Wait for greatness?: Reports have Clarett pondering move to GSU
September 9, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Grambling State's Doug Williams spent all day talking about Maurice Clarett - perhaps the nation's best collegiate runner, but perhaps one without a school.
A writer from ESPN called. Some of Williams' friends in the National Football League, too. And a lot - a whole lot - of college representatives.
Both Williams and GSU athletics director Albert Dennis confirmed that they had not heard from the sophomore running back on Monday.
In fact, the only person Williams didn't talk to, he joked, was Clarett.
"That's been the talk of the day," Williams said, chuckling. "We've gotten calls from all over."
Clarett helped lead Ohio State to its first national championship since 1970 last season - and has been in trouble with the NCAA ever since.
Still, when the ESPN guy called, GSU's sixth-year coach was typically blunt: "I don't think a headache comes with the kid. He didn't shoot anybody. They didn't arrest him for drugs. He didn't rape anybody. Ain't no problem with the kid."
The New York Times broke a story this summer indicating that Clarett could have received preferential help with exams last season. Then the NCAA made inquiries into gifts that Clarett allegedly received that could be related to a possible relationship with an agent.
Clarett was held out of practices, then suspended for six games.
Next came a traffic stop, one where Clarett said he was "test driving" a car that was suspiciously loaded to the roof with video and stereo equipment. Then he gave a false report concerning who the stuff belonged to.
The NCAA is now investigating that - and there is some indication that Ohio State isn't optimistic about Clarett's eventual return.
News reports had Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel staging a team picture this Wednesday - with no spot saved for the troubled running back.
In steps NFL legend Jim Brown, who has become an advisor for the Clarett family - and is a friend of Doug Williams'.
On a Saturday night radio program, Brown strongly suggested - should Clarett be declared ineligible for the Buckeyes - that he consider transfer to Grambling State.
"I think that if the Claretts would consider transferring, Grambling would be an ideal situation for the kid," Brown told ESPN Radio's Bob Valvano. "Doug Williams is a great coach. He could hone his game. He'd be in school. It's a great situation. Doug would be perfect for the kid, but that's up to him and his mother."
If Clarett were to transfer down to I-AA Grambling, he would have to sit out the remainder of the 2003 season - but could start in 2004, setting himself up for a look in the NFL draft the following spring.
The earliest Clarett could be in Black and Gold would be the spring game of 2004 - but only after first serving whatever NCAA sanctions are eventually handed down. He would also have to enroll this year, and remain eligible to play throughout his suspension.
Williams says to be mentioned as a possible landing spot for what many thought would be a Heisman Trophy candidate speaks volumes about where the program is headed - and where it's been.
A third-straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in 2002 was just the latest signature moment, he reminds, in a Grambling State legacy that includes countless NFL draftees - and four Pro Football Hall of Famers.
"Grambling brings national visibility," Williams said, "even if we are I-AA. Scouts are coming here every day. That means he's getting everything that he would have gotten there - except 100,000 people at the game."
The talk of a new running back of Clarett's talent and speed would be welcome news for GSU team that's always trying to balance its offense.
Quarterback Bruce Eugene led Division I-AA in total offense and points scored - but he was also the team's second leading rusher. That trend remained on Saturday in the Tigers' first SWAC game of the year.
Williams can only imagine what it would mean to have Eugene handing off instead to Clarett - who had 1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
"We don't have a Maurice Clarrett. It would be a big difference," Williams said. "It would take a lot of pressure off of Bruce. There's nothing I can do, but keep my phone line clear."
With that, Williams - understandably - excused himself and hung up.
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Ohio State officially releases Clarett, sparking local interest
September 10, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - The first in a sequence of events that could bring one of the nation's best collegiate running backs to an area school has happened.
Tuesday, Ohio State released Maurice Clarett - the hero of the Buckeyes' national championship game earlier this year - from his scholarship with the school. The move came hours after Clarett was charged with lying about items stolen from him in a borrowed car - part of a string of off-field problems since the Fiesta Bowl.
Northeastern Louisiana entered the narrative when the Clarett family's adviser in this matter, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown, encouraged Clarett to transfer to Grambling State University - should he be released by Ohio State.
That happened on Tuesday - though NCAA penalties have yet to be decided.
Brown suggested Clarett's transfer over the weekend on an ESPN radio program, though no one at Grambling State has yet heard from him or his family.
"We could use him," said sixth-year GSU coach Doug Williams. "I don't think Ohio State would have won the national championship without Maurice Clarett."
Williams entered a Tuesday news conference dominated by talk of Clarett carrying a Tigers jersey with No. 13 on it. "That's what he would wear," he joked. "Isn't that what most of the questions will be about?"
Williams didn't have any more information about the possible move - though he met with his offensive coaches to discuss the possibility of having the talented rusher join the Tigers, who have just begun defending their third-consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference title.
"It would alter our offense to more of a running attack," Williams said, "and would take some pressure off of (junior quarterback) Bruce Eugene. It would give us a chance to win a fourth straight."
Clarett was charged, according to the Associated Press, with misdemeanor falsification, said Columbus, Ohio, city spokesman Scott Varner. If convicted, Clarett could face up to six months in a jail and a $1,000 fine.
Clarett had already been suspended indefinitely by the team after charges of academic irregularities and improper gifts. Ohio State has been working for more than two weeks on a response to several pages of allegations sent by the NCAA to the university.
New allegations of cash transactions were raised by a Cleveland television station on Monday. "It's out of our hands," Williams said of the latest charges. "That would be up to the NCAA."
If Clarett transferred to another Division I-A school, he would have to sit out a year in addition to any suspension or ineligibility handed down by the NCAA. He could transfer to a Division I-AA, II or III and be immediately eligible to play after the possible penalties.
Williams said Tuesday that he learned about Jim Brown's suggestion of a transfer - and of each new wrinkle in the Clarett case - from the Internet and news reports. He said Brown's faith in his coaching abilities was a tip of the hat to GSU.
"He has a lot of respect for what we have done here at Grambling," Williams said of Brown. "I think he feels, as an adviser, that Maurice would need someone he can relate to a lot better than some other places."
NCAA spokeswoman Kay Hawes would not speak to the Associated Press about the Clarett case but did say that if a suspended or ineligible player transferred, the athlete's new school would first have to declare him ineligible, and would then seek his reinstatement through the organization.
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NCAA leaves Clarett with trio of options
· Troubled running back hit with suspension, not banned from playing.
September 11, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The NCAA handed down a season-long suspension Wednesday for troubled Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett, but didn't ban him from playing.
With an earlier release from the football team already announced, Clarett now faces three options:
· Give up collegiate football and go to class.
· Petition the NFL for early entry into the draft.
· Transfer to a Division I-AA school - some have said it might be Grambling State, where regulations state Clarett would be eligible to play his junior year before reaching the required age for pro draft.
Players must wait until three years after their high school graduation to enter the NFL. Clarett will be a sophomore this season.
GSU coach Doug Williams, who learned of Clarett's possible interest in the Tigers on the Internet, says the first two possibilities are unlikely - in particular, petitioning the NFL.
"The unfortunate part about challenging the rule," Williams said, "is that he would probably never get the opportunity to reap the benefits. The NFL would drag the case out so long, that he would be eligible for the draft anyway."
Jim Brown, a family advisor, first raised the possibility that the NCAA's most electrifying runner - Clarett scored the game-winning touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl on his last play for the Buckeyes - might transfer to the Lincoln Parish school to finish out his college eligibility.
That set off a national media maelstrom, including stories on ESPN and FOX, on the wire services and in most major newspapers.
Like Brown, Williams has insisted that Clarett needs more football experience - and that, sure, Grambling would be a great option - before the running back contemplating joining the NFL.
"It's silly to question Williams and Brown on this point," columnist Michael Wilbon wrote in the Wednesday edition of The Washington Post. "One is a Super Bowl MVP and the other the greatest football player ever."
Even so, Williams is not allowed by NCAA rule to contact Clarett.
"No, I'll call (current Grambling running backs) Ab Kuuan and Rueben Mays," Williams said, and laughed loudly.
So, he remains pragmatic. "Even if (Clarett) comes here," Williams said, "he'll still have to serve the suspension that the NCAA has imposed upon him."
Clarett, who is accused of lying to the NCAA, school investigators and the police through a series of troubles this off-season, will get to keep his scholarship at Ohio State, school officials said. But his attorney told the Associated Press: "He's considering his options right now."
The NCAA and Ohio State continue to investigate Clarett. The school has been working for more than two weeks on a response to a multi-page set of allegations from the NCAA.
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Clarett turns focus to NFL
· Suspended RB will now try to enter pro league; GSU still waiting on a call.
September 15, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
There's a reason why Grambling State coach Doug Williams didn't hear from suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett this week.
"My lines must be down," Williams joked. "They ain't ringing."
No, Clarett - who was being encouraged by family advisor Jim Brown to transfer to GSU - has decided to ask that the NFL change its eligibility rules instead.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday that Clarett's attorneys have requested that he be allowed to play early. Tagliabue said NFL lawyers would discuss the situation, perhaps next week.
The NFL stipulates that players wait three years after high school graduation to play. Clarett, who was suspended for one year this week over various NCAA violations, is a sophomore.
This signals the presumptive end to a flirtation with GSU that began with a phone call from an old friend of Williams'.
Jacksonville Jaguars executive James "Shack" Harris, a Carroll High and GSU alum, asked Williams on Sept. 7 what he thought of Clarett.
"We talk all the time," Williams said, so he thought nothing of it. "I told him I think he is a hell of a running back. He said, `OK, I'll call you back.' Evidently, he and (Clarett family advisor) Jim Brown had been talking."
When Williams got home, he discovered just what that call meant while browsing the World Wide Web.
"You go to the Internet, you find out that Maurice was considering coming to Grambling," Williams said. "I didn't know that's what James was talking about. I'm thinking that Jacksonville was trying to find a way to get him into camp."
Williams met with his offensive coaches early last week, as the buzz about the Buckeye got louder.
A running back of his caliber, Williams said, would have meant a change in the team's pass-oriented scheme behind SWAC offensive player of the week Bruce Eugene.
"We would find a way to throw it as much as we ran it. We had talked about giving it to him 25 to 30 times. But all that was hypothetical. Now, we'll just have to throw it 60," he said, and chuckled.
Tagliabue told the AP that the NFL remains opposed to changing its age restriction, instituted 13 years ago with the agreement of the Players' Association.
Reporters also asked Tagliabue, a former NFL lawyer, about the possibility of the rule being overturned by a lawsuit: "My feeling as commissioner is that we have a very strong case and that we'll win it."
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NCAA checks GSU's actions over Clarett
September 25, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Troubled football star Maurice Clarett apparently won't be coming to Grambling State University, but the NCAA could be.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is investigating comments made by coach Doug Williams concerning the suspended Ohio State running back - indicating that they could have been a violation of recruiting rules.
Both Williams and GSU athletics director Al Dennis have consistently said they never spoke to Clarett - who was widely reported in early September to be considering a transfer down to the Division I-AA school.
But the inquiry refers to a section of the regulations stipulating that colleges may not contact a student-athlete at another NCAA or NAIA four-year institution - even indirectly - without written permission from the player's current athletics director.
Specifically mentioned is an article posted at www.thenewsstar.com on Sept. 9 and a televised news conference the next day on campus. "They are saying that we indirectly made contact with the kid" through the media, Dennis said.
GSU received notice in a letter from Chris Strobel, the NCAA's director of enforcement for secondary infractions, on Sept. 15 asking for more information.
"All of these comments attributed to him were in response to questions being asked," Dennis said - noting that the story appeared nationally on ESPN when Clarett family adviser Jim Brown mentioned Grambling State as a possible transfer option.
Dennis also confirmed that Grambling State never received any clearance to talk to Clarett and GSU wasn't seeking it. "When all of this broke, our registration was already closed. He wasn't coming to Grambling, anyway," Dennis said.
Calls to Strobel were not returned on Wednesday. The letter doesn't mention possible sanctions or a deadline for responding.
"I'm puzzled by the idea that we would get a letter, if there was no contact by either party," Williams said.
He then said he suspects that entering a Sept. 9 news conference while carrying a No. 13 GSU jersey sparked this inquiry. Clarett wore that number at Ohio State.
"I was poking fun at the local media that I see every week," Williams said. "This is very small. There are a whole lot of things that have happened with Clarett that are bigger than poking fun with a No. 13 jersey. I find it hard to believe."
The jersey, Dennis reminds, belongs to current Grambling State punter Darien Morgan.
"This wasn't an attempt to contact Clarett," Dennis said. "If he's asked a question - would you like to have a player of Clarett's ability on your team? - can that be construed as trying to contact him? We don't see it that way."
Clarett has since apparently decided to forgo the rest of his college eligibility, announcing his would sue for early entry into the NFL draft this week.
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Transcript from Sept. 9 news conference at GSU
September 25, 2003
Coach Doug Williams enters as media members discuss possible Maurice Clarett transfer to Grambling State)
Williams: Good morning. Hot topic, today, huh? By the way, I brought a jersey today. (Holds up No. 13 GSU jersey.) You probably didn't think I had a No. 13. That's what he'd wear!
The News-Star's Nick Deriso: What are you talking about coach? Who?
(Laughter)
Williams: I don't know! That's what all the questions are going to be about this morning, ain't they?
(More laughter.)
After opening comments about the previous week's opponent, Alcorn State.
KTBS-Shreveport's Tim Fletcher: Coach, have you heard from Maurice Clarett?
The (Ruston) Daily Leader's O.K. Davis: Or anybody associated with him?
Williams: No, the only thing I've heard was actually this morning on ESPN. From what I've heard on ESPN, it doesn't sound like he's going to play anywhere. From what they said, Ohio State has supposedly finished their report and they realized he had taken some cash - which would probably make him ineligible anywhere he would go. That's what I heard this morning on ESPN.
Davis: So he's not going to Southern, either.
Williams: That's good news. (GSU assistants) Coach Spears and I, Coach White and Coach Hayes, were in there yesterday talking about our game plan, thinking about our running attack, to take some pressure off Bruce Eugene. But now, we just got to go back to doing what we've been doing.
Davis: If that report is true, would most schools back off?
Williams: That would be out of our hands. All of that would NCAA's business.
Fletcher: What would be the advantage of him coming to Grambling?
Williams: We'd have Maurice Clarett - and a lot of other people wouldn't. We could use him. If you look at it, 1,267 yards and 16 TDs - I don't think Ohio State would have won the national championship without Maurice Clarett. I figure, if we had him, it would give us a chance to win a fourth straight.
Fletcher: What's the advantage for Maurice?
Williams: Gives him an opportunity to play and help us win a championship - and to continue his education.
Davis: Would you run him more than five times a game?
Williams: We would find a way to throw it as much as we ran it. We had talked about giving it to him 25 to 30 times. But all that was hypothetical. Now that we probably won't have him, we'll just have to throw it 60.
Unidentified television reporter: I'm just curious what your reaction was when you heard about all this.
Williams: Actually, it was surprising. Saturday morning, (Jacksonville Jaguars executive) James Harris called me - he and I talk all the time. Evidently, he and (Clarett family adviser) Jim Brown had been talking. He called me and asked me what I thought about Clarett. I didn't know exactly what he was talking about. I said, I think he's a hell of running back. (Laughter). He said, I'll call you back. The next thing I know, when I get home, you go to the Internet and find out that Maurice considered coming to Grambling. That's what James was talking about when he asked me what I thought. I was thinking that the Jacksonville Jaguars were trying to figure out a way to get him to camp. Actually, he and Jim Brown had been talking, if his family agreed and if everything was all right at Ohio State, that he could transfer here.
Fletcher: Jim Brown mentioned specifically how playing for you would be an advantage. How did that make you feel?
Williams: I've known Jim for some time and I've got a lot of respect for him - and he has a lot of respect for what we have done here at Grambling. As the adviser, he felt like Maurice would need somebody he could go and relate to a lot better than at other places.
(After several comments about appealing the NFL Draft rule and the next week's opponent, Alabama A&M, Williams gets up to leave.)
Fletcher: One more about Clarett. What's your plan now? Do you just sit back and wait, or you gonna call James Harris or call Jim Brown?
Williams: No, I'm gonna call (GSU running backs) Ab Kuaan and Rueben Mays. That's what I've got. (More laughter.) That's what I've got to work with. That's all I can do. Right now, Clarett does not bother me, because I never talked to him, never talked to his family, never talked to Jim Brown. I never imagined having the kid in the backfield, No. 1 -
Davis: You weren't going to have him this year anyway.
Williams: No. Even if he came here, he still has to go by the suspension that the NCAA imposes upon him. There was no reason to get happy about having him, unless it was for next year.
RECRUITING RULE IN QUESTION
An athletics staff member or other representative of the institution's athletics interest shall not make contact with the student-athlete of another NCAA or NAIA four-year collegiate institution, directly or indirectly, without first obtaining the written permission of the first institution's athletics director (or an athletics administrator designated by the athletics director) to do so, regardless of who makes the initial contact. If permission is not granted, the second institution shall not encourage the transfer and the institution shall not provide financial assistance to the student-athlete until the student-athlete has attended the second institution for one academic year. If permission is granted to contact the student athlete, all applicable NCAA recruiting rules apply.
THE NCAA'S LETTER TO GRAMBLING
Dear Mr. Dennis,
This is in regard to information that was obtained by this office, which indicates a violation of NCAA recruiting legislation may have occurred in the institution's football program.
Specifically, in an online article of The News-Star on September 9, 2003, and during a televised press conference on September 10, 2003, head football coach Doug Williams indirectly contacted four-year college prospective student-athlete Maurice Clarett. In the article and during the press conference, Mr. Williams confirmed his interest in having Mr. Clarett transfer to the institution and discussed how Mr. Clarett's talent would be a valuable asset to the football program. Unless the institution previously had received written permission to contact Mr. Clarett from Ohio State University, it appears a violation of NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.3 has occurred. If written permission to contact had been received from Ohio State University, then Mr. Williams' comments appear to have violated NCAA Bylaws 13.11.6 and/or 13.11.8
In order that complete and accurate information is on file with the enforcement department, it would be appreciated if you would review this information and submit the results of our inquiry into writing. In responding, please provide a statement indicating whether the above information is accurate. In order to support your response, please provide (1) a statement from Mr. Williams; (2) a copy of the permission to contact form provided by Ohio State University to the institution, if any; and (3) a statement indicating whether the institution believes it has violated NCAA legislation in this matter.
I appreciate your assistance in the review of this matter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely, Christopher S. Strobel Director of Enforcement for Secondary Infractions
Note: The bylaws 13.11.6 and/or 13.11.8 do not apply to Grambling State, because the school says it does not have written permission from Ohio State to talk to Clarett. These rules, in general, deal with the way signings are announced to the media once permission has been granted.
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Williams says talk about Clarett helped university
September 25, 2003
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - "People are talking about Grambling," sixth-year coach Doug Williams said, smiling and shaking his head at more talk of Maurice Clarett - a story that broke over this tiny country school like a thunderclap.
Williams was congenial over the past few weeks - answering every question about the troubled Ohio State star, often tossing out one-liners, regularly reminding all those assembled that he hadn't spoken to Clarett and trying to turn the conversation back to the games at hand.
Still, the questions came.
Are you going to call Maurice Clarett?
No, I'm going to call (GSU running backs) Ab Kuuan and Reuben Mays.
Have you heard from Maurice Clarett?
My lines must be down. They ain't ringing.
Now, it appears Williams shouldn't have been so quick with the quip. The NCAA has made an inquiry, saying Williams' comments to the media might be a violation of their recruiting regulations.
"I think the NCAA is too serious about finding a violation," Williams said. "The rule they cite is so vague."
They call it indirect contact - a no-no, because schools are forbidden by rule from talking to athletes without permission from their current university's administrators.
Williams calls it PR.
"It was spreading like wildfire," Williams said of the news. "I don't know if the university really understands the impact of the publicity that Grambling got. We were across the country every day! That was good publicity."
He's defiant in his denial of tampering: "I didn't call him. He didn't call me."
That wasn't the point.
Now, there is no question that Williams would have been happy to have Clarett - baggage or no baggage.
Williams hasn't brought GSU back to SWAC dominance - back to challenging the nation's best Division I-AA school until the waning moments of last Saturday's game - with players of destiny.
He's done it with players who've had problems - but, more importantly, had desire.
Williams and his coordinators have coached up for so long, it is hard to believe their offices haven't levitated to the top floor of the Stadium Support Facility.
It wasn't always like that.
Eddie Robinson's GSU was a flickering beacon of opportunity, the place where the best and brightest of those under America's boot heel came to make their names.
But, as this country moved deeper into the second half of the last century, different opportunities opened up for blacks. The desire to win overcame other, more hateful impulses. African-Americans not only were recruited, but starred on college teams in towns where they once dared not stop for gas.
This coincided with the fading of the Southwestern Athletic Conference as a place where the obvious black talents resided.
The Doug Williamses, the Walter Paytons, the Jerry Rices, the Steve McNairs came along less frequently. They didn't have to play at historically black schools to get noticed.
There's an oddly powerful joy in that - if only because every athlete is now entitled to an audition, if not a place in the team photo.
It's odd, though, because - as with everything in America - there was a cost: With a vast majority of what they call "draftables" already cashing in on scholarships from schools that promise an alphabet soup of success (TV, PR and BCS), what's left for Grambling?
GSU is not going to get a Maurice Clarett on the way up. They're going to get him on the way down, if they get him at all.
In the modern period, the Tigers win or lose with those who are left. Lately, it's been mostly winning - thus, Clarett's apparent interest in transferring to GSU after a rocky end at Ohio State.
He wasn't coming. We now know that.
Williams looked like he knew it from the beginning, so he was enjoying the spotlight as it dilated on his alma mater.
He considered the hullabaloo much about something, all right: Recruiting. And not Maurice Clarett.
Robinson constructed the Grambling legend with the pick of the African-American talent pool. But a Buck Buchanan (the first pick in the 1963 AFL draft) or a Tank Younger (the future four-time NFL Pro Bowler between 1951-55) may as well be biblical figures to today's youngsters.
You've got to do whatever you can, Williams says, to get the word out about your program - even a storied one like Grambling State.
Willie Davis? Charlie Joiner?? Heck, the average new recruits were learning their ABCs when Doug was hoisting the Super Bowl MVP trophy with Washington.
But Clarett, without ever running a single yard, gave Grambling State currency. Kids today would notice if collegiate football's best runner last year - the national championship's crowned prince - was even hinting at joining this country school.
It meant Grambling State had arrived. Again.
The news of this inquiry will travel just as fast, marking as it does the first time Williams has stepped into any possible NCAA trouble as a head coach at GSU.
Should something come of this initial investigation, it could hurt Williams' chances at moving on to a job at a larger program. Generally, the toughest NCAA sanctions for a I-AA school involve limiting recruitment - a particularly cruel irony.
But, for now, it's hard to argue with Williams' logic: "I'm trying to help my school. The NCAA probably needs to be dealing with something else, you know? Clarett never went to class here. He didn't get stopped here in his car. There are a whole lot of other things they need to worry about, rather than Grambling."
Nick Deriso is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. Fourth St., Monroe, La., 71201. An online archive of his columns is at www. thenewsstar.com/nickderiso. You can contact him at (318) 362-0234 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
COMMENTS ON CLARETT A FOCUS
The NCAA inquiry specifically mentions a story posted Sept. 9 at www.thenewsstar.com. Here are Grambling State coach Doug Williams' comments from that piece:
"That's been the talk of the day," Williams said, chuckling. "We've gotten calls from all over."
"Grambling brings national visibility, even if we are I-AA. Scouts are coming here every day. That means he's getting everything that he would have gotten there - except 100,000 people at the game."
"We don't have a Maurice Clarett. It would be a big difference. It would take a lot of pressure off of (GSU quarterback) Bruce (Eugene). There's nothing I can do, but keep my phone line clear."
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Grambling: NCAA problems began with jersey
September 26, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING- While the NCAA apparently views the event as "isolated or inadvertent" - and, thus, not as serious - Grambling State coach Doug Williams still can't believe he got in trouble over a jersey.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has begun an inquiry into possible "indirect contact" with Maurice Clarett at GSU.
The NCAA specifically mentioned a news conference - part of which later aired nationally on ESPN - where Williams entered carrying a Grambling State jersey with the suspended Ohio State runner's number on it.
"What," Williams said, "is `indirectly contacting' someone? If I had talked to (Clarett family adviser) Jim Brown and said: `We want him.' That's contacting him. But holding up a jersey? Something is wrong with this picture."
Prospective schools must get permission from an athlete's current athletics director before they can talk to transfers. Brown had said publicly that he favored a transfer down to Division I-AA Grambling State for the soon-to-be-suspended star.
"I came in a little light-heartedly," Williams said. "I knew a lot questions were going to be coming about the Clarett situation."
The good news for Grambling State is that the infraction has been referred to Chris Strobel, who is the NCAA's director of enforcement for secondary infractions.
There is a significantly lower threshold of penalty for those violations. Post-season penalties, for instance, are reserved for major infractions.
"We won't have any comments about the specific situation," said Kay Hawes, the NCAA's associate director of media relations. "It's NCAA policy not to comment on current and on-going investigations."
But being as the letter came out of the office of secondary infractions, what is at stake for GSU comes into sharper focus.
A secondary infraction, as defined in the NCAA Bylaw 19.02.2, "is one that is isolated or inadvertent in nature, provides or is intended to provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage and does not include any significant recruiting inducement or extra benefit."
Like holding a jersey up in a news conference.
"It shouldn't have even been an issue with Grambling," Williams said. "That jersey did not have `Clarett' on it. If I had put his name on the back of the jersey, that would have been a different thing. I would have agreed with them wholeheartedly."
As outlined in NCAA Bylaw 19.5.1, the stiffest sentence handed down for these lower-level infractions would involve Williams - who could be restricted from recruiting trips for one year or perhaps suspended for one or more games.
The school could also face fines up to $5,000 or lose financial aid scholarships. Most of the other penalties do not apply because Clarett never suited up for Grambling State.
Still, those are a lot of possible headaches over the exhibition of a jersey, something Williams said was meant to be a joke.
"We have a No. 13 in every color," he said. "That's the bottom line. We didn't go out and buy it."
Yet, GSU officials contend that this footage, recorded at a local news conference then shown on ESPN, is largely responsible for the NCAA inquiry.
"It makes it look like, the way ESPN showed it, that he was saying that we want Clarett," athletics director Al Dennis said. "That jersey belongs to our punter, Darien Morgan."
Williams has one more bone to pick: The tape didn't include his comments.
"Not a word was spoken," Williams said, meaning the NCAA couldn't have known the context to go with those images. "All they saw was No. 13 - and they interpreted it any way they wanted to."
While no deadline has been set for GSU's response, Dennis said he hopes to have the school's response ready to send today.
Also mentioned in the letter of inquiry was a related story posted at www.thenewsstar.com on Sept. 9, called "A Wait for Greatness."
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Grambling avoids NCAA penalties
December 20, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The NCAA, as first reported at www.thenewsstar.com, has completed its inquiry into comments about troubled running back Maurice Clarett made by Grambling State University coach Doug Williams and will not penalize the school.
GSU is, however, required to give updated training on indirect contact with a prospective player and review NCAA policy on recruiting, GSU athletics director Al Dennis said.
Kay Hawes, the National Collegiate Athletic Association's associate director of media relations, said the association has a standing policy not to comment on investigations.
"They disagreed with us that there was a secondary violation," Dennis said of the NCAA. "So, we will go back over our education process and use that press conference as an example to show how things can go wrong."
Lane Howell, the school's rules compliance officer, will touch on these rules during monthly meetings.
The NCAA issued a letter of inquiry to GSU on Sept. 15 after Williams answered interview questions concerning the possible transfer of the former Ohio State running back. The school was asked to explain comments first published by The News-Star's Web site - and images that later appeared on ESPN.
The inquiry referred to a section of the regulations stipulating that colleges may not contact a student-athlete at another NCAA or NAIA four-year institution - even indirectly - without written permission from the player's current athletics director.
"Our intent was never to make contact with the young man," Dennis said. "But because of the way the report went out, they still felt it was a violation."
The NCAA reviewed a tape of the Sept. 9 news conference, a printed transcript and other material submitted by Grambling State before ruling that a secondary infraction occurred.
These infractions, as defined in the NCAA Bylaw 19.02.2, are those that are "isolated or inadvertent in nature, provide or are intended to provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage and do not include any significant recruiting inducement or extra benefit."
There is a significantly lower threshold of penalty for secondary violations. Post-season penalties, for instance, are reserved for major infractions.
As outlined in NCAA Bylaw 19.5.1, the stiffest sentence handed down for these lower-level infractions would have involved Williams - who could have been restricted from recruiting trips for one year or perhaps suspended for one or more games. The school could also have faced fines up to $5,000 or lost financial aid scholarships.
Williams has said he suspects that entering the news conference while carrying a No. 13 Grambling jersey sparked the inquiry. Clarett, who then was reportedly considering a transfer and remains suspended from the Ohio State football team, wore that number.
Showing posts with label Doug Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doug Williams. Show all posts
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, September 12, 2008
Remembering: Grambling's first game at Northwestern State
Historic first meeting between Grambling, Northwestern was defensive slugfest
September 11, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The stands, that night, were separated by color.
Fans sporting black and gold filled one set of bleachers, while purple and white populated the other.
But there was something else that divided them, as Grambling played its first-ever game against Northwestern State on Sept. 14, 1974.
"What was unique was not just the color of the shirts; you had all white people on one side and all black on the other," said Jack Brittain, an NSU special teams player in '74. "That was not something I was used to seeing. It was a different point of view."
The newly expanded State Fair Stadium — now Shreveport's Independence Stadium — was packed to the lid, as 30,000 fans joined together despite their differences for a night of stirring football action.
"We knew it was big, especially playing a school of different race from Louisiana," said Sammy White, then a junior wingback for the historically black Grambling college. "We knew the level of competition would be a step up for our program, and we wanted to give it everything we had to pull it out."
At the time, the late legendary GSU sports information director Collie J. Nicholson said this "could become a regular series for the two clubs."
But the Tigers wouldn't play another Southland Conference-affiliated program until falling to Arkansas State in the 1985 lower-division playoffs. Grambling, despite more recent efforts going back at least five seasons, hasn't played Northwestern since.
That changes Saturday at GSU travels to Natchitoches for a long-awaited Louisiana rivalry game that's stirred powerful memories of their first meeting more than 30 years back.
"It was actually a barrier breaker, as far as those things go," said Brittain, now Northwestern's sideline reporter. "As a freshman, it was my first football game, so my knees were shaking before we went out for the kickoff. Then, we were facing Grambling, who had such a great reputation for sending players to the professional leagues. We figured it was going to be an epic battle."
Was it ever.
'TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT'
Senior Grambling quarterback Joe Comeaux, a Westlake native, opened the scoring with a four-yard TD scramble. He'd hit Dwight Scales on a 43-yard pass to the NSU 7 on the second play from scrimmage.
Rodney Zeno, a senior GSU defensive back, added the extra point, but the 7-0 lead wouldn't stand for long.
A White fumble on the Grambling 13 gave the ball back to Northwestern's Butch Ballard, who answered with his lone touchdown pass of the night — hitting Gene Knecht on an eight-yard strike.
That followed a series of stuffs on off-tackle runs by Mario Cage, who couldn't get past Grambling seniors Gary "Big Hands" Johnson and Robert Barber.
In a harbinger of kicking problems to come, NSU's extra-point attempt then failed.
NSU's Cage — coming off a 1,000-yard, all-Gulf South season in 1973 — then made a dramatic second-quarter touchdown run on a pitch back from Ballard. (There are lingering discrepancies on the exact length of his run: Monroe's Morning World had it at 57 yards, The Times of Shreveport reported 61 and NSU's yearbook said 52.) Danny Foret's point-after attempt was true this time, giving Northwestern a 13-7 lead at the half.
Neither team, however, could gather itself for a knock out on offense. It was all body blows.
"That game," said White, "was tight, tight, tight."
Nicholson once marveled over NSU's 1974 defense, saying "they make up for a lack of size with speed, aggressiveness and a desire to hit."
Grambling's unit, meanwhile, featured James "Hound" Hunter as a secondary anchor along with the All-American Johnson, who late Grambling coaching legend Eddie Robinson had taken to calling "the best lineman in college football."
Both teams would punt seven times over the course of the contest, with Grambling earning just four first downs and outgaining NSU by a total of only 74 yards. Northwestern fumbled seven times, losing three — while picking off GSU a total of four stunning times.
"I was deep protection on the punts," Brittain said, laughing, "and we punted a lot. I just remember 'Big Hands' running past our center, right behind the snap as it was coming back. He would come in low, about one foot off the ground. All I could do is dive at his shoelaces. He would just shove me to the ground and trample right over me."
Grambling returned to the field after halftime with a new quarterback, and Shreveport sophomore Terry Brown reeled off a dramatic 82-yard pass to White.
"They were blitzing us a lot, so we had a one-on-one match up," said White, now an assistant coach at Grambling. "Terry threw a nice long ball on that one."
Zeno's kick gave the Tigers their final margin of victory, 14-13.
But not before a memorable NSU field goal attempt, blocked by Hunter, as time expired.
Hunter's playmaking through that junior season had already drawn raves from Robinson, who called the Texan "Mr. Clutch." A canny pass defender and zippy returner, Hunter was "generally spoken of with a reverence reserved exclusively for legendary Saturday heroes," the late Nicholson once said.
That legend was built on plays like the final one against Northwestern State.
NSU got the ball back after an interception by linebacker Dan Boddie, who dashed back to the Grambling 34 with 4:03 left in the game. Ballard then drove down to the GSU 3 as time grew short, setting up a 20-yard attempt by Foret. Demons coach George Doherty, in a gutsy move, had ordered the try on third down with just 39 seconds remaining.
Hunter got a finger on it, as perhaps did Johnson, and the attempt missed.
'WAY BEYOND FOOTBALL'
Cage, who went down to injury during that final push, rushed for 97 yards — though much of that was given back in the final team stats because of lost yardage by other players.
Ballard finished the day 11-of-16 for just 88 yards and a score for NSU. Comeaux and Brown, meanwhile, combined for a 7-of-21 performance — a lack of efficiency under center that eventually led to the now-famous insertion of a redshirt freshman named Doug Williams three games later against Prairie View A&M.
"We had our opportunities," Williams said. "We scored 14 points, but we were still largely ineffective. It wasn't one of those good old Grambling offensive days. You could give some of that to Northwestern, too. They had a good team."
Doherty, entering his last season in Natchitoches after winning the Gulf South in 1972, had brought A.L. Williams in as offensive coordinator — and installed his new assistant's more pass-oriented offense in anticipation of handing over the reigns.
NSU, which had already dropped its second straight game in 1974, was in the midst of consecutive 1-10 campaigns. Williams would coach at Northwestern for eight seasons, boasting ranked teams in 1980 and '82 when his teams finished 8-3 and 7-4 respectively.
Williams went on to pass for 1,150 yards (nearly 400 more yards than Comeaux and Brown combined) over the remainder of the 1974 season. Grambling finished 11-1, claiming the ninth of 17 total Southwestern Athletic Conference championships under Robinson. (Williams later returned to coach at his alma mater, and played host to the first Southland foe ever at Grambling's Robinson Stadium — McNeese State in 2003.)
Grambling's lone '74 stumble was a 19-14 loss to Alcorn, and they shared the SWAC crown. Robinson would finish the season at 236 career wins on the way to 408 total, a still-standing Division I record.
The Northwestern victory, thrilling in its playing and encouraging in its social significance, holds a special place among them.
"The perspective of this game is way beyond the football field," Brittain said. "In our lives, both at Grambling and at Northwestern, it had a big effect. What a great time to try something like that, to break through some of those unknowns."
September 11, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The stands, that night, were separated by color.
Fans sporting black and gold filled one set of bleachers, while purple and white populated the other.
But there was something else that divided them, as Grambling played its first-ever game against Northwestern State on Sept. 14, 1974.
"What was unique was not just the color of the shirts; you had all white people on one side and all black on the other," said Jack Brittain, an NSU special teams player in '74. "That was not something I was used to seeing. It was a different point of view."
The newly expanded State Fair Stadium — now Shreveport's Independence Stadium — was packed to the lid, as 30,000 fans joined together despite their differences for a night of stirring football action.
"We knew it was big, especially playing a school of different race from Louisiana," said Sammy White, then a junior wingback for the historically black Grambling college. "We knew the level of competition would be a step up for our program, and we wanted to give it everything we had to pull it out."
At the time, the late legendary GSU sports information director Collie J. Nicholson said this "could become a regular series for the two clubs."
But the Tigers wouldn't play another Southland Conference-affiliated program until falling to Arkansas State in the 1985 lower-division playoffs. Grambling, despite more recent efforts going back at least five seasons, hasn't played Northwestern since.
That changes Saturday at GSU travels to Natchitoches for a long-awaited Louisiana rivalry game that's stirred powerful memories of their first meeting more than 30 years back.
"It was actually a barrier breaker, as far as those things go," said Brittain, now Northwestern's sideline reporter. "As a freshman, it was my first football game, so my knees were shaking before we went out for the kickoff. Then, we were facing Grambling, who had such a great reputation for sending players to the professional leagues. We figured it was going to be an epic battle."
Was it ever.
'TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT'
Senior Grambling quarterback Joe Comeaux, a Westlake native, opened the scoring with a four-yard TD scramble. He'd hit Dwight Scales on a 43-yard pass to the NSU 7 on the second play from scrimmage.
Rodney Zeno, a senior GSU defensive back, added the extra point, but the 7-0 lead wouldn't stand for long.
A White fumble on the Grambling 13 gave the ball back to Northwestern's Butch Ballard, who answered with his lone touchdown pass of the night — hitting Gene Knecht on an eight-yard strike.
That followed a series of stuffs on off-tackle runs by Mario Cage, who couldn't get past Grambling seniors Gary "Big Hands" Johnson and Robert Barber.
In a harbinger of kicking problems to come, NSU's extra-point attempt then failed.
NSU's Cage — coming off a 1,000-yard, all-Gulf South season in 1973 — then made a dramatic second-quarter touchdown run on a pitch back from Ballard. (There are lingering discrepancies on the exact length of his run: Monroe's Morning World had it at 57 yards, The Times of Shreveport reported 61 and NSU's yearbook said 52.) Danny Foret's point-after attempt was true this time, giving Northwestern a 13-7 lead at the half.
Neither team, however, could gather itself for a knock out on offense. It was all body blows.
"That game," said White, "was tight, tight, tight."
Nicholson once marveled over NSU's 1974 defense, saying "they make up for a lack of size with speed, aggressiveness and a desire to hit."
Grambling's unit, meanwhile, featured James "Hound" Hunter as a secondary anchor along with the All-American Johnson, who late Grambling coaching legend Eddie Robinson had taken to calling "the best lineman in college football."
Both teams would punt seven times over the course of the contest, with Grambling earning just four first downs and outgaining NSU by a total of only 74 yards. Northwestern fumbled seven times, losing three — while picking off GSU a total of four stunning times.
"I was deep protection on the punts," Brittain said, laughing, "and we punted a lot. I just remember 'Big Hands' running past our center, right behind the snap as it was coming back. He would come in low, about one foot off the ground. All I could do is dive at his shoelaces. He would just shove me to the ground and trample right over me."
Grambling returned to the field after halftime with a new quarterback, and Shreveport sophomore Terry Brown reeled off a dramatic 82-yard pass to White.
"They were blitzing us a lot, so we had a one-on-one match up," said White, now an assistant coach at Grambling. "Terry threw a nice long ball on that one."
Zeno's kick gave the Tigers their final margin of victory, 14-13.
But not before a memorable NSU field goal attempt, blocked by Hunter, as time expired.
Hunter's playmaking through that junior season had already drawn raves from Robinson, who called the Texan "Mr. Clutch." A canny pass defender and zippy returner, Hunter was "generally spoken of with a reverence reserved exclusively for legendary Saturday heroes," the late Nicholson once said.
That legend was built on plays like the final one against Northwestern State.
NSU got the ball back after an interception by linebacker Dan Boddie, who dashed back to the Grambling 34 with 4:03 left in the game. Ballard then drove down to the GSU 3 as time grew short, setting up a 20-yard attempt by Foret. Demons coach George Doherty, in a gutsy move, had ordered the try on third down with just 39 seconds remaining.
Hunter got a finger on it, as perhaps did Johnson, and the attempt missed.
'WAY BEYOND FOOTBALL'
Cage, who went down to injury during that final push, rushed for 97 yards — though much of that was given back in the final team stats because of lost yardage by other players.
Ballard finished the day 11-of-16 for just 88 yards and a score for NSU. Comeaux and Brown, meanwhile, combined for a 7-of-21 performance — a lack of efficiency under center that eventually led to the now-famous insertion of a redshirt freshman named Doug Williams three games later against Prairie View A&M.
"We had our opportunities," Williams said. "We scored 14 points, but we were still largely ineffective. It wasn't one of those good old Grambling offensive days. You could give some of that to Northwestern, too. They had a good team."
Doherty, entering his last season in Natchitoches after winning the Gulf South in 1972, had brought A.L. Williams in as offensive coordinator — and installed his new assistant's more pass-oriented offense in anticipation of handing over the reigns.
NSU, which had already dropped its second straight game in 1974, was in the midst of consecutive 1-10 campaigns. Williams would coach at Northwestern for eight seasons, boasting ranked teams in 1980 and '82 when his teams finished 8-3 and 7-4 respectively.
Williams went on to pass for 1,150 yards (nearly 400 more yards than Comeaux and Brown combined) over the remainder of the 1974 season. Grambling finished 11-1, claiming the ninth of 17 total Southwestern Athletic Conference championships under Robinson. (Williams later returned to coach at his alma mater, and played host to the first Southland foe ever at Grambling's Robinson Stadium — McNeese State in 2003.)
Grambling's lone '74 stumble was a 19-14 loss to Alcorn, and they shared the SWAC crown. Robinson would finish the season at 236 career wins on the way to 408 total, a still-standing Division I record.
The Northwestern victory, thrilling in its playing and encouraging in its social significance, holds a special place among them.
"The perspective of this game is way beyond the football field," Brittain said. "In our lives, both at Grambling and at Northwestern, it had a big effect. What a great time to try something like that, to break through some of those unknowns."
Monday, July 21, 2008
Grambling greats: College Hall of Famer Doug Porter
College Hall of Fame beckons Grambling resident Douglas Porter
May 7, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Grambling resident Douglas Porter, who had a five-decade long career in coaching and athletic administration, will be inducted into the College Hall of Fame.
The National Football Foundation is expected to announce the 2008 class today. Porter appeared on the lower-classification ballot.
A former assistant at Grambling State under Eddie Robinson, Porter was a head coach at former Division I-AA programs Mississippi Valley (from 1961-65) and Howard University (from 1974-78) and finally at Division II Fort Valley State (from 1979-94). He was a longtime administrator at Fort Valley, as well.
Porter’s helped establish a Valley program that had not had a winning season in five years before his first in 1963, and has only matched his three in a row (through 1965) two other times — once in the 1950s, and another under Archie Cooley beginning in 1983. His .550 winning percentage has only been bested once among MVSU coaches who stayed five or more years.
He then coached for nine seasons under Robinson, running an offense that featured future Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Joiner and quarterbacks James “Shack” Harris and Doug Williams, later a Super Bowl MVP.
Every Grambling senior was drafted by the NFL in 1969. In 1971, 43 GSU players were in pro football camps.
“Even when I got to Fort Valley, the lead story was always that I was formerly an assistant under Coach Eddie Robinson,” Porter said recently. “That’s what they would start with. That gave you credibility, the fact that you had worked with Coach Rob.”
Porter, who won 61 percent of the games he coached, was 30-21-2 in five seasons at Howard — part of a career record of 166 victories.
At Fort Valley, a Division II program in Georgia, Porter won six conference championships and made two NCAA playoff appearances on his way to seven league coach of the year honors.
Porter retired back to Grambling in 1997, where he became a trusted advisor to both former GSU coaches Doug Williams and Melvin Spears and current coach Rod Broadway. He has also been a steady presence in the efforts to establish a museum in Robinson’s honor.
Porter has already been inducted into the Mississippi Valley State Hall of Fame.
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OUT OF THE SHADOWS: Legendary Grambling assistant built Hall of Fame resume as a head coach too
May 12, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Until this week, Douglas Porter was most often referred to as a former assistant under Grambling State’s mythical Eddie Robinson.
Porter stood, without complaint, inside the dark outline of that coaching legend’s shadow — despite having assembled a terrific, if seldom decorated, career of his own.
“That couldn’t have been easy with a person of his skill,” said James “Shack” Harris, Porter’s first quarterbacking protégé at GSU. “He was able to do it without ego, and to do it well.”
Porter, in fact, had been a part of a larger storyline in shaping successful programs, even in the most trying of situations. He had won nearly 170 games during a trio of head coaching stints at Mississippi Valley State, Howard and Fort Valley State — a resume built far from the red clay hills of Grambling.
Recognition for those efforts came on Wednesday when Porter was announced as part of the College Hall of Fame’s 2008 divisional class for lower-classification coaches and players.
“He has never been in the limelight,” said Doug Williams, who later received mentoring from Porter at Grambling as a redshirt freshman passer. “This is one time when he gets his 15 minutes. He deserves it.”
Nothing could stop Porter’s Hall of Fame journey: Not the crushing disparities found at rural black schools like Mississippi Valley State and Grambling, the benign neglect rampant even at metropolitan institutions like Howard, the forgotten backwaters of Division II ball at Fort Valley, or even a shocking moment when his body betrayed him.
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Porter, so happy to be taking over a program, didn’t ask too many questions upon assuming his first head coaching job at Valley.
Once he got to Itta Bena, though, the gravity of the situation became apparent.
“Hadn’t beaten Jackson, hadn’t beaten Alcorn — in ages,” Porter said, sizing up Mississippi Valley State’s performance against key league foes. “Two years before, Grambling had beaten us 93 to nothing.”
He set about building a foundation of pride. That would require more than scoring 94 points on a Saturday afternoon.
“It took us a couple of years,” Porter said. “We played a lot of freshmen, played a lot of young people. But then, it began to pay off for us.”
Though Valley had not had a winning season in five years before Porter’s first in 1963, he reeled off three in a row through 1965 — something that has only been matched in Itta Bena on two other occasions.
Grambling, it’s no surprise, was a measuring stick. That time when Robinson’s squad had nearly hung a Benjamin on the Delta Devils stuck with Porter.
He finally began to gain on Valley’s cross-conference rivals and, in the process, to earn Eddie Robinson’s respect.
Porter had gotten blown out by Grambling during their first trio of meetings — and by a combined score of 149-12. But Porter was gaining, losing by an average of about two touchdowns over the last three games
“We came down in 1965, we played in Grambling —- and we led at halftime,” Porter said. “We lost 34-20, but we had been ahead 14-7. That was a measure of where we had come. We had gotten to the point where we could play anybody on our schedule. That was what I had hoped to do when I came there.”
A year later, he was running Robinson’s offense.
Porter said the chance to work alongside an American legend at Grambling — and to mentor future Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers like Harris and Frank Lewis — made what amounted to a demotion to offensive coordinator an attractive offer.
“He was very effective in a variety of situations,” Harris said. “He was someone who really knew the game. Coach Porter was a leader in his own right. You respected him.”
Grambling won six SWAC titles in the eight years Porter served under Robinson — three of them with Harris, who compiled a 31-9-1 record at Grambling.
That period of profound success, however, was leavened by the emerging reality that Robinson was becoming professionally and personally entwined in Grambling.
This relationship, already nearly 35 seasons old, was set for life.
Porter would have to move on in order to get an opportunity to run a program. After considering an offer from Florida A&M, he left in 1974 for the Washington, D.C.-based historically black college program Howard.
“I wanted to be a head coach,” he said. “I saw that, after a few years here, there was not going to be a chance for that.
“Change,” Porter added, laughing now, “wasn’t coming.”
Porter and Robinson, in fact, both would work for another 24 seasons, but while Porter moved from Howard to Fort Valley in coaching and administrative positions, his old boss never left the helm at GSU.
UPS AND DOWNS
Porter said he soon learned that the administration at Howard didn’t have the same commitment to athletics that he had become used to at Grambling under Robinson and then-president R.W.E. Jones.
Porter would finish with a winning record, but he’s always been left with the sense that he could have done better than his 30-21-2 mark over five seasons in D.C.
“I thought at that time that the best move for me and my future in football was Howard,” Porter said. “It didn’t turn out to be that way.”
Just over the horizon, however, was Fort Valley, where Porter would coach — save for one year — from 1979-97, and serve as athletics director from 1981-97.
“In all things that I have been involved with — people might think this is a little sanctimonious — I felt that the Lord has a way of directing you to go certain places and do certain things,” Porter said. “I was glad to get out of that situation.”
The then-current athletics director at Fort Valley was one of Porter’s college coaches. The school president had a child who attended Grambling during Porter’s tenure there.
And middle Georgia residents, like those in rural north Louisiana, boast a deep-seated love affair with football.
“There weren’t the same resources they had at Grambling, but the commitment to support the program was just as great,” Porter said.
He’d capture seven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships between 1980-92, including four in a row from 1982-85.
“It definitely didn’t surprise me that he was able to leave and do well,” said Harris, now a top front-office executive in the NFL. “Some people are destined for success; he was one of those kinds of people.”
Five years after taking over, Fort Valley was winning its league title with both the offensive and defensive players of the year.
But Porter, after so long on the sidelines, was beginning to fray. An in-season heart attack during his seventh campaign at Fort Valley sent him into spiraling introspection.
'A GREAT FOOTBALL MIND'
Fort Valley has begun that impressive string of championships in the 1980s running an offense that bore little resemblance to the attack associated with Robinson’s Grambling teams.
Recruiting into a Division II program had something to do with it.
“I didn’t have the offensive linemen that it would take to run the Wing T,” Porter said. “You need guys who have a lot of athletic ability to be successful. It was easier for us to find kids we could teach to pass block and drive block.”
By ‘85, Fort Valley had developed a powerful defense to match that offensive power, too, leading the lower classification in several categories. Opponents were often held under a touchdown, and to minus-yards rushing.
But these low-scoring matches — coupled with newly founded, Grambling-like expectations of winning — took their toll, creating a pressure-cooker environment.
Fort Valley, ranked No. 2, came into a game against No. 1 Central State and fell 14-7.
A coach known for his easy-going nature — in fact, some at Fort Valley had once criticized him for not being emotional enough — was taking all of this personally.
Too personally.
“It was a hard, hard loss,” Porter said. “We were going into our last two games with just one loss. To maintain that puts you under a tremendous amount of pressure that you don’t really realize.”
He ended up flat on his back in a hospital room, with doctors trying to get his heart fixed.
Porter kept asking about the scores, tried to keep his head in the game.
But the doctors recommended a year off.
The time away refocused Porter on what was important. He still loved football, but in a different way. He learned to let things go.
“At the end of that, I was in the best shape I have been in, other than when I was in the Army,” Porter said. “But I wanted to coach. Coaching is all I have ever really wanted to do.”
He would win more titles at Fort Valley, would serve as chairman of the Division II Football Committee and as president of the National Athletic Steering Committee and, after retiring, would play a key advisory role in smoothing the transition for Robinson successor Doug Williams at Grambling.
“Fort Valley was a good fit for me,” Porter said. “We found that they had a strong group of followers, and they had established a good winning tradition. As with Grambling, I was happy to be a part of that.”
Even if it always seemed to come second on his resume. Until Wednesday, when the College Hall of Fame called.
“It’s one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed,” said Williams, himself a 2001 inductee. “Nobody deserves to be rewarded more than Coach Porter.”
Porter attended the Hall of Fame ceremonies honoring Williams seven years ago, and Williams will join a burgeoning list of former students who will return the favor this summer. Porter said several Fort Valley players are organizing a group trip to South Bend, as well.
“Most people don’t know how special a coach he is,” said Harris, a Monroe native. “He coached at small schools, and that sometime means you get overlooked, but he did an outstanding job with those programs. He’s well deserving. What a great football mind.”
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For Grambling’s Porter, Hall of Fame career was about the kids
July 19, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
For Doug Porter, today will be the capstone on a career spent working with young people.
Of course, the new College Football Hall of Famer won some games along the way, too.
But that was never the point for Porter, a Grambling resident.
"To be able to touch young people," Porter said, "to get them to believe in something, that always meant so much."
The 79-year old earned membership in the College Hall’s 2008 divisional class after a 42-year career, which included 26 seasons as head coach at three small colleges. Porter also served eight seasons as an offensive coach during the legendary tenure of Grambling’s Eddie Robinson, and was athletics director at Fort Valley from 1981-97.
"He was a top football mind, someone who really knew the game," said one of Grambling’s passers at the time, James "Shack" Harris —- now a general manager with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. "Coach Porter is a leader in his right."
The National Football Foundation considers players and coaches from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), Divisions II, III, and the NAIA National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for induction in the College Hall of Fame’s divisional classes.
Porter is joined in 2008 by W.C. Gorden, who coached at Grambling’s conference foe Jackson State from 1976-91.
Four players are also to be inducted in ceremonies held today at South Bend, Ill.: Quarterback Jim Ballard (Mount Union, 1991-93); linebacker Ronald McKinnon (North Alabama, 1992-95), defensive end John Randle (Texas A&M-Kingsville, 1988-89) and halfback Brad Rowland (McMurry College, 1947-50).
Porter, who won 61 percent of the games he coached, recorded 166 career victories —- the bulk of them at Fort Valley.
There, Porter earned seven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships between 1980-92, including four consecutive crowns from 1982-85. He advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals in 1983 — when his team boasted the league’s offensive and defensive players of the year in Kelvin Parker and Taqwan Taylor, respectively — and to the quarterfinals in ‘85.
"I have as much respect for Coach Porter as any one I have been around," said Harris, a Monroe native who later played for the NFL’s Bills, Rams and Chargers. "As good a coach as he was, he always played his role in shadows. That couldn’t have been easy for a person of his skill."
Even working at that tiny Georgia Division II program, Porter coached three future NFL Draft picks, including first-rounder Tyrone Poole and Pro Bowl linebacker Greg Lloyd. (He also mentored some Grambling’s top quarterbacks in Harris, Matthew Reed and then Doug Williams, the future Super Bowl MVP.)
"Coach Porter is a special coach in that he would always tell you the honest truth, about football and about life," Harris said. "It sounds simple, but it’s rare. So often a coach will tell you what you want to hear. When you get a chance to work with people like Coach Porter, you become a better person yourself."
Named SIAC coach of the year seven times, Porter earned a lifetime achievement award from the All-American Football Foundation in 1998 and induction in the Mississippi Valley State Hall of Fame in 2006.
"The recognition is overwhelming," Porter said. "But the most important thing to me was to affect the lives of young people. That was satisfying."
COACH DOUG PORTER
Born: Aug. 15, 1929 in Memphis
Personal: Lives in Grambling, with wife Jean
Head coaching career: Mississippi Valley State (1961-65), Howard (1974-78), Fort Valley State (1979-85, 1987-96); also served as an offensive assistant at Grambling (1966-73) under Eddie Robinson, and has been a key advisor to each of his successors.
Career record: 166-107-5, only five losing seasons out of 26
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A SHARED EXPERIENCE: Grambling's duo of Dougs — Porter and Williams — boasts Hall of Fame friendship
July 20, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
A familiar face could be found among the crowd.
Doug Porter was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, with former player and protégé Doug Williams in attendance.
The roles had been reversed in 2001, when Williams was named to the hall's divisional class as a player. Seven years later, Porter was recognized in South Bend, Ill., for head coaching work at a trio of lower classification programs.
Porter also served from 1966-73 as an offensive assistant during the career of Grambling State's Eddie Robinson.
There, he met Doug Williams, then a young quarterback. Later, after retirement, Porter returned to become a key mentor when Williams succeeded Robinson as head coach at Grambling.
"It was big for me when Coach Porter showed up for my induction," Williams said. "When I found out that he was going in, I thought that was one of the greatest things. I got a chance to repay Coach by being there for him."
Porter won 61 percent of the games he coached, recording 166 career victories at former Division I-AA programs Mississippi Valley State (1961-65) and Howard (1974-78), then at Division II Fort Valley State (1979-97). He also served as athletics director at Fort Valley from 1981-97.
He might have won more still, had Williams followed Porter to Howard.
Williams certainly wanted to, back then.
"He was frustrated as a red shirt," Porter said. "He was running the scout team, but he felt he was better. He wasn't playing."
Porter, then as now a wise and fair man, knew the steep coaching climb ahead at Howard. But he wasn't willing to pluck Williams out of a more favorable situation.
"It wasn't in Doug's best interest to come," Porter said. "He wouldn't have been surrounded with the kind of people he had with Eddie: He wouldn't have had Dwight Scales; he wouldn't have had Sammy White — and those people were big contributors to his success. Had Williams come to us, he would have been a great quarterback, but throwing it to a group of receivers who made a lot of drops. That wouldn't have helped him."
Williams would win a pair of league championships under Robinson, success that launched him into the race for the Heisman Trophy. Williams then became a first-round NFL draft pick, and eventually earned Super Bowl MVP honors in 1988.
A lasting relationship, built as much on trust as on gridiron concepts, was forged.
Fate brought them back together in 1997, when Porter returned to Grambling upon retirement. Williams was in the midst of launching the difficult post-Robinson era — something nearly unthinkable after his stirring 57-season tenure — and Porter's guiding hand again played a key role Williams' success.
"It was Doug Porter who helped me though the whole transition," Williams said. "He wasn't looking for publicity for what he did. It wasn't hard for me to see that I needed Doug Porter close by me."
Long after retirement, Porter — the son of a coach, Memphis prep legend W.P. Porter — still possessed a keen passion for football.
"We'd sit down every day after practice and I would tell him what I felt," Porter said. "He was very amenable, though sometimes we would disagree. I could accept that, because it was his football team. The only thing I wanted to do was help him be successful."
He was: Williams, with Porter on the sidelines in an advisory role, would win a trio of Southwestern Athletic Conference titles in 2000-02, and was one game away from the championship match in both 1999 and 2003.
They now boast another bond, another shared memory in a lifetime filled with them.
"He had such an impact on my life," Williams said. "He had a lot to do with the success that I had. In my life, Coach Porter has been a Hall of Famer for a long time."
May 7, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Grambling resident Douglas Porter, who had a five-decade long career in coaching and athletic administration, will be inducted into the College Hall of Fame.
The National Football Foundation is expected to announce the 2008 class today. Porter appeared on the lower-classification ballot.
A former assistant at Grambling State under Eddie Robinson, Porter was a head coach at former Division I-AA programs Mississippi Valley (from 1961-65) and Howard University (from 1974-78) and finally at Division II Fort Valley State (from 1979-94). He was a longtime administrator at Fort Valley, as well.
Porter’s helped establish a Valley program that had not had a winning season in five years before his first in 1963, and has only matched his three in a row (through 1965) two other times — once in the 1950s, and another under Archie Cooley beginning in 1983. His .550 winning percentage has only been bested once among MVSU coaches who stayed five or more years.
He then coached for nine seasons under Robinson, running an offense that featured future Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Joiner and quarterbacks James “Shack” Harris and Doug Williams, later a Super Bowl MVP.
Every Grambling senior was drafted by the NFL in 1969. In 1971, 43 GSU players were in pro football camps.
“Even when I got to Fort Valley, the lead story was always that I was formerly an assistant under Coach Eddie Robinson,” Porter said recently. “That’s what they would start with. That gave you credibility, the fact that you had worked with Coach Rob.”
Porter, who won 61 percent of the games he coached, was 30-21-2 in five seasons at Howard — part of a career record of 166 victories.
At Fort Valley, a Division II program in Georgia, Porter won six conference championships and made two NCAA playoff appearances on his way to seven league coach of the year honors.
Porter retired back to Grambling in 1997, where he became a trusted advisor to both former GSU coaches Doug Williams and Melvin Spears and current coach Rod Broadway. He has also been a steady presence in the efforts to establish a museum in Robinson’s honor.
Porter has already been inducted into the Mississippi Valley State Hall of Fame.
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OUT OF THE SHADOWS: Legendary Grambling assistant built Hall of Fame resume as a head coach too
May 12, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Until this week, Douglas Porter was most often referred to as a former assistant under Grambling State’s mythical Eddie Robinson.
Porter stood, without complaint, inside the dark outline of that coaching legend’s shadow — despite having assembled a terrific, if seldom decorated, career of his own.
“That couldn’t have been easy with a person of his skill,” said James “Shack” Harris, Porter’s first quarterbacking protégé at GSU. “He was able to do it without ego, and to do it well.”
Porter, in fact, had been a part of a larger storyline in shaping successful programs, even in the most trying of situations. He had won nearly 170 games during a trio of head coaching stints at Mississippi Valley State, Howard and Fort Valley State — a resume built far from the red clay hills of Grambling.
Recognition for those efforts came on Wednesday when Porter was announced as part of the College Hall of Fame’s 2008 divisional class for lower-classification coaches and players.
“He has never been in the limelight,” said Doug Williams, who later received mentoring from Porter at Grambling as a redshirt freshman passer. “This is one time when he gets his 15 minutes. He deserves it.”
Nothing could stop Porter’s Hall of Fame journey: Not the crushing disparities found at rural black schools like Mississippi Valley State and Grambling, the benign neglect rampant even at metropolitan institutions like Howard, the forgotten backwaters of Division II ball at Fort Valley, or even a shocking moment when his body betrayed him.
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Porter, so happy to be taking over a program, didn’t ask too many questions upon assuming his first head coaching job at Valley.
Once he got to Itta Bena, though, the gravity of the situation became apparent.
“Hadn’t beaten Jackson, hadn’t beaten Alcorn — in ages,” Porter said, sizing up Mississippi Valley State’s performance against key league foes. “Two years before, Grambling had beaten us 93 to nothing.”
He set about building a foundation of pride. That would require more than scoring 94 points on a Saturday afternoon.
“It took us a couple of years,” Porter said. “We played a lot of freshmen, played a lot of young people. But then, it began to pay off for us.”
Though Valley had not had a winning season in five years before Porter’s first in 1963, he reeled off three in a row through 1965 — something that has only been matched in Itta Bena on two other occasions.
Grambling, it’s no surprise, was a measuring stick. That time when Robinson’s squad had nearly hung a Benjamin on the Delta Devils stuck with Porter.
He finally began to gain on Valley’s cross-conference rivals and, in the process, to earn Eddie Robinson’s respect.
Porter had gotten blown out by Grambling during their first trio of meetings — and by a combined score of 149-12. But Porter was gaining, losing by an average of about two touchdowns over the last three games
“We came down in 1965, we played in Grambling —- and we led at halftime,” Porter said. “We lost 34-20, but we had been ahead 14-7. That was a measure of where we had come. We had gotten to the point where we could play anybody on our schedule. That was what I had hoped to do when I came there.”
A year later, he was running Robinson’s offense.
Porter said the chance to work alongside an American legend at Grambling — and to mentor future Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers like Harris and Frank Lewis — made what amounted to a demotion to offensive coordinator an attractive offer.
“He was very effective in a variety of situations,” Harris said. “He was someone who really knew the game. Coach Porter was a leader in his own right. You respected him.”
Grambling won six SWAC titles in the eight years Porter served under Robinson — three of them with Harris, who compiled a 31-9-1 record at Grambling.
That period of profound success, however, was leavened by the emerging reality that Robinson was becoming professionally and personally entwined in Grambling.
This relationship, already nearly 35 seasons old, was set for life.
Porter would have to move on in order to get an opportunity to run a program. After considering an offer from Florida A&M, he left in 1974 for the Washington, D.C.-based historically black college program Howard.
“I wanted to be a head coach,” he said. “I saw that, after a few years here, there was not going to be a chance for that.
“Change,” Porter added, laughing now, “wasn’t coming.”
Porter and Robinson, in fact, both would work for another 24 seasons, but while Porter moved from Howard to Fort Valley in coaching and administrative positions, his old boss never left the helm at GSU.
UPS AND DOWNS
Porter said he soon learned that the administration at Howard didn’t have the same commitment to athletics that he had become used to at Grambling under Robinson and then-president R.W.E. Jones.
Porter would finish with a winning record, but he’s always been left with the sense that he could have done better than his 30-21-2 mark over five seasons in D.C.
“I thought at that time that the best move for me and my future in football was Howard,” Porter said. “It didn’t turn out to be that way.”
Just over the horizon, however, was Fort Valley, where Porter would coach — save for one year — from 1979-97, and serve as athletics director from 1981-97.
“In all things that I have been involved with — people might think this is a little sanctimonious — I felt that the Lord has a way of directing you to go certain places and do certain things,” Porter said. “I was glad to get out of that situation.”
The then-current athletics director at Fort Valley was one of Porter’s college coaches. The school president had a child who attended Grambling during Porter’s tenure there.
And middle Georgia residents, like those in rural north Louisiana, boast a deep-seated love affair with football.
“There weren’t the same resources they had at Grambling, but the commitment to support the program was just as great,” Porter said.
He’d capture seven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships between 1980-92, including four in a row from 1982-85.
“It definitely didn’t surprise me that he was able to leave and do well,” said Harris, now a top front-office executive in the NFL. “Some people are destined for success; he was one of those kinds of people.”
Five years after taking over, Fort Valley was winning its league title with both the offensive and defensive players of the year.
But Porter, after so long on the sidelines, was beginning to fray. An in-season heart attack during his seventh campaign at Fort Valley sent him into spiraling introspection.
'A GREAT FOOTBALL MIND'
Fort Valley has begun that impressive string of championships in the 1980s running an offense that bore little resemblance to the attack associated with Robinson’s Grambling teams.
Recruiting into a Division II program had something to do with it.
“I didn’t have the offensive linemen that it would take to run the Wing T,” Porter said. “You need guys who have a lot of athletic ability to be successful. It was easier for us to find kids we could teach to pass block and drive block.”
By ‘85, Fort Valley had developed a powerful defense to match that offensive power, too, leading the lower classification in several categories. Opponents were often held under a touchdown, and to minus-yards rushing.
But these low-scoring matches — coupled with newly founded, Grambling-like expectations of winning — took their toll, creating a pressure-cooker environment.
Fort Valley, ranked No. 2, came into a game against No. 1 Central State and fell 14-7.
A coach known for his easy-going nature — in fact, some at Fort Valley had once criticized him for not being emotional enough — was taking all of this personally.
Too personally.
“It was a hard, hard loss,” Porter said. “We were going into our last two games with just one loss. To maintain that puts you under a tremendous amount of pressure that you don’t really realize.”
He ended up flat on his back in a hospital room, with doctors trying to get his heart fixed.
Porter kept asking about the scores, tried to keep his head in the game.
But the doctors recommended a year off.
The time away refocused Porter on what was important. He still loved football, but in a different way. He learned to let things go.
“At the end of that, I was in the best shape I have been in, other than when I was in the Army,” Porter said. “But I wanted to coach. Coaching is all I have ever really wanted to do.”
He would win more titles at Fort Valley, would serve as chairman of the Division II Football Committee and as president of the National Athletic Steering Committee and, after retiring, would play a key advisory role in smoothing the transition for Robinson successor Doug Williams at Grambling.
“Fort Valley was a good fit for me,” Porter said. “We found that they had a strong group of followers, and they had established a good winning tradition. As with Grambling, I was happy to be a part of that.”
Even if it always seemed to come second on his resume. Until Wednesday, when the College Hall of Fame called.
“It’s one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed,” said Williams, himself a 2001 inductee. “Nobody deserves to be rewarded more than Coach Porter.”
Porter attended the Hall of Fame ceremonies honoring Williams seven years ago, and Williams will join a burgeoning list of former students who will return the favor this summer. Porter said several Fort Valley players are organizing a group trip to South Bend, as well.
“Most people don’t know how special a coach he is,” said Harris, a Monroe native. “He coached at small schools, and that sometime means you get overlooked, but he did an outstanding job with those programs. He’s well deserving. What a great football mind.”
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For Grambling’s Porter, Hall of Fame career was about the kids
July 19, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
For Doug Porter, today will be the capstone on a career spent working with young people.
Of course, the new College Football Hall of Famer won some games along the way, too.
But that was never the point for Porter, a Grambling resident.
"To be able to touch young people," Porter said, "to get them to believe in something, that always meant so much."
The 79-year old earned membership in the College Hall’s 2008 divisional class after a 42-year career, which included 26 seasons as head coach at three small colleges. Porter also served eight seasons as an offensive coach during the legendary tenure of Grambling’s Eddie Robinson, and was athletics director at Fort Valley from 1981-97.
"He was a top football mind, someone who really knew the game," said one of Grambling’s passers at the time, James "Shack" Harris —- now a general manager with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. "Coach Porter is a leader in his right."
The National Football Foundation considers players and coaches from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), Divisions II, III, and the NAIA National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for induction in the College Hall of Fame’s divisional classes.
Porter is joined in 2008 by W.C. Gorden, who coached at Grambling’s conference foe Jackson State from 1976-91.
Four players are also to be inducted in ceremonies held today at South Bend, Ill.: Quarterback Jim Ballard (Mount Union, 1991-93); linebacker Ronald McKinnon (North Alabama, 1992-95), defensive end John Randle (Texas A&M-Kingsville, 1988-89) and halfback Brad Rowland (McMurry College, 1947-50).
Porter, who won 61 percent of the games he coached, recorded 166 career victories —- the bulk of them at Fort Valley.
There, Porter earned seven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships between 1980-92, including four consecutive crowns from 1982-85. He advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals in 1983 — when his team boasted the league’s offensive and defensive players of the year in Kelvin Parker and Taqwan Taylor, respectively — and to the quarterfinals in ‘85.
"I have as much respect for Coach Porter as any one I have been around," said Harris, a Monroe native who later played for the NFL’s Bills, Rams and Chargers. "As good a coach as he was, he always played his role in shadows. That couldn’t have been easy for a person of his skill."
Even working at that tiny Georgia Division II program, Porter coached three future NFL Draft picks, including first-rounder Tyrone Poole and Pro Bowl linebacker Greg Lloyd. (He also mentored some Grambling’s top quarterbacks in Harris, Matthew Reed and then Doug Williams, the future Super Bowl MVP.)
"Coach Porter is a special coach in that he would always tell you the honest truth, about football and about life," Harris said. "It sounds simple, but it’s rare. So often a coach will tell you what you want to hear. When you get a chance to work with people like Coach Porter, you become a better person yourself."
Named SIAC coach of the year seven times, Porter earned a lifetime achievement award from the All-American Football Foundation in 1998 and induction in the Mississippi Valley State Hall of Fame in 2006.
"The recognition is overwhelming," Porter said. "But the most important thing to me was to affect the lives of young people. That was satisfying."
COACH DOUG PORTER
Born: Aug. 15, 1929 in Memphis
Personal: Lives in Grambling, with wife Jean
Head coaching career: Mississippi Valley State (1961-65), Howard (1974-78), Fort Valley State (1979-85, 1987-96); also served as an offensive assistant at Grambling (1966-73) under Eddie Robinson, and has been a key advisor to each of his successors.
Career record: 166-107-5, only five losing seasons out of 26
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A SHARED EXPERIENCE: Grambling's duo of Dougs — Porter and Williams — boasts Hall of Fame friendship
July 20, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
A familiar face could be found among the crowd.
Doug Porter was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, with former player and protégé Doug Williams in attendance.
The roles had been reversed in 2001, when Williams was named to the hall's divisional class as a player. Seven years later, Porter was recognized in South Bend, Ill., for head coaching work at a trio of lower classification programs.
Porter also served from 1966-73 as an offensive assistant during the career of Grambling State's Eddie Robinson.
There, he met Doug Williams, then a young quarterback. Later, after retirement, Porter returned to become a key mentor when Williams succeeded Robinson as head coach at Grambling.
"It was big for me when Coach Porter showed up for my induction," Williams said. "When I found out that he was going in, I thought that was one of the greatest things. I got a chance to repay Coach by being there for him."
Porter won 61 percent of the games he coached, recording 166 career victories at former Division I-AA programs Mississippi Valley State (1961-65) and Howard (1974-78), then at Division II Fort Valley State (1979-97). He also served as athletics director at Fort Valley from 1981-97.
He might have won more still, had Williams followed Porter to Howard.
Williams certainly wanted to, back then.
"He was frustrated as a red shirt," Porter said. "He was running the scout team, but he felt he was better. He wasn't playing."
Porter, then as now a wise and fair man, knew the steep coaching climb ahead at Howard. But he wasn't willing to pluck Williams out of a more favorable situation.
"It wasn't in Doug's best interest to come," Porter said. "He wouldn't have been surrounded with the kind of people he had with Eddie: He wouldn't have had Dwight Scales; he wouldn't have had Sammy White — and those people were big contributors to his success. Had Williams come to us, he would have been a great quarterback, but throwing it to a group of receivers who made a lot of drops. That wouldn't have helped him."
Williams would win a pair of league championships under Robinson, success that launched him into the race for the Heisman Trophy. Williams then became a first-round NFL draft pick, and eventually earned Super Bowl MVP honors in 1988.
A lasting relationship, built as much on trust as on gridiron concepts, was forged.
Fate brought them back together in 1997, when Porter returned to Grambling upon retirement. Williams was in the midst of launching the difficult post-Robinson era — something nearly unthinkable after his stirring 57-season tenure — and Porter's guiding hand again played a key role Williams' success.
"It was Doug Porter who helped me though the whole transition," Williams said. "He wasn't looking for publicity for what he did. It wasn't hard for me to see that I needed Doug Porter close by me."
Long after retirement, Porter — the son of a coach, Memphis prep legend W.P. Porter — still possessed a keen passion for football.
"We'd sit down every day after practice and I would tell him what I felt," Porter said. "He was very amenable, though sometimes we would disagree. I could accept that, because it was his football team. The only thing I wanted to do was help him be successful."
He was: Williams, with Porter on the sidelines in an advisory role, would win a trio of Southwestern Athletic Conference titles in 2000-02, and was one game away from the championship match in both 1999 and 2003.
They now boast another bond, another shared memory in a lifetime filled with them.
"He had such an impact on my life," Williams said. "He had a lot to do with the success that I had. In my life, Coach Porter has been a Hall of Famer for a long time."
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The time that Gruden came to Grambling
Gruden in Grambling: Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach tours GSU campus
June 2, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — It gave Jon Gruden pause.
The Super Bowl-winning coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stood for a long moment, looking around the practice fields adjacent to Robinson Stadium, taking it all in.
"Did (the late GSU) Coach (Eddie) Robinson coach right here?" Gruden said, quietly. "This is sacred ground."
In northern Louisiana for today's third annual Doug Williams-Shack Harris benefit celebrity golf tournament, Gruden had asked the former Grambling State quarterbacking greats to give him a tour of their former school.
That included a raucous trip to the campus bookstore — where, once word of his visit began to spread by cellular phone and text messaging, Gruden quickly attracted dozens of picture-and autograph-seeking locals.
He even removed one of his now-familiar visors, and replaced it with a new Grambling hat — which Gruden wore during the rest of the visit.
"Unbelievable players, unbelievable tradition," Gruden said. "I've been wanting to come here my whole life, really."
Williams, who, along with Harris, represents an important cornerstone in that legacy, works with Gruden as an executive in charge of personnel for the Buccaneers — the NFL franchise that selected him as a first-rounder out of Grambling in 1978.
Gruden was a ballboy for the club back then.
"For me, it's almost unexplainable," a beaming Williams said. "This is something Gruden really wanted to do. It says a lot that he would take time out. He could have come in and just played in the golf tournament, but he wanted to make sure he got a chance to come to Grambling. He thinks that much of this place."
Gruden looked every bit the GSU fan after filling a bag full of Grambling-themed items at the bookstore, quickly totaling more than $150 in sales. He bought a T-shirt with Robinson's likeness, a golf shirt with the Grambling logo, and several hats — which he then had signed by Eddie Robinson Jr., son of the late coaching legend.
"The number of Hall of Famers who came out of here," Gruden said to Robinson Jr. "I admired your dad so much. I've got so much respect for everything that happened here."
Gruden also asked about the planned museum in Robinson's honor, which will be housed in the former women's gymnasium on the Grambling campus.
"It's a milestone," Robinson Jr. said, moments before the assembled group began snapping pictures of him with Gruden. "Imagine that: He's on Grambling soil. What a great thing."
Gruden, personable and gracious throughout the nearly hour-long visit, would eventually take scores of photographs with the growing crowd.
GSU students Chea Hudgins and Kara Burke took one set of shots, found that some didn't come out just right, then returned for another round of photos. Gruden happily obliged, then signed several autographs, as well.
Later, a tour through the campus included stops at Robinson Stadium and the former site of Memorial Stadium — where Williams and Harris, a Monroe native, starred as quarterbacks for Robinson in 1960s and '70s.
"It's exciting," Gruden said. "You're looking at the stadium where all the magic happened."
They also paused for a moment Robinson's modest brick home on Adams Street in Grambling.
Gruden said he wanted to make this pilgrimage last year, when he served as de facto emcee during the Shreveport-based golf tournament reception, but couldn't fit the trip into his schedule.
He came a day early this time, piling into a van with Harris, Williams and several others — including former Tampa Bay tight end Jimmy Giles — and traveling to Lincoln Parish from Shreveport on Sunday afternoon. They played a round of golf at nearby Squire Creek before heading to Grambling.
"He made sure he had a chance to do it this year," Williams said. "I think that speaks volumes about the kind of guy he is — and the respect that he has for Grambling and its players. He absolutely loves all of this."
June 2, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — It gave Jon Gruden pause.
The Super Bowl-winning coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stood for a long moment, looking around the practice fields adjacent to Robinson Stadium, taking it all in.
"Did (the late GSU) Coach (Eddie) Robinson coach right here?" Gruden said, quietly. "This is sacred ground."
In northern Louisiana for today's third annual Doug Williams-Shack Harris benefit celebrity golf tournament, Gruden had asked the former Grambling State quarterbacking greats to give him a tour of their former school.
That included a raucous trip to the campus bookstore — where, once word of his visit began to spread by cellular phone and text messaging, Gruden quickly attracted dozens of picture-and autograph-seeking locals.
He even removed one of his now-familiar visors, and replaced it with a new Grambling hat — which Gruden wore during the rest of the visit.
"Unbelievable players, unbelievable tradition," Gruden said. "I've been wanting to come here my whole life, really."
Williams, who, along with Harris, represents an important cornerstone in that legacy, works with Gruden as an executive in charge of personnel for the Buccaneers — the NFL franchise that selected him as a first-rounder out of Grambling in 1978.
Gruden was a ballboy for the club back then.
"For me, it's almost unexplainable," a beaming Williams said. "This is something Gruden really wanted to do. It says a lot that he would take time out. He could have come in and just played in the golf tournament, but he wanted to make sure he got a chance to come to Grambling. He thinks that much of this place."
Gruden looked every bit the GSU fan after filling a bag full of Grambling-themed items at the bookstore, quickly totaling more than $150 in sales. He bought a T-shirt with Robinson's likeness, a golf shirt with the Grambling logo, and several hats — which he then had signed by Eddie Robinson Jr., son of the late coaching legend.
"The number of Hall of Famers who came out of here," Gruden said to Robinson Jr. "I admired your dad so much. I've got so much respect for everything that happened here."
Gruden also asked about the planned museum in Robinson's honor, which will be housed in the former women's gymnasium on the Grambling campus.
"It's a milestone," Robinson Jr. said, moments before the assembled group began snapping pictures of him with Gruden. "Imagine that: He's on Grambling soil. What a great thing."
Gruden, personable and gracious throughout the nearly hour-long visit, would eventually take scores of photographs with the growing crowd.
GSU students Chea Hudgins and Kara Burke took one set of shots, found that some didn't come out just right, then returned for another round of photos. Gruden happily obliged, then signed several autographs, as well.
Later, a tour through the campus included stops at Robinson Stadium and the former site of Memorial Stadium — where Williams and Harris, a Monroe native, starred as quarterbacks for Robinson in 1960s and '70s.
"It's exciting," Gruden said. "You're looking at the stadium where all the magic happened."
They also paused for a moment Robinson's modest brick home on Adams Street in Grambling.
Gruden said he wanted to make this pilgrimage last year, when he served as de facto emcee during the Shreveport-based golf tournament reception, but couldn't fit the trip into his schedule.
He came a day early this time, piling into a van with Harris, Williams and several others — including former Tampa Bay tight end Jimmy Giles — and traveling to Lincoln Parish from Shreveport on Sunday afternoon. They played a round of golf at nearby Squire Creek before heading to Grambling.
"He made sure he had a chance to do it this year," Williams said. "I think that speaks volumes about the kind of guy he is — and the respect that he has for Grambling and its players. He absolutely loves all of this."
Friday, February 22, 2008
Remembering: Doug Williams' historic Super Bowl win
DIG DOUG
Play by play, Williams built a Super Bowl legacy 20 years ago
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
There was actually some indication of what was about to unfold.
Sure, no team had ever come back from being down 7 or more points in any Super Bowl.
But Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins — losing 10-0 to Denver Broncos after one quarter of play 20 years ago at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium — kept telling themselves the same thing.
"We had been down like that already against Chicago," Williams said.
The Redskins had fallen back two touchdowns before overtaking the Bears 21-17 in 1987’s divisional round.
"And it was frigid there," said Williams a Grambling product. "In San Diego, we had 80-degree weather."
A moment that grew into a cultural symbol — Williams, after a startling comeback, would become the first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, and the first to earn MVP honors — was just a game back then.
And Washington was losing.
The NFC’s eventual representative in Super Bowl XXII had changed quarterbacks and running backs over the length of the ‘87 season.
Then Williams nearly blew out a knee.
He was still confident. But he might have been the only one.
AT FIRST, DISASTER
Redskins rookie Timmy Smith started the contest, rather than the injured former Heisman trophy winner George Rogers, and was going nowhere.
Williams’ initial third-down pass was dropped, too, giving Denver the ball for the first time.
One play later, Broncos’ receiver Ricky Nattiel — then just 22, the youngest player in history to score in a Super Bowl — was hauling in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Elway.
That was the fastest score in Super Bowl history.
Washington was stymied again on its next possession, which included another third-down drop. Williams was 1-of-4 for nine yards as Denver added a field goal to go up 10-0 with nine minutes still remaining in the first period.
"I think the average betting man would have gone with Elway," Williams said. "They didn’t give Doug Williams a prayer. Well, the good Lord does answer some."
But not before Redskins returner Ricky Sanders fumbled the resulting kickoff, nearly giving Denver the ball back in Washington’s red zone. Williams would go on to complete this stirring 40-yard strike to Art Monk.
That drive, and the next one, eventually also stalled — and Williams found himself twisting on the ground, grabbing a hyperextended left knee.
The injury was so excruciating that Williams instinctively released the ball, though he was ruled down. San Diego’s squishy turf had already forced the Broncos to switch to a deeper cleat.
Former starter Jay Schroeder returned to finish the drive, but was summarily sacked and then suffered yet another Redskins drop — their fourth already.
The air, it seemed, had gone out of Washington — but not Williams, even though he was just four-of-10 for 78 yards as the second period began.
"No question, I was in tremendous pain, but I was there to play the game," Williams said. "That’s how I looked at it. I couldn’t worry about that. You are on the biggest stage of your life. To me, it was like growing up — you throw a little dirt on it and keep going."
DENVER’S ‘NIGHTMARE’
Williams returned from the sidelines and, 53 seconds into the quarter, threw an 80-yard touchdown to Ricky Sanders, his first-ever postseason score. The Redskins had managed just 63 yards on offense during the entire first period.
Washington held as Elway threw what was then his sixth consecutive incompletion. Four plays later, Williams hit Gary Clark for a 27-yard score to take the lead.
Williams was well protected behind an offensive line so talented that he had been sacked just once in the playoffs.
"If the offense line did what I’d like for them to do, and receivers did what they can do, I knew we could get back into it," said Williams, who played for the legendary Eddie Robinson. "I just had to get the ball back."
Denver, fading badly now, turned the ball over on a missed 43-yard field-goal attempt.
Williams and the Redskins still had seven minutes remaining before the half.
Two plays later, Smith ran 58 yards for a touchdown — his first score ever — and a 21-10 lead. He had just 126 regular-season yards, but 204 in this game alone.
Denver had worked all week on stopping the Redskins’ vaunted counter running play. It didn’t matter.
"‘Coach Rob’ used to say it’s all about blocking and tackling," Williams said. "If you block it right, they can’t stop you — and our line did that. We knew from a physical standpoint, we were the better football l team. That was proved as game went on."
That last touchdown had tied the Super Bowl record, set by San Francisco in XIX and Chicago in XX, of 21 points in a single quarter.
Washington needed just three more plays to score its fourth consecutive touchdown, as Williams hit Sanders on a 50-yard slant — tying a record for most TD receptions by a player in the Super Bowl.
"When everybody is working on all cylinders like that, it’s the epitome of execution," Williams said.
Washington, ahead now 28-10, stopped Elway on an interception in his subsequent possession.
Smith dashed 45 yards to set up Washington at the Broncos’ 35. Denver’s defenders were distracted, then deflated.
"You get he defense out of place, get them confused," Williams said. "All of a sudden they’re looking at each other, trying to make judgment calls. When they’re making all of these late changes, there is a chance that somebody is going to be out of place."
Williams’ fourth touchdown pass, tying another Super Bowl record, to Clint Didier extended Washington’s now insurmountable lead to 35-10.
TV announcer Frank Gifford, in a line that Williams can repeat from memory, said it best: "If this was a fight, they might stop it."
In 222 previous post-season games to that point, no NFL team had ever scored more points in a single quarter. Oakland came closest in 1968, putting up 28; the Giants scored 27 all the way back in 1934.
Williams ran into former Denver coach Dan Reeves this week. "He just shook his head and said: ‘That second quarter was a nightmare.’"
TOUCHING SO MANY LIVES
Washington only scored once more, preferring instead to run the ball in long, quarter-eating drives.
"We wanted to flatten this thing out and keep Elway off the field," Williams said. "You take time off clock, and make it a little more impossible."
Desperate to catch up, Elway began to take more chances, and Washington defenders feasted on multiple turnovers.
The enormity of the moment was becoming clear. A contest marked by personal firsts for Williams, the initial player in Super Bowl history to throw four touchdowns in a single quarter, and to throw four in a half, would have wider implications for African-Americans.
"It’s a great feeling when you realize that people still recognize you and are grateful for what you did," Williams said. "They’ll come up and say: ‘God bless you; you don’t know what you mean to us.’ That’s a great feeling to have that kind of impact."
The announcing team for Super Bowl XXII — Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Al Michaels – were a microcosm of that sudden revelation.
"Those guys were dumbfounded," Williams said, chuckling. "The last thing they expected was for it to be like that."
Elway was portrayed as the golden-boy sure thing, while Williams would be largely disregarded as an all but forgotten outsider. Too often, the conversation had entered on Williams’ race, rather than what his team did well.
"The problem with that Super Bowl was it wasn’t so much the game itself, as it was who the quarterbacks where," Williams said. "You had Doug Williams against John Elway, and we all know who’s going to win that game."
Williams’ performance, resilient and eye-popping in its complete efficiency, opened eyes and opened doors.
Two other black quarterbacks have followed Williams to the Super Bowl, though neither Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb or Tennessee’ Steve McNair would win.
"The opportunity now," Williams said, "is more than it was then."
Super Bowl XXII remains an afternoon where race relations achieved a rare vista — even if, at first, it started as just another football game.
"That day still has significance," Williams said, "because it touched so many people’s lives — not just as a fan but from an emotional standpoint. From a time when there was no black quarterbacks to winning it, so many older people talk about what that game meant."
In the smaller vernacular of sports, he’s the consummate underdog-made-good, too.
"When somebody is down and out," Williams said, "they’ll put that game in."
As he walked off that San Diego field, in a lingering image, Williams raised his helmet in triumph.
"I had been to place people only dream about," Williams said, still taking it in. "You don’t get to that point too often."
Play by play, Williams built a Super Bowl legacy 20 years ago
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
There was actually some indication of what was about to unfold.
Sure, no team had ever come back from being down 7 or more points in any Super Bowl.
But Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins — losing 10-0 to Denver Broncos after one quarter of play 20 years ago at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium — kept telling themselves the same thing.
"We had been down like that already against Chicago," Williams said.
The Redskins had fallen back two touchdowns before overtaking the Bears 21-17 in 1987’s divisional round.
"And it was frigid there," said Williams a Grambling product. "In San Diego, we had 80-degree weather."
A moment that grew into a cultural symbol — Williams, after a startling comeback, would become the first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, and the first to earn MVP honors — was just a game back then.
And Washington was losing.
The NFC’s eventual representative in Super Bowl XXII had changed quarterbacks and running backs over the length of the ‘87 season.
Then Williams nearly blew out a knee.
He was still confident. But he might have been the only one.
AT FIRST, DISASTER
Redskins rookie Timmy Smith started the contest, rather than the injured former Heisman trophy winner George Rogers, and was going nowhere.
Williams’ initial third-down pass was dropped, too, giving Denver the ball for the first time.
One play later, Broncos’ receiver Ricky Nattiel — then just 22, the youngest player in history to score in a Super Bowl — was hauling in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Elway.
That was the fastest score in Super Bowl history.
Washington was stymied again on its next possession, which included another third-down drop. Williams was 1-of-4 for nine yards as Denver added a field goal to go up 10-0 with nine minutes still remaining in the first period.
"I think the average betting man would have gone with Elway," Williams said. "They didn’t give Doug Williams a prayer. Well, the good Lord does answer some."
But not before Redskins returner Ricky Sanders fumbled the resulting kickoff, nearly giving Denver the ball back in Washington’s red zone. Williams would go on to complete this stirring 40-yard strike to Art Monk.
That drive, and the next one, eventually also stalled — and Williams found himself twisting on the ground, grabbing a hyperextended left knee.
The injury was so excruciating that Williams instinctively released the ball, though he was ruled down. San Diego’s squishy turf had already forced the Broncos to switch to a deeper cleat.
Former starter Jay Schroeder returned to finish the drive, but was summarily sacked and then suffered yet another Redskins drop — their fourth already.
The air, it seemed, had gone out of Washington — but not Williams, even though he was just four-of-10 for 78 yards as the second period began.
"No question, I was in tremendous pain, but I was there to play the game," Williams said. "That’s how I looked at it. I couldn’t worry about that. You are on the biggest stage of your life. To me, it was like growing up — you throw a little dirt on it and keep going."
DENVER’S ‘NIGHTMARE’
Williams returned from the sidelines and, 53 seconds into the quarter, threw an 80-yard touchdown to Ricky Sanders, his first-ever postseason score. The Redskins had managed just 63 yards on offense during the entire first period.
Washington held as Elway threw what was then his sixth consecutive incompletion. Four plays later, Williams hit Gary Clark for a 27-yard score to take the lead.
Williams was well protected behind an offensive line so talented that he had been sacked just once in the playoffs.
"If the offense line did what I’d like for them to do, and receivers did what they can do, I knew we could get back into it," said Williams, who played for the legendary Eddie Robinson. "I just had to get the ball back."
Denver, fading badly now, turned the ball over on a missed 43-yard field-goal attempt.
Williams and the Redskins still had seven minutes remaining before the half.
Two plays later, Smith ran 58 yards for a touchdown — his first score ever — and a 21-10 lead. He had just 126 regular-season yards, but 204 in this game alone.
Denver had worked all week on stopping the Redskins’ vaunted counter running play. It didn’t matter.
"‘Coach Rob’ used to say it’s all about blocking and tackling," Williams said. "If you block it right, they can’t stop you — and our line did that. We knew from a physical standpoint, we were the better football l team. That was proved as game went on."
That last touchdown had tied the Super Bowl record, set by San Francisco in XIX and Chicago in XX, of 21 points in a single quarter.
Washington needed just three more plays to score its fourth consecutive touchdown, as Williams hit Sanders on a 50-yard slant — tying a record for most TD receptions by a player in the Super Bowl.
"When everybody is working on all cylinders like that, it’s the epitome of execution," Williams said.
Washington, ahead now 28-10, stopped Elway on an interception in his subsequent possession.
Smith dashed 45 yards to set up Washington at the Broncos’ 35. Denver’s defenders were distracted, then deflated.
"You get he defense out of place, get them confused," Williams said. "All of a sudden they’re looking at each other, trying to make judgment calls. When they’re making all of these late changes, there is a chance that somebody is going to be out of place."
Williams’ fourth touchdown pass, tying another Super Bowl record, to Clint Didier extended Washington’s now insurmountable lead to 35-10.
TV announcer Frank Gifford, in a line that Williams can repeat from memory, said it best: "If this was a fight, they might stop it."
In 222 previous post-season games to that point, no NFL team had ever scored more points in a single quarter. Oakland came closest in 1968, putting up 28; the Giants scored 27 all the way back in 1934.
Williams ran into former Denver coach Dan Reeves this week. "He just shook his head and said: ‘That second quarter was a nightmare.’"
TOUCHING SO MANY LIVES
Washington only scored once more, preferring instead to run the ball in long, quarter-eating drives.
"We wanted to flatten this thing out and keep Elway off the field," Williams said. "You take time off clock, and make it a little more impossible."
Desperate to catch up, Elway began to take more chances, and Washington defenders feasted on multiple turnovers.
The enormity of the moment was becoming clear. A contest marked by personal firsts for Williams, the initial player in Super Bowl history to throw four touchdowns in a single quarter, and to throw four in a half, would have wider implications for African-Americans.
"It’s a great feeling when you realize that people still recognize you and are grateful for what you did," Williams said. "They’ll come up and say: ‘God bless you; you don’t know what you mean to us.’ That’s a great feeling to have that kind of impact."
The announcing team for Super Bowl XXII — Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Al Michaels – were a microcosm of that sudden revelation.
"Those guys were dumbfounded," Williams said, chuckling. "The last thing they expected was for it to be like that."
Elway was portrayed as the golden-boy sure thing, while Williams would be largely disregarded as an all but forgotten outsider. Too often, the conversation had entered on Williams’ race, rather than what his team did well.
"The problem with that Super Bowl was it wasn’t so much the game itself, as it was who the quarterbacks where," Williams said. "You had Doug Williams against John Elway, and we all know who’s going to win that game."
Williams’ performance, resilient and eye-popping in its complete efficiency, opened eyes and opened doors.
Two other black quarterbacks have followed Williams to the Super Bowl, though neither Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb or Tennessee’ Steve McNair would win.
"The opportunity now," Williams said, "is more than it was then."
Super Bowl XXII remains an afternoon where race relations achieved a rare vista — even if, at first, it started as just another football game.
"That day still has significance," Williams said, "because it touched so many people’s lives — not just as a fan but from an emotional standpoint. From a time when there was no black quarterbacks to winning it, so many older people talk about what that game meant."
In the smaller vernacular of sports, he’s the consummate underdog-made-good, too.
"When somebody is down and out," Williams said, "they’ll put that game in."
As he walked off that San Diego field, in a lingering image, Williams raised his helmet in triumph.
"I had been to place people only dream about," Williams said, still taking it in. "You don’t get to that point too often."
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The time that Grambling played McNeese at home
GSU-McNeese: Something's got to give
September 17, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Grambling State's quarterback is leading Division I-AA in total offense. McNeese State's pass defense is No. 2 in the nation.
Something's got to give on Saturday, as GSU - just days after an emotional win over the Southwestern Athletic Conference defending Eastern champion Alabama A&M - faces McNeese, Division I-AA's top-rated team, at home.
"I think it's good for Grambling," Grambling State coach Doug Williams said at his weekly news conference, "and I think it's good for the state of Louisiana to have this game here this weekend."
McNeese's 52-20 opening-night drubbing of the Tigers in Lake Charles changed the 2002 season for both.
GSU won the next 10 games on its way to a third straight SWAC title. The Cowboys would go on to become the national Division I-AA runner-up.
Turnovers and youthful mistakes contributed to the lopsided score, the Tigers' coach said.
"We're a much better team than we were last year at this time. In order to win against a team like McNeese," Williams said, "you can't afford to turn the ball over five times. We turned it over in positions where they could make plays and take advantage of it, too. At halftime, the score was 21-14. It wasn't like it was over with. The wheels came off in the second half."
The most significant difference for Grambling State is quarterback Bruce Eugene, who was benched after his flameout against the Cowboys last season. Eugene had completed just four passes on 22 attempts for 125 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, against McNeese State.
His second chance at starting came only after freshman Gary Cooper was injured in the second quarter of the Tigers' Week 2 matchup against Alcorn State.
Eugene went on become a Walter Payton Award Finalist and Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. In 13 games, Eugene averaged 342.7 yards a game.
He enters Saturday's contest as the team's starter under center - and its unquestioned leader. After accounting for five touchdowns for a second week, Eugene garnered his second consecutive SWAC player of the week honor. Individually, Eugene accounted for 458 offensive yards, more than the opponents' total - Alabama A&M had 367.
The McNeese State defense, meanwhile, is giving up just 67.7 yards per game in the air.
Again, something has to give. Williams seems thrilled at the challenge.
"Yesterday, we talked about the impact of this game," Williams said. "We feel like, in I-AA football, this is the biggest game in the country. There's the LSU-Georgia game, then there's the McNeese-Grambling game. It's a good matchup."
Morgan is a kick: Junior GSU kicker Brian Morgan was named SWAC specialist player of the week after going 6-for-6 in point-after attempts and adding a 21-yard field goal.
"Morgan is kicking the ball better now than he did as a freshman - when he was a phenom," Williams said.
Morgan was named SWAC freshman of the year in 2001. His nine points on Saturday were part of a 45-14 victory over Alabama A&M in a rematch of the 2000 and 2002 SWAC championship games.
If it's possible, Morgan played an even bigger role in Monday's practices - generally a tough outing where the team works on conditioning through rigorous running drills.
Williams told the team that if Morgan made a 52-yard field goal, they could stop the drills.
"Everybody ran up to Brian and hugged him," Williams said. "They knew it was over."
It was: "Morgan hit it."
A funny show, period: Williams was a guest on the FOX network's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Monday night, sitting in front of a case filled with momentos from his successful turn as coach at Grambling State.
"Are you sitting in a trophy store?" co-host Tom Arnold joked, upon seeing several shiny pieces behind Williams - including one his three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships.
The segment began with a short discussion on the fading hopes that suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett would consider a transfer to GSU. But it took a predictably humorous turn when a housefly continued to buzz the former Super Bowl MVP's head.
"I must be too sweet!" Williams joked on the program, which aired at 8 p.m. Monday.
The next day, he was still chuckling about the segment, filmed before practice on campus.
"Did you see me fighting that fly?" he said. "That was crazy."
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This season, GSU is settled in
· Tigers' game with McNeese State in 2002 came at a bad time - the season opener.
September 19, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Somebody was going to say it. We knew that.
Might as well be Grambling State coach Doug Williams: "What a difference a year makes."
Division I-AA runner-up McNeese State travels to Grambling on Saturday as the Tigers try to avenge last year's Week 1 52-20 loss. Kickoff for GSU's home opener is set for 6:30 p.m. Both teams enter the rematch at 2-1, and both are ranked nationally in I-AA.
"The difference this year is that it's our fourth ballgame," Williams said. "Compare that to last year, where we only had seven guys who had started. Nobody knew which direction we were going. It was more of a wake-up call for us than anything."
While the Southwestern Athletic Conference champions continue a rebuilding process that had only just begun in 2002, their Saturday opponent isn't all that much different.
"If ain't broke," Williams said, pulling out another cliché, "don't fix it, you know? McNeese, I think, proved that they had an excellent football team by going to the championship game. They caught us early, and gave us a reason to go forward. Sometimes you need a wake-up call, and we got it."
The McNeese offense is led by junior quarterback Scott Pendarvis, who earned Southland Conference player of the week honors for his opening-night performance this year against Henderson State.
"McNeese is a team that makes very few mistakes," said GSU offensive coordinator Melvin Spears. "They are a very controlled, possession-type offense - with an outstanding defense. They force you to make mistakes, then they capitalize."
The Cowboys balance their attack with senior tailback Vick King.
"Their tailback is an excellent runner," said Tiger defensive coordinator Heishma Northern. "He runs hard and low to the ground - and never stops his feet."
King was honored as the SLC's offensive player of the week after rushing for 147 yards against Georgia Southern last Saturday - pushing his career total to 2,145 yards and becoming the No. 8 runner in school history.
"The quarterback throws the ball no more than 18-20 times, then they want to give it to Vick King," Spears said. "That's where they want it to be, in King's hands."
The Cowboys, coached by McNeese graduate Tommy Tate, succeeded last season, Williams said, by utilizing a wicked bootleg. "We were not able to cope with that," he said. "We had a bunch of young linebackers who hadn't seen it."
Grambling's defense has been working on a more controlled rush, stressing awareness of the passing lanes.
"A lot of people try to attack us with boots, because we are so aggressive," Northern said. "San Jose and Alcorn did a good job with the shuttle pass. Hopefully, we can have a night like we had against (Alabama) A&M again."
The Tigers so confused and rattled the Bulldogs' starter that Timothy Robinson was benched at the half.
Defensively, the Cowboys are led by All-American linebacker Roderick Royal, tackle John Paul Jones and linebacker Keith Smith.
"We're going up against one of the top pass defenses in the country," Williams said. "They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback up the middle."
In Lake Charles last year, Eugene completed just four passes for 125 yards, had two picks and was sacked three times. His debut against San Jose in 2003 was a similar debacle.
But, in both cases, he rebounded. Eugene has been responsible for six touchdown passes and four rushing scores in the last two weeks alone. He leads I-AA in total offense.
"McNeese may think we are approaching this as a revenge game, but we are approaching it the same way we approach every game - one by one," an understandably confident Eugene said. "We just happen to have McNeese in the fourth week. We've just got to go in and take care of business."
Tate has seen the progression.
"He's a better football player this year," the Cowboys' coach said of Eugene, "although last year, he was obviously a good player. He can throw the ball; he has receivers who can catch the ball with a lot of speed. He breaks tackles then throws the ball as far as he needs to. We'll have to contain the pocket against them."
Tiger bites: McNeese's Royal is one of 16 players who have been named to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list. The I-AA defensive honor is named after a former Grambling State player. … Sophomore GSU quarterback Gary Cooper - last year's starter at McNeese - made a rare appearance last week, mopping up in a lopsided win over Alabama A&M. He completed 1-of-2 passes for 4 yards in his first action since a September 2002 game against Tennessee State. … McNeese has not lost a game to the current members of the SWAC. The Cowboys are 3-0 against Prairie View A&M, 2-0 against Alcorn State and 1-0 vs. GSU.
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GSU defense to be tested again
September 20, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Expectations were already high for a Grambling State defense that senior linebacker Antoine Smith says had sometimes been accused of underachieving in 2002.
Then came a blowout 2003 season opener and the sudden departure of the Tigers' defensive coordinator, Michael Roach, due to personal reasons.
But the unit never faltered - and, truth be told, kept even the San Jose State contest close until a weary fourth quarter.
"We've overcome a lot of adversity," says Smith, who's been second in team tackles for the past two weeks. "And I believe we will continue to do that, because we have confidence. We have faith in our coach, that he will put us in the right position - and we have faith in each other."
The pressure cooker gets a little warmer for new coordinator Heishma Northern's unit today as Division I-AA's top-ranked team arrives for Grambling State's home opener. Kickoff against McNeese - which, like GSU, is 2-1 - is set for 6:30 p.m. at Robinson Stadium.
Through three games, the GSU defense has held opponents to just 17 total first-half points, allowing the offense to find its rhythm. That finally happened in Week 2, and the Tigers have won each game since.
"They got off to a shaky start, but they have improved a lot since then," says McNeese coach Tommy Tate, now in this fourth year with the Cowboys. "They are a very good football team, fast and physical."
A similar, smothering performance is required for Grambling State to have a chance at avenging last year's 52-20 opening-day loss against the Cowboys.
"They run the football well," says GSU head coach Doug Williams. "That's how they control the tempo. If you control the running back, you control the game. McNeese also does a great job with bootleg passes. We're getting better at stopping that."
Much of the credit for this unit's early success can be given to Northern. One of Williams' original hires, "Heish" had worked primarily with the defensive backs - where he had once been an All-Southwestern Athletic Conference performer at Southern University.
"He's a very good coach. He studies the game well," Smith says. "If we continue to hustle to the ball, wrap up and make good plays, we'll be fine."
Northern says team leaders like Smith, defensive tackles Joshua Kador and Jimmy Zachary and cornerback Octavius Bond have also helped solidify the group.
"Those guys," Northern says, "have done a tremendous job. The thing that separates us from last year is that we have some active guys with a little experience. Last year, we had active guys, but they didn't always know where they were going. That helps a lot."
But Northern's quiet intensity can't be discounted.
"Last week, he was a little more relaxed as a coordinator. I think he settled down," Williams says of Northern. "He realized that he can do this. He's been around Coach Roach and around these guys. I think he did a good job."
Northern points to Roach's open style of coaching as something that helped prepare him for the promotion to coordinator.
"Coach Roach would always let me call some defenses here and there," says Northern, whose impact as defensive backs coordinator at GSU was already clear: Last year, the Tigers were No. 4 in the nation in interceptions.
"It was kind of an apprenticeship role," Northern said. "He would always ask me what I thought about certain situations. I just have had a little bit more responsibility, in terms of calling all of the plays."
This week's contest against McNeese represents perhaps the steepest hill yet defensively for Grambling State: A smart, patient quarterback in Scott Pendarvis and, perhaps more importantly, an electrifying runner in Vick King. Each has been named a Southland Conference offensive player of the week already this season.
"A lot of people were waiting on the outcome of the (Alabama A&M) game for the same reason," Williams said. "Some felt like with the running game of A&M, there was a question about whether we could stop them. I think the defense, especially the front seven, did an excellent job on a guy that can really run the football."
A&M's Jeremiah Bonds, who had exploded for 261 yards in just two games, was neutralized. Take away a broken play of 60 yards, and Bonds ran for just 57 yards last week. The defense also held the Bulldogs' two quarterbacks to 23 completions combined.
"This is great time to play McNeese. We're starting to come together," says Smith. "I believe it's going to be a great game. When we have the mindset of being champions, despite whatever goes on, we succeed."
Lining up@GSU
GRAMBLING OFFENSE
TE Gershone Jessie (6-4, 250, Sr.)
LT Jonathan Banks (6-8, 360, So.)
LG Aqua Etefia (6-2, 315, Jr.)
C Lance Wright (6-0, 300, Jr.)
RG Darryl Rogers (6-5, 300, Jr.)
RT Andre' Bennett (6-6, 330, So.)
QB Bruce Eugene (6-1, 245, Jr.)
TB Henry Tolbert (5-9, 180, So.)
FB Ruben Mayes (6-2, 245, Fr.)
WR Moses Harris (6-0, 180, Jr.)
WR Tramon Douglas (6-0, 205, Sr.)
PK Brian Morgan (5-1, 185, Jr.)
GRAMBLING DEFENSE
DE Antonio Hughes (6-3, 230, So.)
DT Jimmy Zachary (6-2, 300, Jr.)
DT Lennard Patton (6-4, 300, Jr.)
DE Kenneth Pettway (6-4, 235, Sr.)
LB David Hicks (6-3, 225, So.)
LB Marcus Yanez (6-0, 235, Jr.)
LB Antoine Smith (6-2, 200, Sr.)
CB Octavius Bond (6-1, 207, Sr.)
CB Seneca Lee (6-0, 195, Sr.)
FS Earin Bridges (6-1, 185, Sr.)
SS Terry Cooper (6-3, 195, So.)
P Darien Morgan (6-0, 195, So.)
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Defeat proves aura of GSU
September 21, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Sometimes there's honor in losing. This was one of those times.
Grambling State could have safely scheduled this year, secure in the knowledge that the Southwestern Athletic Conference awaited it. The same Southwestern Athletic Conference that it has dominated for three years straight.
But the Tigers chose to take this test, a test they were doing well on - until a couple of late errors from quarterback Bruce Eugene, a guy who hadn't made any all night.
"We knew our team needed to win this game," senior GSU receiver Tramon Douglas said. "We wanted to step up and show that Grambling could play with the best of them."
Take away two late interceptions, and the Tigers might have won.
But, much more importantly, take away this loss to McNeese State and several questions would never have been answered about Grambling State.
The Tigers showed they belonged in the top tier of Division I-AA on Saturday, pushing the No. 1 team to its limit. GSU fell late, 31-20.
"I look at it from the perspective that we should have had respect from the start," Tigers coach Doug Williams said. "Unfortunately, one or two people write what they feel - but we didn't play for respect. We played to win."
Still, there has always been the lingering question of how Grambling State compared with the football powers outside of that home conference. This was one of those times.
While other teams participate in the first week of the Division I-AA playoffs, the Tigers are always in New Orleans for the tradition- and cash-rich playing of the Bayou Classic.
Grambling State answered those questions on Saturday night.
"McNeese came here as the No. 1 team in I-AA," Williams said. "It was the first time that a predominantly white school had come to Grambling. I think it was great; the fans got their money's worth from this football game."
Some might question why GSU - an acknowledged champion in its own realm - would even chance such a moment at home.
"When you look at our schedule, I think Coach Williams has done a great job of getting us the kind of competition where, in the end, we will be stronger," GSU offensive coordinator Melvin Spears said. "We will be able to better defend our national black championship."
Still, it's not like Grambling State isn't used to the big game. Every game is big when you carry the history - both legendary and recent - of these Tigers.
"The thing about being at Grambling is, we have a bull's-eye on us," Spears said. "Every week, everyone brings their 'A' game - because everybody wants to beat Grambling. Every team, whether it's Prairie View or McNeese."
The teams that ought to win want another notch in their belt. The teams who shouldn't? Well, a season can be made for a 1-11 club - if that one win is against GSU.
"They are not really looking at our team as a whole, but at the history of this institution - those outstanding players and outstanding teams that Coach Eddie Robinson always had," Spears said. "Based on that, it's always going to be a big game. Then, with the success that Coach Williams has had in the past three years, everybody wants a piece of you just that much more."
That furious intensity meant the game was in doubt until the very last.
McNeese succeeded early by taking advantage of Grambling's aggressive tendencies, allowing it to overcommit. But the Cowboys didn't capitalize, and Grambling's offense gathered itself to pull ahead 13-6 at the half.
The old Cowboys strategy of mixing it up had instant success on the first drive of the second half. McNeese State quarterback Scott Pendarvis capped a 10-play, 74-yard opening drive with a 15-yard pass to fullback Luke Lawton to move the Cowboys ahead - but barely, 14-13.
McNeese State's Roderick Royal was seen stalking the sidelines, exhorting his teammates not to take the Tigers so lightly.
"They were shellshocked," Douglas said. "When they went in at halftime, they realized they had to play."
For the second week in a row, Grambling State saw a different opposing quarterback in the second half. McNeese pulled Pendarvis in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, inserting Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ryan Corcoran. Corcoran then led a drive that ended with a 3-yard scoring strike by runner Vick King, pulling the Cowboys back ahead by one, 21-20.
Pendarvis returned after the score, leading McNeese to a John Marino field goal that made it 24-20.
It's only then that a mistake by Grambling State - this Eugene pass, once surely a touchdown, would pop up in the air and turn the contest inalterably.
"We would have proved something if we had won," Douglas said. "They think they are better than us, because they won. One play made the difference."
While Grambling scored the same number of points as it had in last year's season-opening loss to McNeese, the outcome was far different this time.
"The one thing that it tells us is that, in Louisiana, we play excellent football," Spears said. "When you can have McNeese State and Grambling playing each other, and both in the top 10, that tells you this state has outstanding programs."
These two teams gained a measure of respect for one another - as evidenced by McNeese State coach Tommy Tate, last seen embracing a shaken Eugene at midfield after the game.
They both looked spent.
"Coach Tate would be the first to tell you, he was in a dog fight," Williams said.
You rarely find a team that should be proud of a loss.
This was one of those times.
Nick Deriso is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. Fourth St., Monroe, La., 71201. An online archive of his columns is at www.thenewsstar.com/nickderiso. You can contact him at (318) 362-0234 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
GAMEBREAKER
· McNeese State completed a third-and-10 from its own 14 late in the game to hold on.
GAME RECAP
GOOD PLAY
Grambling quarterback Bruce Eugene found receiver Tramon Douglas in the left corner of the end zone with a perfect fade pass for a 15-yard score to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead in the second quarter. Douglas was double-covered on the play as he made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch.
BAD PLAY
With 12:59 left in the second quarter, McNeese faced a third-and-16 at its own 16. The Cowboys' pass was incomplete, but the Tigers were flagged for defensive holding, giving McNeese an automatic first down.
GOOD CALL
After opening the game on its first two drives in three- and four-wide receiver sets and not running one rushing play, Grambling switched to the I formation and started running the ball. The switch seemed to catch McNeese offguard. Grambling had some success running and went back to the pass on the drive, which led to its first score of the game.
SOMETHING SPECIAL
It was a tough night for Grambling kicker Brian Morgan. Morgan missed an extra point, a 41-yard field goal and also had a kickoff go out of bounds.
BIG HIT
McNeese faced a fourth-and-1 at the Grambling 31 with 8:13 left in the second quarter. The Cowboys tried to run fullback Luke Lawton up the middle, but Grambling linebacker John Petty fired across and drilled Lawton for a 2-yard loss.
EXTRA POINT
Grambling set three school records Saturday. Quarterback Bruce Eugene set two records for completions in a game (36) and attempts in a game (68). Receiver Tramon Douglas set a record for receptions in a game with 17.
- Nick Deriso
JUST THE FACTS
GRAMBLING - A record-breaking day for Grambling State receiver Tramon Douglas against McNeese State dissolved into a heart-breaker, as the Tigers fell behind late and never recovered.
GSU lost 31-20, despite remaining within one score most of the way - and despite Douglas' setting a new school record with 17 receptions.
Grambling State quarterback Bruce Eugene had two first-half touchdown passes, both for 16 yards, to Douglas. He added another 15-yarder 10 minutes into the second half.
But it was a final pass try to Eugene that finished the Tigers, as the ball bounced from his hands into those of waiting McNeese defender Stephen Barrett.
McNeese State tailback Vick King then broke a 60-yard scoring run on the ensuing possession that sealed the game, 31-20.
"It came down to one pass," said Douglas, a senior All-American. "It was behind me, but I got a finger on it - and couldn't bring it in. I'd like to apologize to the team."
King finished with three touchdowns on the night. He ran 30 times for 215 yards.
"We had our opportunities," sixth-year GSU coach Doug Williams said. "Bruce missed one or two touchdowns. We dropped one or two touchdowns. We have no one to blame but ourselves."
A 16-yard catch by West Monroe High product Marcus Turner keyed the opening score of the game for McNeese. King broke free after a terrific cutback, scampering through a seam in the Tigers defense for a 31-yard touchdown.
Then a 19-yard pass to Neville High product Tim Abney set up Grambling State's first points of the game - a 16-yard touchdown strike from Eugene to Douglas one minute into the second quarter. Brian Morgan missed the extra point.
A stop on a fourth-and-1 midway through the second stalled a McNeese drive that included a 30-yard completion to B.J. Sams on third and 31. GSU linebacker John Petty smacked McNeese fullback Luke Lawton in the backfield for a two-yard loss at the Grambling 33.
But then Grambling State couldn't convert on its own fourth-and-1 with 5:32 left in the half. Sophomore runner Ab Kuaan was stopped short, giving the Cowboys the ball back at the McNeese 38.
Morgan made the extra point on his second try, as Grambling moved ahead 13-7 just before the half on a second Eugene touchdown pass to Douglas.
Pendarvis started the second half with an opening-drive scoring pass to Lawton, but Grambling State answered with another Eugene-to-Douglas TD.
Morgan's tough night continued when he missed a 41-yard field goal with one minute left in the third quarter.
King's final scoring run sent most of the estimated 17,485 fans in attendance toward the exits with 1:50 left.
- Nick Deriso
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McNeese St. won't be on GSU schedules in near future
September 22, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Grambling State coach Doug Williams admitted that the two games against McNeese State were thrilling nights of football.
It took a fourth-quarter turnover on Saturday to decide the contest. Even last year's game, an eventual blowout, was 21-14 at the half.
So, can fans look forward to a regular series meeting between the Cowboys and Tigers?
"No," Williams said, after losing to McNeese 31-20 at Robinson Stadium. "We took our shot at it, but I think now we have some other opportunities that we've got to look at. We do like to travel. We do like to go to Classics."
The fact that Saturday's game didn't sell out isn't a factor in renewing the contract.
"Tonight, it didn't matter," he said. "With McNeese coming here, being the No. 1, coming here, I think it was great."
Williams says that GSU has already contacted other schools about the date that McNeese State has filled for the past two seasons.
"There's a Classic that we have a possibility of playing in next year," Williams said. "It will either be this date or next. We are open next week."
He confirmed that those discussions include San Jose State, which held the very successful Literary Classic for the first time with the Tigers to open the season.
Missed tackle, missed opportunity: Turnovers again keyed McNeese State's win - though the Tigers did a better job in the rematch than they had in last year's blowout loss.
The 52-20 loss in Lake Charles featured five turnovers, while Saturday's loss only included two.
The difference in 2003 was the timing of the first mistake, as Grambling State was deep in the Cowboys territory, with a chance for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
"We turned it over at a very, very crucial time," Williams said.
But, with 4:30 left in the ballgame and down by only four points, Williams adds that the team still had a chance.
That is, until Grambling State defenders missed a key tackle on the ensuing possession, when the Cowboys were facing third-and-10. MSU's B.J. Sams converted with a 16-yard catch - setting up runner Vick King's 60-yard scoring run to seal the win three plays later.
"That wasn't a tackle. It was a body block," Williams said. "It's nobody's fault but ours. You've got to wrap up. If we tackle Sams, it's fourth down - and we get another shot."
Sharing the wealth: Calvin Colquitt, last week's leading receiver for GSU, missed the game because of injury - though Williams said the Tigers have enough emerging weapons like Tim Abney and Chris Day to account for his absence.
"I think the guys that can fill in played big," he said. "And that's the good thing about this football team. The guy that everybody watches is Tramon Douglas - and he still sets a record."
While Douglas set a new school mark against McNeese State with 17 catches, Moses Harris and Abney added another 12. Day had just two catches, but averaged 11.5 yards on each.
Seven different receivers touched the ball against the Cowboys, a week after Eugene passed to nine Tigers against Alabama A&M.
"Abney is making some big plays," Williams said. When you have guys like that who you can spread the ball around to, it makes it difficult for defenses."
Eugene rebounds in rematch: Bruce Eugene, despite the late turnovers, redeemed his shaky game last year against McNeese State.
"That was his first game to start," Williams said. "He got a whole year under his belt. It makes a difference when you've got a trigger man who has seen it."
Eugene finished 36-for-68 (both new school records) with 397 yards in the air and three touchdown passes. He also rushed eight times for 44 yards on Saturday.
Compare that with the 2002 loss to McNeese: 4-for-22 with just 125 yards in the air. He had two scores, and two interceptions. Eugene also ran seven times, but for a shocking minus-16 total.
Tiger bites: Grambling's offensive line didn't allow any sacks by the Cowboys. … Williams is not a big fan of the old-fashioned moral victory: "It's hard to take too much positive out of it, when you lose," he said. "But I've got to give the team a lot of credit. To sit here and say I'm not proud of the way they played? That wouldn't be fair to them." … McNeese State's King rushed for a career-high 215 yards.
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Ball control
GSU's Tramon Douglas does it all again, finally
September 24, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - A record-breaking receiving day for Grambling State's Tramon Douglas, in the end, didn't mean that much to him.
"I would rather have one catch and we win, than have all those catches in a loss," the senior receiver said. GSU fell 31-20 to McNeese State on Saturday, while Douglas set a new school mark with 17 grabs.
What it meant to the team, however, is something else entirely: As goes Douglas, so goes Grambling State.
And, like the offense, Douglas started slowly.
"He's giving us everything he has. He's made some tough catches for us," says Tigers coach Doug Williams. "But that little bruise on his knee hasn't always let him be Tramon Douglas."
He's talking about the Tramon Douglas who averaged nearly eight catches a game in his All-American junior season at Grambling State - on his way to breaking Jerry Rice's Southwestern Athletic Conference single-season receiving yards record with 1,704 yards.
After an opening loss in 2002 against McNeese, when Douglas had only one catch, the Tigers reeled off 10 straight wins - on the way to a third-straight SWAC championship.
But Douglas didn't practice much during the summer, hobbled by that nagging knee problem. The week before GSU's season opener, he wasn't even in pads at practice.
Douglas, of course, started - but again wasn't a factor in Grambling State's second-straight season-opening thrashing, pulling in just two catches for 30 yards as the Tigers were blanked 29-0.
"He's working hard every day. He's not sitting down on it," Williams says. "It's not that anything is torn. It's just one of those bruises that you can't shake."
The loss underscored the complementary nature of Douglas' success and that of his quarterback.
The longer it took Douglas to get healthy, the longer it clearly would take for Bruce Eugene to get on track this year.
The Tigers' impressive showing in this year's rematch against McNeese, the nation's top-ranked Division I-AA school, is just the latest example.
Douglas's 17 catches - only two fewer than all of the other GSU receivers combined - served to keep the game whisker-close until the very end. He broke the previous school record of 16 set by former wideout Nate Singleton against Virginia Union on Sept. 14, 1991.
"I knew the team needed me this game," Douglas says. "I wanted to step up and show them that Grambling can play with the best of them."
He was rewarded with the most rare of honors: Douglas has been named one of The Sports Network's Division I-AA players of the week - the first from the SWAC to receive that designation this season. He also was named one of I-AA.org's All-Stars and the SWAC's co-offensive player of the week.
Something interesting happened, however, as Douglas slowly found his footing.
Grambling State discovered some of its other receivers: Eugene threw to an astounding nine different people in a win over Alabama A&M - including scoring passes to juniors Moses Harris and Chris Day.
"The good part about it is, Moses Harris made some good plays for us," Williams says. "Tim Abney is making tough catches. We're getting a lot of people involved. I was glad to see Chris Day score a TD; that helped his confidence level."
While Douglas was smashing records against McNeese State, Harris and breakout freshman star Abney piled up 125 yards receiving combined.
"We knew coming into this, after Tramon had a breakout season last year, that he wasn't going to be able to get as many passes," Eugene says. "Our focus has been to get other people open, then come to Tramon. So far this year, that's what's been happening."
Still, without his go-to guy, Eugene sometimes looked tentative in the first two games - like he was thinking too much.
"You can't depend on just one guy," Williams says he told Eugene. "He was feeling it. You can't just look Tramon's way, especially when he's not there."
Then that first touchdown finally came - with nine seconds left in the half in Week 2 at Lorman, Miss. The 20-yarder was hauled in, of course, by Douglas.
Grambling State has played better every successive quarter since.
"The fact that Tramon is still not 100 percent has hampered us in certain situations," says Tigers offensive coordinator Melvin Spears. "Overall, though, we've got some guys who can come along. It's just that Bruce has to be a little more patient. Mechanically, he still was not always in a good throwing position. A lot of his pre-snap routine wasn't as good as it has been."
After having scored just that one touchdown in the previous game and a half, Eugene and the Tigers then exploded for 12 scores in the next eight quarters of play.
Eugene-to-Douglas accounts for five of them. Eugene has run in four more by himself.
And so it goes.
"It slowed him down, but one thing about Tramon: He's a fighter. He'll never quit. He'll never give up," Eugene says, sounding ever more confident. "Although the knee isn't 100 percent, he's still going to be out there giving it his all. We're grateful for that."
September 17, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Grambling State's quarterback is leading Division I-AA in total offense. McNeese State's pass defense is No. 2 in the nation.
Something's got to give on Saturday, as GSU - just days after an emotional win over the Southwestern Athletic Conference defending Eastern champion Alabama A&M - faces McNeese, Division I-AA's top-rated team, at home.
"I think it's good for Grambling," Grambling State coach Doug Williams said at his weekly news conference, "and I think it's good for the state of Louisiana to have this game here this weekend."
McNeese's 52-20 opening-night drubbing of the Tigers in Lake Charles changed the 2002 season for both.
GSU won the next 10 games on its way to a third straight SWAC title. The Cowboys would go on to become the national Division I-AA runner-up.
Turnovers and youthful mistakes contributed to the lopsided score, the Tigers' coach said.
"We're a much better team than we were last year at this time. In order to win against a team like McNeese," Williams said, "you can't afford to turn the ball over five times. We turned it over in positions where they could make plays and take advantage of it, too. At halftime, the score was 21-14. It wasn't like it was over with. The wheels came off in the second half."
The most significant difference for Grambling State is quarterback Bruce Eugene, who was benched after his flameout against the Cowboys last season. Eugene had completed just four passes on 22 attempts for 125 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, against McNeese State.
His second chance at starting came only after freshman Gary Cooper was injured in the second quarter of the Tigers' Week 2 matchup against Alcorn State.
Eugene went on become a Walter Payton Award Finalist and Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. In 13 games, Eugene averaged 342.7 yards a game.
He enters Saturday's contest as the team's starter under center - and its unquestioned leader. After accounting for five touchdowns for a second week, Eugene garnered his second consecutive SWAC player of the week honor. Individually, Eugene accounted for 458 offensive yards, more than the opponents' total - Alabama A&M had 367.
The McNeese State defense, meanwhile, is giving up just 67.7 yards per game in the air.
Again, something has to give. Williams seems thrilled at the challenge.
"Yesterday, we talked about the impact of this game," Williams said. "We feel like, in I-AA football, this is the biggest game in the country. There's the LSU-Georgia game, then there's the McNeese-Grambling game. It's a good matchup."
Morgan is a kick: Junior GSU kicker Brian Morgan was named SWAC specialist player of the week after going 6-for-6 in point-after attempts and adding a 21-yard field goal.
"Morgan is kicking the ball better now than he did as a freshman - when he was a phenom," Williams said.
Morgan was named SWAC freshman of the year in 2001. His nine points on Saturday were part of a 45-14 victory over Alabama A&M in a rematch of the 2000 and 2002 SWAC championship games.
If it's possible, Morgan played an even bigger role in Monday's practices - generally a tough outing where the team works on conditioning through rigorous running drills.
Williams told the team that if Morgan made a 52-yard field goal, they could stop the drills.
"Everybody ran up to Brian and hugged him," Williams said. "They knew it was over."
It was: "Morgan hit it."
A funny show, period: Williams was a guest on the FOX network's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Monday night, sitting in front of a case filled with momentos from his successful turn as coach at Grambling State.
"Are you sitting in a trophy store?" co-host Tom Arnold joked, upon seeing several shiny pieces behind Williams - including one his three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships.
The segment began with a short discussion on the fading hopes that suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett would consider a transfer to GSU. But it took a predictably humorous turn when a housefly continued to buzz the former Super Bowl MVP's head.
"I must be too sweet!" Williams joked on the program, which aired at 8 p.m. Monday.
The next day, he was still chuckling about the segment, filmed before practice on campus.
"Did you see me fighting that fly?" he said. "That was crazy."
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This season, GSU is settled in
· Tigers' game with McNeese State in 2002 came at a bad time - the season opener.
September 19, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Somebody was going to say it. We knew that.
Might as well be Grambling State coach Doug Williams: "What a difference a year makes."
Division I-AA runner-up McNeese State travels to Grambling on Saturday as the Tigers try to avenge last year's Week 1 52-20 loss. Kickoff for GSU's home opener is set for 6:30 p.m. Both teams enter the rematch at 2-1, and both are ranked nationally in I-AA.
"The difference this year is that it's our fourth ballgame," Williams said. "Compare that to last year, where we only had seven guys who had started. Nobody knew which direction we were going. It was more of a wake-up call for us than anything."
While the Southwestern Athletic Conference champions continue a rebuilding process that had only just begun in 2002, their Saturday opponent isn't all that much different.
"If ain't broke," Williams said, pulling out another cliché, "don't fix it, you know? McNeese, I think, proved that they had an excellent football team by going to the championship game. They caught us early, and gave us a reason to go forward. Sometimes you need a wake-up call, and we got it."
The McNeese offense is led by junior quarterback Scott Pendarvis, who earned Southland Conference player of the week honors for his opening-night performance this year against Henderson State.
"McNeese is a team that makes very few mistakes," said GSU offensive coordinator Melvin Spears. "They are a very controlled, possession-type offense - with an outstanding defense. They force you to make mistakes, then they capitalize."
The Cowboys balance their attack with senior tailback Vick King.
"Their tailback is an excellent runner," said Tiger defensive coordinator Heishma Northern. "He runs hard and low to the ground - and never stops his feet."
King was honored as the SLC's offensive player of the week after rushing for 147 yards against Georgia Southern last Saturday - pushing his career total to 2,145 yards and becoming the No. 8 runner in school history.
"The quarterback throws the ball no more than 18-20 times, then they want to give it to Vick King," Spears said. "That's where they want it to be, in King's hands."
The Cowboys, coached by McNeese graduate Tommy Tate, succeeded last season, Williams said, by utilizing a wicked bootleg. "We were not able to cope with that," he said. "We had a bunch of young linebackers who hadn't seen it."
Grambling's defense has been working on a more controlled rush, stressing awareness of the passing lanes.
"A lot of people try to attack us with boots, because we are so aggressive," Northern said. "San Jose and Alcorn did a good job with the shuttle pass. Hopefully, we can have a night like we had against (Alabama) A&M again."
The Tigers so confused and rattled the Bulldogs' starter that Timothy Robinson was benched at the half.
Defensively, the Cowboys are led by All-American linebacker Roderick Royal, tackle John Paul Jones and linebacker Keith Smith.
"We're going up against one of the top pass defenses in the country," Williams said. "They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback up the middle."
In Lake Charles last year, Eugene completed just four passes for 125 yards, had two picks and was sacked three times. His debut against San Jose in 2003 was a similar debacle.
But, in both cases, he rebounded. Eugene has been responsible for six touchdown passes and four rushing scores in the last two weeks alone. He leads I-AA in total offense.
"McNeese may think we are approaching this as a revenge game, but we are approaching it the same way we approach every game - one by one," an understandably confident Eugene said. "We just happen to have McNeese in the fourth week. We've just got to go in and take care of business."
Tate has seen the progression.
"He's a better football player this year," the Cowboys' coach said of Eugene, "although last year, he was obviously a good player. He can throw the ball; he has receivers who can catch the ball with a lot of speed. He breaks tackles then throws the ball as far as he needs to. We'll have to contain the pocket against them."
Tiger bites: McNeese's Royal is one of 16 players who have been named to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list. The I-AA defensive honor is named after a former Grambling State player. … Sophomore GSU quarterback Gary Cooper - last year's starter at McNeese - made a rare appearance last week, mopping up in a lopsided win over Alabama A&M. He completed 1-of-2 passes for 4 yards in his first action since a September 2002 game against Tennessee State. … McNeese has not lost a game to the current members of the SWAC. The Cowboys are 3-0 against Prairie View A&M, 2-0 against Alcorn State and 1-0 vs. GSU.
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GSU defense to be tested again
September 20, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Expectations were already high for a Grambling State defense that senior linebacker Antoine Smith says had sometimes been accused of underachieving in 2002.
Then came a blowout 2003 season opener and the sudden departure of the Tigers' defensive coordinator, Michael Roach, due to personal reasons.
But the unit never faltered - and, truth be told, kept even the San Jose State contest close until a weary fourth quarter.
"We've overcome a lot of adversity," says Smith, who's been second in team tackles for the past two weeks. "And I believe we will continue to do that, because we have confidence. We have faith in our coach, that he will put us in the right position - and we have faith in each other."
The pressure cooker gets a little warmer for new coordinator Heishma Northern's unit today as Division I-AA's top-ranked team arrives for Grambling State's home opener. Kickoff against McNeese - which, like GSU, is 2-1 - is set for 6:30 p.m. at Robinson Stadium.
Through three games, the GSU defense has held opponents to just 17 total first-half points, allowing the offense to find its rhythm. That finally happened in Week 2, and the Tigers have won each game since.
"They got off to a shaky start, but they have improved a lot since then," says McNeese coach Tommy Tate, now in this fourth year with the Cowboys. "They are a very good football team, fast and physical."
A similar, smothering performance is required for Grambling State to have a chance at avenging last year's 52-20 opening-day loss against the Cowboys.
"They run the football well," says GSU head coach Doug Williams. "That's how they control the tempo. If you control the running back, you control the game. McNeese also does a great job with bootleg passes. We're getting better at stopping that."
Much of the credit for this unit's early success can be given to Northern. One of Williams' original hires, "Heish" had worked primarily with the defensive backs - where he had once been an All-Southwestern Athletic Conference performer at Southern University.
"He's a very good coach. He studies the game well," Smith says. "If we continue to hustle to the ball, wrap up and make good plays, we'll be fine."
Northern says team leaders like Smith, defensive tackles Joshua Kador and Jimmy Zachary and cornerback Octavius Bond have also helped solidify the group.
"Those guys," Northern says, "have done a tremendous job. The thing that separates us from last year is that we have some active guys with a little experience. Last year, we had active guys, but they didn't always know where they were going. That helps a lot."
But Northern's quiet intensity can't be discounted.
"Last week, he was a little more relaxed as a coordinator. I think he settled down," Williams says of Northern. "He realized that he can do this. He's been around Coach Roach and around these guys. I think he did a good job."
Northern points to Roach's open style of coaching as something that helped prepare him for the promotion to coordinator.
"Coach Roach would always let me call some defenses here and there," says Northern, whose impact as defensive backs coordinator at GSU was already clear: Last year, the Tigers were No. 4 in the nation in interceptions.
"It was kind of an apprenticeship role," Northern said. "He would always ask me what I thought about certain situations. I just have had a little bit more responsibility, in terms of calling all of the plays."
This week's contest against McNeese represents perhaps the steepest hill yet defensively for Grambling State: A smart, patient quarterback in Scott Pendarvis and, perhaps more importantly, an electrifying runner in Vick King. Each has been named a Southland Conference offensive player of the week already this season.
"A lot of people were waiting on the outcome of the (Alabama A&M) game for the same reason," Williams said. "Some felt like with the running game of A&M, there was a question about whether we could stop them. I think the defense, especially the front seven, did an excellent job on a guy that can really run the football."
A&M's Jeremiah Bonds, who had exploded for 261 yards in just two games, was neutralized. Take away a broken play of 60 yards, and Bonds ran for just 57 yards last week. The defense also held the Bulldogs' two quarterbacks to 23 completions combined.
"This is great time to play McNeese. We're starting to come together," says Smith. "I believe it's going to be a great game. When we have the mindset of being champions, despite whatever goes on, we succeed."
Lining up@GSU
GRAMBLING OFFENSE
TE Gershone Jessie (6-4, 250, Sr.)
LT Jonathan Banks (6-8, 360, So.)
LG Aqua Etefia (6-2, 315, Jr.)
C Lance Wright (6-0, 300, Jr.)
RG Darryl Rogers (6-5, 300, Jr.)
RT Andre' Bennett (6-6, 330, So.)
QB Bruce Eugene (6-1, 245, Jr.)
TB Henry Tolbert (5-9, 180, So.)
FB Ruben Mayes (6-2, 245, Fr.)
WR Moses Harris (6-0, 180, Jr.)
WR Tramon Douglas (6-0, 205, Sr.)
PK Brian Morgan (5-1, 185, Jr.)
GRAMBLING DEFENSE
DE Antonio Hughes (6-3, 230, So.)
DT Jimmy Zachary (6-2, 300, Jr.)
DT Lennard Patton (6-4, 300, Jr.)
DE Kenneth Pettway (6-4, 235, Sr.)
LB David Hicks (6-3, 225, So.)
LB Marcus Yanez (6-0, 235, Jr.)
LB Antoine Smith (6-2, 200, Sr.)
CB Octavius Bond (6-1, 207, Sr.)
CB Seneca Lee (6-0, 195, Sr.)
FS Earin Bridges (6-1, 185, Sr.)
SS Terry Cooper (6-3, 195, So.)
P Darien Morgan (6-0, 195, So.)
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Defeat proves aura of GSU
September 21, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Sometimes there's honor in losing. This was one of those times.
Grambling State could have safely scheduled this year, secure in the knowledge that the Southwestern Athletic Conference awaited it. The same Southwestern Athletic Conference that it has dominated for three years straight.
But the Tigers chose to take this test, a test they were doing well on - until a couple of late errors from quarterback Bruce Eugene, a guy who hadn't made any all night.
"We knew our team needed to win this game," senior GSU receiver Tramon Douglas said. "We wanted to step up and show that Grambling could play with the best of them."
Take away two late interceptions, and the Tigers might have won.
But, much more importantly, take away this loss to McNeese State and several questions would never have been answered about Grambling State.
The Tigers showed they belonged in the top tier of Division I-AA on Saturday, pushing the No. 1 team to its limit. GSU fell late, 31-20.
"I look at it from the perspective that we should have had respect from the start," Tigers coach Doug Williams said. "Unfortunately, one or two people write what they feel - but we didn't play for respect. We played to win."
Still, there has always been the lingering question of how Grambling State compared with the football powers outside of that home conference. This was one of those times.
While other teams participate in the first week of the Division I-AA playoffs, the Tigers are always in New Orleans for the tradition- and cash-rich playing of the Bayou Classic.
Grambling State answered those questions on Saturday night.
"McNeese came here as the No. 1 team in I-AA," Williams said. "It was the first time that a predominantly white school had come to Grambling. I think it was great; the fans got their money's worth from this football game."
Some might question why GSU - an acknowledged champion in its own realm - would even chance such a moment at home.
"When you look at our schedule, I think Coach Williams has done a great job of getting us the kind of competition where, in the end, we will be stronger," GSU offensive coordinator Melvin Spears said. "We will be able to better defend our national black championship."
Still, it's not like Grambling State isn't used to the big game. Every game is big when you carry the history - both legendary and recent - of these Tigers.
"The thing about being at Grambling is, we have a bull's-eye on us," Spears said. "Every week, everyone brings their 'A' game - because everybody wants to beat Grambling. Every team, whether it's Prairie View or McNeese."
The teams that ought to win want another notch in their belt. The teams who shouldn't? Well, a season can be made for a 1-11 club - if that one win is against GSU.
"They are not really looking at our team as a whole, but at the history of this institution - those outstanding players and outstanding teams that Coach Eddie Robinson always had," Spears said. "Based on that, it's always going to be a big game. Then, with the success that Coach Williams has had in the past three years, everybody wants a piece of you just that much more."
That furious intensity meant the game was in doubt until the very last.
McNeese succeeded early by taking advantage of Grambling's aggressive tendencies, allowing it to overcommit. But the Cowboys didn't capitalize, and Grambling's offense gathered itself to pull ahead 13-6 at the half.
The old Cowboys strategy of mixing it up had instant success on the first drive of the second half. McNeese State quarterback Scott Pendarvis capped a 10-play, 74-yard opening drive with a 15-yard pass to fullback Luke Lawton to move the Cowboys ahead - but barely, 14-13.
McNeese State's Roderick Royal was seen stalking the sidelines, exhorting his teammates not to take the Tigers so lightly.
"They were shellshocked," Douglas said. "When they went in at halftime, they realized they had to play."
For the second week in a row, Grambling State saw a different opposing quarterback in the second half. McNeese pulled Pendarvis in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, inserting Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ryan Corcoran. Corcoran then led a drive that ended with a 3-yard scoring strike by runner Vick King, pulling the Cowboys back ahead by one, 21-20.
Pendarvis returned after the score, leading McNeese to a John Marino field goal that made it 24-20.
It's only then that a mistake by Grambling State - this Eugene pass, once surely a touchdown, would pop up in the air and turn the contest inalterably.
"We would have proved something if we had won," Douglas said. "They think they are better than us, because they won. One play made the difference."
While Grambling scored the same number of points as it had in last year's season-opening loss to McNeese, the outcome was far different this time.
"The one thing that it tells us is that, in Louisiana, we play excellent football," Spears said. "When you can have McNeese State and Grambling playing each other, and both in the top 10, that tells you this state has outstanding programs."
These two teams gained a measure of respect for one another - as evidenced by McNeese State coach Tommy Tate, last seen embracing a shaken Eugene at midfield after the game.
They both looked spent.
"Coach Tate would be the first to tell you, he was in a dog fight," Williams said.
You rarely find a team that should be proud of a loss.
This was one of those times.
Nick Deriso is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. Fourth St., Monroe, La., 71201. An online archive of his columns is at www.thenewsstar.com/nickderiso. You can contact him at (318) 362-0234 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
GAMEBREAKER
· McNeese State completed a third-and-10 from its own 14 late in the game to hold on.
GAME RECAP
GOOD PLAY
Grambling quarterback Bruce Eugene found receiver Tramon Douglas in the left corner of the end zone with a perfect fade pass for a 15-yard score to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead in the second quarter. Douglas was double-covered on the play as he made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch.
BAD PLAY
With 12:59 left in the second quarter, McNeese faced a third-and-16 at its own 16. The Cowboys' pass was incomplete, but the Tigers were flagged for defensive holding, giving McNeese an automatic first down.
GOOD CALL
After opening the game on its first two drives in three- and four-wide receiver sets and not running one rushing play, Grambling switched to the I formation and started running the ball. The switch seemed to catch McNeese offguard. Grambling had some success running and went back to the pass on the drive, which led to its first score of the game.
SOMETHING SPECIAL
It was a tough night for Grambling kicker Brian Morgan. Morgan missed an extra point, a 41-yard field goal and also had a kickoff go out of bounds.
BIG HIT
McNeese faced a fourth-and-1 at the Grambling 31 with 8:13 left in the second quarter. The Cowboys tried to run fullback Luke Lawton up the middle, but Grambling linebacker John Petty fired across and drilled Lawton for a 2-yard loss.
EXTRA POINT
Grambling set three school records Saturday. Quarterback Bruce Eugene set two records for completions in a game (36) and attempts in a game (68). Receiver Tramon Douglas set a record for receptions in a game with 17.
- Nick Deriso
JUST THE FACTS
GRAMBLING - A record-breaking day for Grambling State receiver Tramon Douglas against McNeese State dissolved into a heart-breaker, as the Tigers fell behind late and never recovered.
GSU lost 31-20, despite remaining within one score most of the way - and despite Douglas' setting a new school record with 17 receptions.
Grambling State quarterback Bruce Eugene had two first-half touchdown passes, both for 16 yards, to Douglas. He added another 15-yarder 10 minutes into the second half.
But it was a final pass try to Eugene that finished the Tigers, as the ball bounced from his hands into those of waiting McNeese defender Stephen Barrett.
McNeese State tailback Vick King then broke a 60-yard scoring run on the ensuing possession that sealed the game, 31-20.
"It came down to one pass," said Douglas, a senior All-American. "It was behind me, but I got a finger on it - and couldn't bring it in. I'd like to apologize to the team."
King finished with three touchdowns on the night. He ran 30 times for 215 yards.
"We had our opportunities," sixth-year GSU coach Doug Williams said. "Bruce missed one or two touchdowns. We dropped one or two touchdowns. We have no one to blame but ourselves."
A 16-yard catch by West Monroe High product Marcus Turner keyed the opening score of the game for McNeese. King broke free after a terrific cutback, scampering through a seam in the Tigers defense for a 31-yard touchdown.
Then a 19-yard pass to Neville High product Tim Abney set up Grambling State's first points of the game - a 16-yard touchdown strike from Eugene to Douglas one minute into the second quarter. Brian Morgan missed the extra point.
A stop on a fourth-and-1 midway through the second stalled a McNeese drive that included a 30-yard completion to B.J. Sams on third and 31. GSU linebacker John Petty smacked McNeese fullback Luke Lawton in the backfield for a two-yard loss at the Grambling 33.
But then Grambling State couldn't convert on its own fourth-and-1 with 5:32 left in the half. Sophomore runner Ab Kuaan was stopped short, giving the Cowboys the ball back at the McNeese 38.
Morgan made the extra point on his second try, as Grambling moved ahead 13-7 just before the half on a second Eugene touchdown pass to Douglas.
Pendarvis started the second half with an opening-drive scoring pass to Lawton, but Grambling State answered with another Eugene-to-Douglas TD.
Morgan's tough night continued when he missed a 41-yard field goal with one minute left in the third quarter.
King's final scoring run sent most of the estimated 17,485 fans in attendance toward the exits with 1:50 left.
- Nick Deriso
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McNeese St. won't be on GSU schedules in near future
September 22, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Grambling State coach Doug Williams admitted that the two games against McNeese State were thrilling nights of football.
It took a fourth-quarter turnover on Saturday to decide the contest. Even last year's game, an eventual blowout, was 21-14 at the half.
So, can fans look forward to a regular series meeting between the Cowboys and Tigers?
"No," Williams said, after losing to McNeese 31-20 at Robinson Stadium. "We took our shot at it, but I think now we have some other opportunities that we've got to look at. We do like to travel. We do like to go to Classics."
The fact that Saturday's game didn't sell out isn't a factor in renewing the contract.
"Tonight, it didn't matter," he said. "With McNeese coming here, being the No. 1, coming here, I think it was great."
Williams says that GSU has already contacted other schools about the date that McNeese State has filled for the past two seasons.
"There's a Classic that we have a possibility of playing in next year," Williams said. "It will either be this date or next. We are open next week."
He confirmed that those discussions include San Jose State, which held the very successful Literary Classic for the first time with the Tigers to open the season.
Missed tackle, missed opportunity: Turnovers again keyed McNeese State's win - though the Tigers did a better job in the rematch than they had in last year's blowout loss.
The 52-20 loss in Lake Charles featured five turnovers, while Saturday's loss only included two.
The difference in 2003 was the timing of the first mistake, as Grambling State was deep in the Cowboys territory, with a chance for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
"We turned it over at a very, very crucial time," Williams said.
But, with 4:30 left in the ballgame and down by only four points, Williams adds that the team still had a chance.
That is, until Grambling State defenders missed a key tackle on the ensuing possession, when the Cowboys were facing third-and-10. MSU's B.J. Sams converted with a 16-yard catch - setting up runner Vick King's 60-yard scoring run to seal the win three plays later.
"That wasn't a tackle. It was a body block," Williams said. "It's nobody's fault but ours. You've got to wrap up. If we tackle Sams, it's fourth down - and we get another shot."
Sharing the wealth: Calvin Colquitt, last week's leading receiver for GSU, missed the game because of injury - though Williams said the Tigers have enough emerging weapons like Tim Abney and Chris Day to account for his absence.
"I think the guys that can fill in played big," he said. "And that's the good thing about this football team. The guy that everybody watches is Tramon Douglas - and he still sets a record."
While Douglas set a new school mark against McNeese State with 17 catches, Moses Harris and Abney added another 12. Day had just two catches, but averaged 11.5 yards on each.
Seven different receivers touched the ball against the Cowboys, a week after Eugene passed to nine Tigers against Alabama A&M.
"Abney is making some big plays," Williams said. When you have guys like that who you can spread the ball around to, it makes it difficult for defenses."
Eugene rebounds in rematch: Bruce Eugene, despite the late turnovers, redeemed his shaky game last year against McNeese State.
"That was his first game to start," Williams said. "He got a whole year under his belt. It makes a difference when you've got a trigger man who has seen it."
Eugene finished 36-for-68 (both new school records) with 397 yards in the air and three touchdown passes. He also rushed eight times for 44 yards on Saturday.
Compare that with the 2002 loss to McNeese: 4-for-22 with just 125 yards in the air. He had two scores, and two interceptions. Eugene also ran seven times, but for a shocking minus-16 total.
Tiger bites: Grambling's offensive line didn't allow any sacks by the Cowboys. … Williams is not a big fan of the old-fashioned moral victory: "It's hard to take too much positive out of it, when you lose," he said. "But I've got to give the team a lot of credit. To sit here and say I'm not proud of the way they played? That wouldn't be fair to them." … McNeese State's King rushed for a career-high 215 yards.
g g g
Ball control
GSU's Tramon Douglas does it all again, finally
September 24, 2003
By NICK DERISO
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - A record-breaking receiving day for Grambling State's Tramon Douglas, in the end, didn't mean that much to him.
"I would rather have one catch and we win, than have all those catches in a loss," the senior receiver said. GSU fell 31-20 to McNeese State on Saturday, while Douglas set a new school mark with 17 grabs.
What it meant to the team, however, is something else entirely: As goes Douglas, so goes Grambling State.
And, like the offense, Douglas started slowly.
"He's giving us everything he has. He's made some tough catches for us," says Tigers coach Doug Williams. "But that little bruise on his knee hasn't always let him be Tramon Douglas."
He's talking about the Tramon Douglas who averaged nearly eight catches a game in his All-American junior season at Grambling State - on his way to breaking Jerry Rice's Southwestern Athletic Conference single-season receiving yards record with 1,704 yards.
After an opening loss in 2002 against McNeese, when Douglas had only one catch, the Tigers reeled off 10 straight wins - on the way to a third-straight SWAC championship.
But Douglas didn't practice much during the summer, hobbled by that nagging knee problem. The week before GSU's season opener, he wasn't even in pads at practice.
Douglas, of course, started - but again wasn't a factor in Grambling State's second-straight season-opening thrashing, pulling in just two catches for 30 yards as the Tigers were blanked 29-0.
"He's working hard every day. He's not sitting down on it," Williams says. "It's not that anything is torn. It's just one of those bruises that you can't shake."
The loss underscored the complementary nature of Douglas' success and that of his quarterback.
The longer it took Douglas to get healthy, the longer it clearly would take for Bruce Eugene to get on track this year.
The Tigers' impressive showing in this year's rematch against McNeese, the nation's top-ranked Division I-AA school, is just the latest example.
Douglas's 17 catches - only two fewer than all of the other GSU receivers combined - served to keep the game whisker-close until the very end. He broke the previous school record of 16 set by former wideout Nate Singleton against Virginia Union on Sept. 14, 1991.
"I knew the team needed me this game," Douglas says. "I wanted to step up and show them that Grambling can play with the best of them."
He was rewarded with the most rare of honors: Douglas has been named one of The Sports Network's Division I-AA players of the week - the first from the SWAC to receive that designation this season. He also was named one of I-AA.org's All-Stars and the SWAC's co-offensive player of the week.
Something interesting happened, however, as Douglas slowly found his footing.
Grambling State discovered some of its other receivers: Eugene threw to an astounding nine different people in a win over Alabama A&M - including scoring passes to juniors Moses Harris and Chris Day.
"The good part about it is, Moses Harris made some good plays for us," Williams says. "Tim Abney is making tough catches. We're getting a lot of people involved. I was glad to see Chris Day score a TD; that helped his confidence level."
While Douglas was smashing records against McNeese State, Harris and breakout freshman star Abney piled up 125 yards receiving combined.
"We knew coming into this, after Tramon had a breakout season last year, that he wasn't going to be able to get as many passes," Eugene says. "Our focus has been to get other people open, then come to Tramon. So far this year, that's what's been happening."
Still, without his go-to guy, Eugene sometimes looked tentative in the first two games - like he was thinking too much.
"You can't depend on just one guy," Williams says he told Eugene. "He was feeling it. You can't just look Tramon's way, especially when he's not there."
Then that first touchdown finally came - with nine seconds left in the half in Week 2 at Lorman, Miss. The 20-yarder was hauled in, of course, by Douglas.
Grambling State has played better every successive quarter since.
"The fact that Tramon is still not 100 percent has hampered us in certain situations," says Tigers offensive coordinator Melvin Spears. "Overall, though, we've got some guys who can come along. It's just that Bruce has to be a little more patient. Mechanically, he still was not always in a good throwing position. A lot of his pre-snap routine wasn't as good as it has been."
After having scored just that one touchdown in the previous game and a half, Eugene and the Tigers then exploded for 12 scores in the next eight quarters of play.
Eugene-to-Douglas accounts for five of them. Eugene has run in four more by himself.
And so it goes.
"It slowed him down, but one thing about Tramon: He's a fighter. He'll never quit. He'll never give up," Eugene says, sounding ever more confident. "Although the knee isn't 100 percent, he's still going to be out there giving it his all. We're grateful for that."
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