Williams is up to the Challenge
Dominique Williams is coming home so to speak, and he couldn’t be happier to be named the new head football coach at Bridgeton. A 2008 graduate of Bridgeton, Williams was named to replace Steven Lane.
“It’s a dream come true to be honest with you,” Williams said in an interview with SouthJersey.com.
Williams is very familiar with the Bridgeton program. He was an assistant to Lane from 2018-2021. In 2022 he was the running backs coach at Rowan University.
Bridgeton was 6-5 as recently as 2021. The last two years have been difficult for the Bulldogs, who have gone 0-17, including 0-9 this past season.
“It is definitely going to be a challenge, but that is how I have lived my life and I love to challenge myself and keep progressing and growing,” he said.
Williams then corrected himself slightly.
“I really haven’t thought of it as a challenge, I have looked at it as an opportunity to share and expose the kids to what I learned,” he said.
After starring at Bridgeton, Williams enjoyed an illustrious career at Wagner College. Williams is third on Wagner’s all-time rushing list with 4,435 yards and third in scoring with 276 points.
“I had a partial scholarship to Wagner my first year, but I thought I was on a full ride,” he recalls. “After my freshman year, I found out I wasn’t on full scholarship and I was going to transfer to Rutgers, but I started as a freshman, and they then put me on full scholarship.”
Williams went undrafted following his senior season, but he spent two seasons on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad and another year on the New York Jets practice squad.
He was with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders in 2017 and 2018, where he played briefly before a knee injury ended his career.
In addition to coaching, Williams, who earned a degree in sociology from Wagner, is a motivational speaker.
Even though Bridgeton has struggled the past two seasons, this has always been a community that produced good football players. The key is getting the youngsters interested in becoming part of the program.
“There is not a lack of athletes in Bridgeton and a lot of them have played in the midget leagues and they are looking to come back out,” he said.
The first job will be hiring his coaching staff, but Williams also will be meeting with players, parents and even former Bridgeton players. He wants the entire community involved in this effort and wants everybody excited about Bridgeton football.
“I don’t want to just do this myself, it takes a lot of people,” he said, “but I am excited for such a great opportunity.”
Photo Courtesy of Dominque Williams
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Author: Marc Narducci
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