The former Bucs star sees his role of personnel executive as a stepping stone to general manager.
By ROGER MILLS
Published September 12, 2004
TAMPA - Back in the day, when he was slinging it around for the Bucs or leading the Redskins to a Super Bowl victory, Doug Williams knew he wasn't done.
Now, 15 years after calling it a good career, and after thriving as a coach at his alma mater, Grambling State, Williams is in the midst of a major change.
He's studying the checkbook rather than the playbook. The whistle has been replaced by the stopwatch. Once a player and then a coach, Williams now is an NFL administrator. Seven months into his new job as personnel executive for the Bucs, he has his eyes set on becoming a general manager.
"When I took this job, I told (Bucs general manager) Bruce (Allen) that I want to be like him," Williams said. "Hopefully, I can learn the ins and outs, the salary cap and everything it takes. It's not going to happen overnight. It's a process in the making. You're talking about a year, two, three years down the road, and hopefully that opportunity will come.
"I would like to think that it's a possibility after two or three years, that at least you'd get a chance to interview for (a GM job). It might be a good time. It's a good marker. I should have gotten my feet wet, know all the ins and outs and got a few tidbits."
With more than 20 years of experience as a player, coach and scout, the man who led the Bucs to the first three playoff appearances in team history (1979, 1981 and 1982) is right on track.
Handpicked by Allen and coach Jon Gruden, Williams, 49, has a range of responsibilities. He has helped with pro scouting, free-agent recruiting and college player evaluation.
"That's perfect, because there isn't one thing (that I do)," Williams said.
He even has dabbled in contract negotiations, as point man for the team in discussions with Ralph Cindrich, agent for quarterback Brian Griese.
"It was new to me, and Ralph and I worked it," Williams said. "We had to deal with the bonus money and we're calling back and forth. He'd say something and I would say, "No, I'll check it out.' It was very, very interesting. It teaches you what can and can't happen and the way we're going to do it.
"Even if it's something you don't like, you can't get mad at people. ... You'll never get a deal done. I think not only on the management side, but the agent has to be smart enough, too. They want their guy to work, they should, and I want it to work, too. But I want it to work within the parameters of what we're trying to do here."
The quarterback from Zachary, La., who led the Redskins to a 42-10 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII, Williams clearly is making a transition to the administrative side of the game. In late June, he joined a group of young executives across the league for an NFL-sponsored five-day seminar at Stanford University.
"We're football players, all we think about is getting to the field, what we do on Sundays," Williams said. "Well that program is well-rounded and tries to tell you what the NFL is all about. The globalization, the TV contracts, the collective-bargaining agreement, the salary cap, the marketing side of it, the public relations side of it.
"What it was doing was getting you ready for no matter what position you hold on the administrative side. It was getting you ready and trying to understand everybody else."
And the man who became the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl won't shy away from the responsibility that comes with being one of a growing number of African-American executives in the league.
"I think the NFL is making a concerted effort to increase the number of blacks in administration," he said. "Now the key is are we going to get into (Ravens GM) Ozzie Newsome's position? Are we going to get into (Jaguars VP of player personnel) James Harris' position, or (Cardinals GM) Rod Graves' position? Those are decision makers."
Added Williams: "But that's still only three out of 32, that's less than 10 percent. It's a start."
While learning all the intricacies of NFL management, Williams said he plans to do what he can to get more ex-players involved in the league.
"I'm a firm believer that a lot of ex-players don't get an opportunity to work in the league," he said. "Once their time is up, boom, you're gone. I'm not saying all ex-players, but there's enough of them out there that you can always find one or two to bring in and be scouts. I think it's about taking care of the people who made the league."
Williams said Tampa Bay would be a good place to start:
"That has not happened, for what reason I don't know. To see Jimmy Giles, James Wilder, Kevin House, Mark Cotney; to see Charley Hannah, Batman Wood, we have so many ex-players here and no one has even invited them out to the game.
"You go to the game and see so many people on the sideline. Why are they on the sideline? To me, I think the players would rather see someone who roamed that sideline (there) than someone they know never had a jockstrap on. Why can't four or five or six ex-players be invited to the game and stand on the sidelines?"
There is hope. Williams said Gruden had a reception for scores of ex-players and has invited others to attend practices: "Jon Gruden is probably more old school than anybody his age."
Life after the game
An occasional series highlighting former players who have gone on to interesting careers after their retirement from the game.
