New Gig

Ricky Williams has always walked to a different beat. After his 2011 retirement from the NFL, I figured that the former running back was up on a mountain or on an island simply enjoying each day. Pretty much the last place that I would expect to find him would be on another football field. At 36, he's returning to football as a coach. Williams has agreed to be the running backs coach at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

"Ricky reached out to me about getting into coaching," UIW coach Larry Kennan said in a statement. "We have an opening and he is looking into getting 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."

UIW 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.

Ricky Williams certainly knows something about running the football. Heisman Trophy winner. 1,853 yards in 2002 with the Miami Dolphins. 10,009 rushing yards in his 11 seasons in the NFL. I was actually surprised to see that he'd only made All Pro and the Pro Bowl once. That would be in 2002 when he ran for all those yards. He was one of the best backs in the league for a few years. He had a very underrated NFL career. His one year walkabout and another season spent with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts didn't really help his NFL reputation. I think that New Orleans head coach Mike Ditka put a ton of pressure on the kid when he traded all of the Saints picks in the 1999 NFL Draft for him. Ditka's stupid rasta wig didn't help either. Ricky Williams was a terrific running back. It's unfortunate that history likely doesn't see him that way. If he'd been carrying the ball during those two of exile from the league, he might have had around 13,000 career rushing yards. That would put him in the top-10 all-time. I hope that this coaching gig goes well for Williams. I think that he has a lot to offer to future generations of running backs.