Doug Williams, former head coach at Morehouse and Grambling State, and longtime executive in the NFL, has been named the American Football Coaches Association’s recipient of the 2024 Trailblazer Award. The award will be presented to Williams during the 2025 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The AFCA Trailblazer Award was created to honor leaders in the football coaching profession who coached at historically black colleges and universities. Past Trailblazer Award winners include Charles Williams, Hampton (2004); Cleve Abbott, Tuskegee (2005); Arnett Mumford, Southern (2006); Billy Nicks, Prairie View A&M (2007); Alonzo “Jake” Gaither, Florida A&M (2008); Fred “Pops” Long, Wiley (2009); Harry R. “Big Jeff” Jefferson, Bluefield State (2010); Edward P. Hurt, Morgan State (2011); Vernon “Skip” McCain, Maryland-Eastern Shore (2012); Marino Casem, Alcorn State (2013); Gideon Smith, Hampton (2014); Eddie Robinson, Grambling State (2015); Oree Banks, South Carolina State and West Virginia State (2016); John Merritt, Jackson State and Tennessee State (2017); Earl Banks, Morgan State (2018); Bill Hayes, Winston-Salem State and North Carolina A&T (2019); Edward Jackson, Delaware State, Johnson C. Smith and Howard (2021); Henry Kean, Kentucky State and Tennessee State (2022); and Edward Clemons, Edward Waters, Lane, Morris Brown and Jackson State (2023).
Williams rose to fame as a standout quarterback at Grambling State playing for the great Eddie Robinson. He threw for over 8,000 yards and 93 touchdowns and led the Tigers to two Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships and three Black College national titles. In his senior season of 1977, Williams finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. A first-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 1978 NFL Draft, Williams led the Buccaneers to their first three playoff appearances and left as the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, passing yards, attempts and completions.
Williams spent two seasons in the USFL with the Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaws, then joined the Washington Commanders in 1986. He guided Washington to a Super Bowl title in 1987 and earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award by setting records for most touchdown passes (four), most passing yards (340), longest pass completion (80 yards) and longest touchdown pass (80 yards). Williams retired from playing after the 1989 season and started his coaching career as the head coach and athletic director at Point Coupee High School in New Roads, Louisiana, in 1991. He returned to his high school alma mater, Northeast High School, in Zachary, Louisiana, in 1993 before entering the college ranks at Navy in 1994 as the running backs coach.
In 1995, Williams was the offensive coordinator for the Scottish Claymores in the World League, then became a college scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars for two seasons. He earned his first college head coaching job at Morehouse in 1997, then returned to Grambling as head coach in 1998, replacing the retiring Eddie Robinson. In his six seasons as head coach, Williams led the Tigers to a 52-18 record with three SWAC and Black College national titles from 2000 to 2002.
Williams left Grambling after the 2003 season and became Personnel Executive for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004. He would hold that title for five years, then was named Director of Pro Personnel in 2009. The Virginia Destroyers of the Untied Football League made Williams their General Manager for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, then he returned to Grambling as head coach for three more seasons, winning another SWAC title in 2011.
Williams is currently the Senior Advisor to the General Manager of the Washington Commanders and has been with the organization since 2014. He was Personnel Executive from 2014-16, then Senior Vice President of Player Personnel from 2017-19 and Senior Vice President of Player Development from 2020 to 2021 before taking on his current role.
Williams is a member of Washington’s Ring of Fame and a member of the 80 Greatest Washington players. He has been inducted into the Louisiana Sports and Washington DC Sports Halls of Fame and is a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor. Williams, along with Shack Harris, founded The Shack Harris & Doug Williams Foundation in 2005, with the purpose of providing grants for after-school initiatives, leadership development, mentoring programs and minority higher education assistance for economically disadvantaged youth. The foundation also established the Black College Hall of Fame in 2010.
Doug and his wife Raunda have eight children: Ashley, Adrian, Carmeleta, Doug Jr., Jasmine, Laura, Lee and Temessia.
