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Morehouse seeks football glory – Doug Williams as a Morehouse College’s football coach

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.”

COPYRIGHT 1997 Cox, Matthews & Associates



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