Judi Bottoni / AP file

Doug Williams was 52-18 as head coach of Grambling in six years.

updated 2:39 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2004

NEW ORLEANS - The frustration Doug Williams felt at Grambling State overcame his love for his alma mater.

Williams once called his job as the Grambling football coach a dream. But he was discouraged by what he felt was the school’s inability to deal with the program’s needs, and that made him receptive to a job offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Williams told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I’ll always love Grambling, but it was time for a change.”

Williams left Grambling this month to become an executive at Tampa Bay. His duties include evaluating pro players and assisting recruitment of free agents.

“I just felt like I couldn’t get things done that needed to be done,” Williams said. “There was never any action on things I asked for. Nobody but me seemed to want to get things done.”

Williams presented a list of needs to athletic director Al Dennis but said he got no response. After the proposal went unanswered for 20 days, Williams talked to Tampa Bay.

“It ranged from very simple things like making sure the fields were kept up and taking care of the front of our building, to adding a seventh coach,” Williams said. “Since I’ve been there we’ve been a coach short. I wanted another assistant the same as everybody else has.”

Grambling athletic director Al Dennis did not return numerous calls, but The News-Star of Monroe reported earlier that Dennis had Williams’ proposal but had not given Williams a definitive answer.

Williams took over after Grambling struggled through losing seasons in each of longtime coach Eddie Robinson’s final four years.

Williams played for Robinson before a successful pro career. He spent his first five seasons at Tampa Bay, then played four at Washington, his last in 1989.

He went 52-18 at Grambling in the six seasons after Robinson retired. He won three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships to go with the 17 won under Robinson.

“I’m going to always love Grambling,” Williams said. “I had just reached the point that I needed some things done. I needed some assurances. I didn’t get them, so I decided to go onto something else.”

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