Aug 24, 2001

By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer

Doug Williams spent years longing for his alma mater, yearning for the piney woods and rolling hills of north Louisiana, dreaming of the day he would return to "Mother Grambling."

"I'm home, where I've always wanted to be," Williams said after replacing Eddie Robinson as the second football coach in Grambling history.

Four years later, Williams is pondering the wisdom of going home again.

"I love the school, I love football, I love what we've done," Williams said. "But I'm not sure I'm cut out to deal with the politics."

Williams, inducted into the College Hall of Fame this month, took over a down-and-out Grambling program that bore no resemblance to the glory years that put the little school on the national football map.

Robinson, who started coaching at Grambling in 1941, retired with 408 victories - more than any college coach ever. His teams won all or part of 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and eight black-college national championships.

But Robinson's last three teams lost more games (22) than his teams lost during the entire decade of the 1970s (21).

Williams' return was a reason to celebrate. He had been a superstar as a player at Grambling, All American, All-Southwestern Athletic Conference, Black College Division Player of the year. Williams still holds numerous Grambling passing records, including single-season yards passing (3,286), single-season pass attempts (353) and single-season touchdown passes (38).

His NFL years, highlighted by his Super Bowl MVP award with the Washington Redskins in 1988, simply polished his career. But it might have also added to his problems since returning.

"When you've always been the favored son and you come back, it's surprising that there are some people ready to take pot shots at you," Williams said. "Sometimes I wonder if we won the championship last year or did any of the things we did."

In his first year as coach, 1998, Grambling went 5-6, then 7-4 in 1999. Last season they finished 10-2 and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference and NCAA Division I National Black College titles.

"We'd been down so long, and Doug came in and really turned things around," Grambling athletic director Al Dennis said. "I know he gets frustrated about things going slow, but things move at a slow pace here."

Grambling has built new offices for the football coaches. There is also a new meeting room, built at Williams' suggestion. But the addition ate into one of the practice fields, leaving the Tigers with just one field for the fall.

"That's almost unheard of," Williams said. "The field gets torn up. How are you going to work on it."

Williams said the practice field is just one of the problems he's had to deal with. The stadium field also needs work, he said, and his recruiting budget is very tight.

"We spend most of it on rental cars when we need them," he said.

Williams has a legitimate wish list, Dennis said. The school just doesn't have the money for them.

"Major expenses like those are probably going to require a fund-raising effort," Dennis said. "I don't know that our board would be amenable to doing something just for the football team."

Williams - who is making $100,000 this year, with no television or radio money and only small revenue from his summer camp - got raises for his assistants, but little other money for the program.

He has been offered a three-year contract extension but said he doesn't know if he'll sign it.

"I've learned there's more out there, and I may be interested in finding out what," Williams said.

Dennis understands that Williams, armed with his impressive resume, could leave Grambling out of his future.

"We wouldn't want to lose him, but I'm a realist," Dennis said. "I know some people will be coming after him and we wouldn't be able to compete with them."

But his predecessor said Williams should think twice before leaving "Mother Grambling."

"You always have politics," Robinson said. "Everybody is not going to like you, and when you have success some people are not going to like it. You have to adopt a live-and-let-live attitude."