Newly appointed Morehouse College head football coach Doug Williams poses at the Morehouse football and tarck field in Atlanta Monday, Jan. 6, 1997. WILFORD HAREWOOD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Web posted October 23, 1997

By Lane Kramer
Correspondent

ATLANTA -- Doug Williams was well aware of the roller coaster ride he was set to embark on when he was hired in January as head football coach at Morehouse.

Before leading the Washington Redskins to a championship in the 1988 Super Bowl, where the quarterback was named most valuable player, Williams played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1978 to 1982. The Bucs went 5-11 in his rookie year, but he led them to winning records in three of the next four years. He left Tampa Bay in 1983 and then spent two years toiling in the ephemeral USFL before returning to the NFL.

So, as his Maroon Tigers come to Augusta's Butler Stadium for Saturday's CSRA Classic, Williams can understand his team's slump. Morehouse is 0-4 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 2-6 overall, including six straight defeats. Atlanta neighbor Morris Brown (4-4, 2-2), which has won three straight, is Saturday's opponent for the 2 p.m. contest.

``I don't feel the pulse yet,'' Williams said on Wednesday as his team prepared for an afternoon practice. ``It will probably be a day or so before we recuperate. Yesterday was a pretty decent practice. I'll have a better idea after today as to what our mood is and how we feel about the game.''

Early in the season, it seemed Williams had a chance to skip many of the typical hardships a first-year coach must endure. The Maroon Tigers pulled off an inspiring comeback win against Morgan State in his Aug. 30 coaching debut at the Georgia Dome. Down 6-3 with 81/2 minutes left in the game, Morehouse rallied for a 23-14 victory. Williams was carried off the field on the shoulders of his players.

But after a 27-16 win over Fort Valley the following week, the honeymoon ended for Williams and the Tigers. Now the Maroon Tigers are looking more like the team which finished 2-9 last year. A 36-9 loss to Miles on Sept. 13 began a futility streak that continued last week when Williams' Washington homecoming was destroyed by a 52-0 loss at Howard.

``There isn't anything we can do special this week but let our players know we're playing Morris Brown,'' Williams said. ``They're the team across the street in Atlanta, so getting pumped up shouldn't be a problem.

``Morris Brown is definitely on a roll. We're the ones who have to stop the ball from rolling over us.''

Williams' club can't use inexperience as an excuse, since he has 16 senior starters, including eight on offense and eight on defense. Morris Brown (4-4) only has one senior starter on offense and two on defense.

Mixed in with the seniors, ironically, are two freshmen who happen to be the Tigers' key players. Quarterback Micah Mays is 54-for-137 for 582 yards, with three touchdowns and eight interceptions. Defensive back Kalvin Pearson leads all Morehouse defenders with 45 tackles.

Williams' efforts at Morehouse could go for naught, however. Grambling's 55-year coach Eddie Robinson, the college game's all-time winningest coach at 408, is set to retire at season's end. Robinson, 78, was discharged from a Ruston, La., hospital on Wednesday after a two-day stay to treat breathing difficulties. He is expected to be back on the sidelines for Saturday's game at Jackson State.

Williams, who played for Robinson from 1974-77, has been rumored as Robinson's successor since the Grambling administration called Morehouse in early October to get permission for an interview.

``Well, they haven't offered me the job,'' Williams said. ``So I can't answer that question.''