abide by the rules or leave.

By the end of spring practice, 35 players were gone. Those who stayed were the kind of players Williams wanted.

“We had a lot of young guys without much experience, but they bought into what we were doing,” Williams recalled.

His transition to head coach was smooth because of what he’d been through as a player and assistant, said receivers coach Sammy White, who played with Williams at Grambling and for the Minnesota Vikings for 11 years.

In Williams’ first four seasons, Grambling went 5-6, 7-4, 10-2 and 10-1. Last season, it won the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the NCAA Division I National Black College title.

This season the Tigers lost 22 seniors and 27 lettermen and had only seven returning starters, just two on offense. But they have won 10 straight games since an opening 52-20 loss at McNeese State.

After that loss, Williams benched sophomore quarterback Bruce Eugene.

“That hurt me a lot,” Eugene said. “But it made me grow up a lot. Before that I was all about fun, fun, fun. Now I know there are times when I have to be serious, when I have to be tough.”

An injury returned Eugene to the lineup, and he hasn’t missed a play since. He goes into Saturday’s game with 37 touchdown passes and 3,717 yards passing.

Expectations are high, and discipline is paramount both on the field and off.

“We’re playing football because we want to play it,” said Ogletree, who graduates in May and plans to attend medical school. “For that privilege we have certain responsibilities.”

Robinson visited his players’ rooms at 5 a.m. when he was the coach, making them get up and go to class.

Williams’ approach is different.

“I suggested they buy alarm clocks because it was their responsibility to be in the weight room at 5:30 a.m.,” Williams said. “If they don’t make it, they have to run the stadium steps after practice and then hit the weight room.”

Promptness is only one of Williams’ mantras.

“He taught me about self-help,” said Willie Gray, a senior who hopes to play in the NFL, but if not will go to graduate school. “Since I started playing for him, I’ve learned that we can determine our own destiny on and off the field.”