Shakeup at Grambling will not affect VHS player

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 13, 2004

[2/13/04] Vicksburg High senior Michael Rainey said Thursday that the departure of Grambling State head football coach Doug Williams will have no bearing on his commitment to the Louisiana school.

Williams left Grambling after six seasons Thursday to work with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Rainey, whose brother Antonio is a starting linebacker with the Tigers, said that he still plans to play football there.

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“He talked about it at the recruiting camp, other jobs he was interested in,” Michael Rainey said. “It bothers me to a point, but not too much. It was the offensive coordinator (Melvin Spears) who recruited me the most.”

Rainey, along with VHS teammate Mike Smith, signed national letters of intent to play at Grambling on Feb. 4. They will join fellow Vicksburg High graduates Antonio Rainey, Terry Cooper, Charles Wilson and Andre Bennett at Grambling.

Members of the Grambling community said they were disappointed to lose the successful coach.

“I always expected his departure to be for a coaching job at a larger school, in a larger conference,” said Earling Hunter, a 1998 GSU graduate. “I never saw this move coming. When rumors began a few weeks ago, we all dismissed it like many of the previous rumors that developed concerning Coach Williams.

“But I appreciate what Coach Williams has done for GSU. He put us back to our rightful place as one of college football’s elite.”

Grambling struggled through losing seasons in each of legendary coach Eddie Robinson’s final four years. Williams, who played for Robinson before a successful pro career, went 52-18 as Grambling coach in the six seasons after Robinson left. Williams coached the Tigers to three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships to go with the 17 won under Robinson.