Grambling fires coach, favorite son

Published Sep. 11, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

Sam Gardner

Grambling football coach Doug Williams has been fired, according to the Monroe News Star.

Williams won Super Bowl XXII with the 1987 Washington Redskins and is the only black quarterback to ever do so, also being named the game's MVP. Williams was in the third year of his second stint as the head of the Tigers football program.

A former Grambling player, Williams was 53-17 from 1998-2003 after succeeding the legendary Eddie Robinson, and returned to the school in 2011 after a stint in the front office of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and less than one year as the general manager of the Virginia Destroyers of the UFL.

Williams led the Tigers to a SWAC title in his first season back on the sideline but struggled last year, with his team going 1-10 and 0-9 in conference play. Grambling is 0-2 so far this season, with its losses coming at home against Alabama A&M and on the road at FBS-level Louisiana-Monroe.

According to Al.com, Williams was not on Monday's weekly SWAC coaches' teleconference. The News Star reports that Grambling president Frank Pogue called Williams into his office Wednesday, handed him a slip of paper and fired him.

Williams’ son, D.J., plays quarterback at Grambling and has started both games this year in addition to eight last year. It’s not known if D.J. Williams will remain at the university after his father’s firing.

Grambling's next game is Saturday against Lincoln (Mo.) University in Kansas City.