GRAMBLING, La. — Grambling State fired head football coach Doug Williams on Wednesday after the Tigers lost the first two games of the season.
The university announced it bought out the remainder of the former NFL quarterback’s contract.
Running backs coach George Ragsdale is taking over as interim head coach.
Grambling had a 1-10 record in 2012 including going 0-9 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference under the 58-year-old Williams. Grambling lost its opener to Alabama State 23-9 and was dominated by Louisiana-Monroe 48-10 last weekend.
Williams, who led the Washington Redskins to a win over the John Elway-quarterbacked Denver Broncos in 1988, became Grambling’s head coach in 1998. Then in 2004 he moved to a front-office job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He returned to Grambling as head coach in 2011, when he led the Tigers to a SWAC championship.
The university said in a statement that it decided to “move in another direction” in ending Williams’ contract, which ran through next season.
