Grambling quarterback D.J. Williams (left) talks with his coach – and father – Doug Williams, who was also quarterback at Grambling. (AP)
D.J. Williams is following in the footsteps of his father, Super Bowl XXII MVP and Grambling State Coach Doug Williams, as quarterback for the G-Men in the Bayou Classic Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
The younger Williams hopes to duplicate the success that his father enjoyed 37 years ago when he led Grambling to a 21-0 victory against arch-rival Southern in the inaugural Bayou Classic. If he does, the G-Men (6-4, 5-3 SWAC) will capture the SWAC West Division title and earn a berth in the conference championship game against Alabama A&M Dec. 10 in Birmingham, Alabama.
A victory for Southern (4-6, 4-4) would create a four-way time among the Jaguars, Grambling, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M. Arkansas-Pine Bluff would advance to the championship game on the strength of the four-team tie breaker.
“I love it. I’m real excited,” the younger Williams says. “I wanted to play in the Bayou Classic before I thought about wanting to play in the Super Bowl or in a national championship game.”
Williams grew up attending the Bayou Classic with his father, who was 4-0 against Southern as Grambling’s starting quarterback, and he has heard numerous tales about the game. However, Doug Williams has chosen not to talk to his son – or the rest of the team, for that matter – about the magnitude of this year’s contest.
“I talk to them every day, not about the game,” he says, “not so much, but the rivalry. It’s a two-fold situation for us. It’s one-fold for them. Southern is playing for pride; we’re playing for pride and a championship. You can’t explain the game to them. You have to play the game to understand. This is one situation that’s about experience.”
The elder Williams was a star from the moment he set foot on the field as a redshirt freshman for the G-Men. He went on to have an All-American career that led to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making him their No. 1 pick in the 1978 NFL draft and leadin to his selection to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
It has been a different story for his son, however. He started the first four games before giving way to fellow freshman Frank Rivers. The G-Men were 1-3, and Williams’ play had been lackluster when his dad made the quarterback switch.
Doug Williams says he didn’t agonize over the decision. He looked at the G-Men’s record and his son’s performance and made the change – simple as that.
“Hell no, it wasn’t difficult,” Williams says. “It’s about winning. I didn’t have a problem. His sister didn’t call me; his mama didn’t call me. I made a decision that’s best for the team. I feel pretty good about how it worked out.”
It’s ironic that legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson also coached his son, Eddie Robinson Jr., who was a quarterback.
“Coach Rob will tell you back in the day, his wife stayed mad with him,” Williams says. “But it was about winning, about Grambling.”
Rivers started the next five games, and the G-Men went 4-1. Williams returned to the starting line-up against Texas Southern after Rivers was injured against Jackson State and led Grambling to a 29-25 come-from-behind victory. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner, a 34-yard strike to Mario Louis with 1:45 left.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” the younger Williams says of the decision to make Rivers the starter. “It’s not something you want to happen. But I don’t regret it. It helped me grow and mature. It helped me in my personal life. It helped me in my faith. I respect the game a lot more; I cherish it a lot more.”
The G-Men carry a six-game winning streak into the Bayou Classic, and that’s all the justification that Doug Williams needs for the way he handled his quarterbacks.
“The most important thing is putting the team, not an individual, in position to win,” he says. “We’ve been fortunate to get to this point with two freshmen. There is no controversy.”
The two quarterbacks have similar statistics. Williams has thrown for 828 yards and 10 touchdowns with five interceptions while completing 52.2 percent of his attempts. Rivers passed for 967 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has thrown 10 interceptions with a 48.2 percent completion rate.
“It’s been pretty much what I expected,” D.J. Williams says of playing for his father. “There have been a lot of ups and downs. It was all business the way we talked about (when Williams took the job). He told me he wasn’t going to give me anything. I love playing for him. He’s the man who raised me. He’s done it all. He’s been to the highest level. There’s a lot to learn from him.”
Williams is in his second stint as coach at Grambling. He returned to his alma mater after Rod Broadway unexpectedly took the coaching job at North Carolina A&T, and after his son had signed with the G-Men.
“It’s been good,” he says. “When I decided to come to Grambling, knowing D.J. as well as I know him and he knows me, we talked. I let him know that anytime we’re at home or one-on-one, I’m Daddy. Once we’re in the football complex, I’m his coach. He’s been around me long enough to know how the coach acts. We didn’t have no problems. Every man who has been around sports would love an opportunity to coach his (son or daughter).”
Grambling was the preseason pick to win the SWAC championship, an honor that Williams says his team didn’t necessarily deserve, given its personnel. In addition to relying on two freshmen quarterbacks, the G-Men had to replace running backs Frank Warren and Cornelius Walker, who combined to rush for just under 2,000 yards in 2010.
“They picked us because we’re Grambling,” Williams says. “It was a joy to be picked. It was respect. But you had to be realistic. I knew it was going to take a whole lot to get in this position. It took a while to get untracked.”
The G-Men were 1-4 after losing to Prairie View in the State Fair Classic Oct. 2, and they had only a flicker of hope of getting to the championship game. The flicker has turned into a flame, Williams says, because of the team’s approach of focusing on one game at time for the last six weeks and its ability to limit its turnovers and penalties.
Grambling is now one victory away from returning to the SWAC Championship Game after a two-year absence. But Williams still doesn’t allow himself, or his team, the luxury of thinking about playing for the title.
“The championship game is too far away,” he says. “If I go that far, I’m getting past one game at a time. Birmingham doesn’t bother me. New Orleans does.”
OTHER TOP GAMES
California (Pa.) (10-2) at Winston-Salem State (11-0): The Rams, who had a first-round by as the No. 3 seed, are back in the Division II playoffs after a 10-year absence. They are second in Division II in rushing defense (74.0 yards a game), fifth in scoring defense (15.2 yards a game) and sixth in total defense (263.9 yards a game). Senior running back Nicholas Cooper is the ninth-leading rusher in Division II with 1,462, and he has scored 17 touchdowns on the ground. Junior quarterback Kameron Smith has passed for over 2,000 yards with 28 touchdown passes. California had 44-0 first-round victory against Elizabeth City State, which lost to Winston-Salem in the CIAA Championship Game two weeks ago. Quarterback Peter Lalich threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns against the Vikings. It was the third time Lalich has passed for 330 or more yards this season.
Norfolk State (9-2) at Old Dominion (9-2): These cross-town rivals will face each other in a historic FCS first round playoff game. It is the first time two teams from the same city will meet, and it also the first time the schools have played each other. Old Dominion, which fielded a football team for the first time three years ago, finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in just its first season in the league after being picked to finish 10th among 11 teams. Old Dominion averages 35.8 points a game, No. 9 in the FCS, and 433.2 total yards, 16th-best in the nation. Norfolk State won its first MEAC championship after being picked to finish fifth. The Spartans’ defense ranks in the top 12 nationally in four categories. They are No. 12 against he run, allowing 98.4 yards a game; No. 11 against the pass, giving up 167.5 yards; No. 3 in fewest yards allowed, 266.0, and No. 4 in fewest points allowed: 15.4.
