Black and Blue Review
One of the men who helped mold Steve Smith into a potential Hall of Fame receiver died Monday night after fighting a heart condition.
Richard Williamson, who coached Carolina Panthers’ receivers from the team’s inaugural season until he retired after the 2009 season, was 74.
Williamson spent 13 of his 15 seasons in Carolina as receivers coach. After a brief stint as offensive coordinator, he returned to his role with the receivers when new head coach John Fox arrived in 2002.
Williamson, who played receiver at Alabama under Bear Bryant and with Joe Namath, became one of the top coaches at the position in the NFL. While he was with the Panthers, Muhsin Muhammad, Mark Carrier, Patrick Jeffers, Donald Hayes and Willie Green all had the best seasons of their careers. And then there was Smith.
Williamson and Smith spent nine seasons together after the Panthers took the 5-foot-9 wideout out of Utah in the 2001 draft. The coach was tough on his guys, which sometimes caused friction between him and his fiery wideout. But Smith respected Williamson and Williamson understood Smith.
Wednesday morning, Smith posted this message to his Instagram account:
Here today gone tomorrow!!! Loss the 1st guy who coached me in NFL !!! when I didn’t want to listen or even work everyday he did!!! I was very lucky to have had him in my life Rip Richard Williamson!!! 😟😟😟
Current Panthers receivers coach Ricky Proehl played three seasons under Williamson starting in 2003. Proehl last talked to his former coach Friday. Wednesday, he remembered how far their relationship had come.
“When I think about Richard, I laugh because we didn’t see eye-to-eye a lot. I thought it was just me, but when you talk to Moose, you talk to Mark Carrier, you talk to Steve Smith, Willie Green, that’s just the way he coached,” Proehl said. “We kind of laugh about it now — we were ready to fight him, but he brought out the best in us.
“When you were right, you were wrong, and when you were wrong, you were wrong. He was going to let you know he was always right.”
Williamson started his coaching career under Bryant and worked up the ranks, becoming the Bucs’ interim head coach in late 1990. After another season in Tampa Bay, he spent three years as the Bengals’ receivers coach. He then left to join the newly formed Panthers.
When he retired in January 2010, Williamson was the last member of the original 1995 staff still with the team.
“He’d piss you off, but he’d take you to another level because you wanted to please him,” Proehl said.
“With your coach, you want to make him happy, whether it’s the head coach or position coach, especially. And I think that’s what Richard did a great job of doing.”