National Football League

Ricky Williams is now a coach?

Published Jul. 17, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams reportedly will be back on the gridiron come fall.

The running back will join the coaching staff at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, according to Pete Roussel of Coaching Search. The Cardinals are joining the FCS Southland Conference for the 2013 season.

Williams was the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner while at the University of Texas, and his NFL career began with a bang. The New Orleans Saints famously traded a total of eight draft picks for the rights to select Williams in the 1999 NFL draft.

Williams rushed for 1,000 yards twice with the Saints before being traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he spent the majority of his career. He rushed for more than 3,200 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first two years with the Dolphins, and led the league in rushing in 2002.

Things fell apart for Williams after that. He was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and tested positive for marijuana, resulting in him announcing his retirement from football in 2004 at the age of 27.

He returned to football after a year off, but was suspended for a full year for failing another drug test in 2006. Over the final five years of his career — four with the Dolphins and his final season with the Baltimore Ravens — he rushed for more than 700 yards just once.

Williams officially retired — for real this time — in 2011 with 10,009 career rushing yards and 66 touchdowns. He will join the staff at the University of the Incarnate Word, which went 2-9 last season.