Morehouse seeks football glory - Doug Williams as a Morehouse College's football coach

Black Issues in Higher Education, Jan 23, 1997

In some circles, the news of former Super Bowl most valuable player Doug Williams taking the job as Morehouse College's new head football coach was surprising.

In recent weeks, it had been reported that Williams was the leading candidate to replace Grambling's legendary coach Eddie Robinson at the end of the 1997 season.

Williams, a Grambling graduate, and the only Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, says all the talk about the Grambling job came from other people, not himself.

"Everybody was making these plans for Doug, but that wasn't what Doug was planning for himself," says Williams. "Yes I went to Grambling and yes I love Grambling. But all of that speculation was being done by everybody else. my decision (to choose Morehouse) is based on what's best for me and my family.

"Coming here give me the chance to create a legacy for myself and Morehouse. Everybody knows that Morehouse is a great institution academically. Now what the administration wants is for athletics to catch up with the academic side of the school."

With Williams now on board, the excitement level surrounding Morehouse football is already significantly higher. But with all the excitement comes higher expectations from fans and alumni.

Williams is very aware that fan's lofty expectations aren't always fair. But he also knows that dealing with those expectations comes with the territory in taking over as the new man in change.

"I can't ever remember waking up and saying that life is fair," says Williams.

"I have a job to do and I'll do it to the best of my ability. I can't worry about unfair expectations. You do what you have to do and go on from there."

Some have speculated that Morehouse, which competes in the NCAA Division II, is plotting a move to Division I, a speculation denied by Morehouse officials.

"We're not going Division I, says Josh Culbreath, Morehouse athletics director. "But we are aiming to excel in Division II. We already have excellence in academics. Now we're striving for excellence in athletics. Who says you can't have championship athletes who are also on the Dean's List?

"At Morehouse, we bring in the best teachers for the academic side. Now we're doing the same with sports. We felt Doug was among the best, so we went after him."