Doug Williams
*Doug Williams was born on this date in 1955. He is a Black football executive, former quarterback, and coach.
Douglas Lee Williams was born in Zachary, Louisiana, a town of about 8,000 people near Baton Rouge. Williams attended Grambling State University, where he played under head coach Eddie Robinson. He played on the same team as future NFL receiver Sammy White In his first two seasons. Williams guided the Tigers to a 36–7 (.837 winning percentage) record as a four-year starter and led the Tigers to three Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships. Williams was named Black College Player of the Year twice. In 1977, Williams finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, graduated from Grambling with a bachelor's degree in education, and began working on his master's degree before the 1978 NFL Draft.
Despite the success on the field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs was the only National Football League coach who visited Williams to work him out and scout him. Gibbs recommended that the Buccaneers select Williams with their first-round draft choice. Williams is best known for his performance with the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos, where he was named Super Bowl MVP after passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns, a single-quarter Super Bowl record that he set in the second quarter, making him the first black quarterback to both start and win a Super Bowl. Following his playing career in the NFL, Williams worked on television in 1990 as a Black Entertainment Television (BET) college football analyst.
Despite enjoying the change of pace, Williams longed to return to football. When a high school head coaching position opened in 1991 at the new Pointe Coupee Central High School in the unincorporated Labarre area of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, Williams applied for the job and was hired for the position. Williams led the 35-player team to a 5–5 record in the season, including an upset of the second-ranked school in the state. In 1992, Williams was able to move on to the coach at his former high school in Zachary, now renamed Northeast High. Playing its home games on a field bearing his name, Williams led the team to an undefeated regular season, finally falling in the state semi-finals. During the 1993 Louisiana HS playoffs, his team notably knocked out Isidore Newman High School, led by senior quarterback Peyton Manning.
Williams moved to the collegiate coaching ranks in 1994 when he was hired as the running backs coach for the football team of the United States Naval Academy. He began coaching at Morehouse College in 1997. He was named the head football coach at Grambling State University in 1998. He led the Tigers to three consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles from 2000–2002 before rejoining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a personnel executive. Williams is currently a member of the College Football Hall of Fame (inducted in 2001) but is not currently inducted at the pro level. Williams was named the director of professional scouting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2009. In 2009, Williams and fellow Grambling State alumnus James Harris co-founded the Black College Football Hall of Fame. Several notable football players from historically black colleges and universities enter its Hall of Fame at an annual induction ceremony in Atlanta.
He was hired as general manager of the Norfolk expansion franchise in the United Football League, now known as the Virginia Destroyers. On February 21, 2011, Williams resigned from the Destroyers to begin his second stint as the head football coach at Grambling State University. He was fired from this position on September 11, 2013. In February 2014, Williams rejoined the Redskins as a personnel executive. The hiring marked Williams’ return to the Redskins. Williams was promoted to Senior Vice President of Player Personnel in June 2017. In July 2019, Grambling State honored Williams by naming a street in his honor on the college's campus. In 2020, Williams was named the team's senior vice president of player development. The following year, he became a senior advisor to the team president.
Williams and his wife, Raunda, have eight children: Laura, Lee, Ashley, Adrian, Doug, Jr., Jasmine, Temessia, and Carmaleta. His sons Adrian and Doug Jr. (D.J.) are accomplished collegiate athletes. Adrian played basketball for Brown University until graduating after the 2010–11 season, while D.J. signed to play for his father at Grambling State University. Doug's nephew Johnny Huggins also played in the NFL.
