Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
Sports

Ricky Williams Resurfaces as College Assistant Coach

Posted byBy Curtis Bunn | Published on: CommentsComments (0)
Photo by Yahoo Sports.

With Ricky Williams, it is hard to be surprised. And then he goes out and surprises anyway.

The former Heisman Trophy winner, who once wore a wedding dress and who quit the NFL to live off the land and smoke marijuana, has reemerged after a few years in retirement to become a running backs coach at the University of The Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

And it was Williams’ idea.

“Ricky reached out to me about getting into coaching,” UIW football coach Larry Kennan said in a statement. “We have an opening and he is looking to get into coaching so I think it is a good fit. His experience will be a big help to our staff and players and I think he will have a positive effect on our recruiting efforts.”

If you’ve never heard of Incarnate Word, you’re not alone. It is a school that is in the process of making the move from the Lone Star Conference in NCAA Division-II to the Football Championship Series (FCS) Southland Conference. The Cardinals will play an independent schedule in 2013 before making the full leap to the Southland Conference in 2014.

Williams’ hire isn’t official yet, according to the school. He still has to go through Human Resources procedures before he can officially join the staff.

The former Texas All-American retired from the NFL in 2011 after 11 seasons in the league. The one-time pro bowler spent three seasons in New Orleans, seven seasons in Miami and one season in Baltimore. Williams finished his career with 10,009 rushing yards, 27th best in NFL history.

As a Dolphin in 2002, Williams finished with 1,853 yards rushing, the 14th highest single-season total in NFL history. He went the other way after that, and has hardly been seen or heard from since retiring two years ago.

 

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top