Gregg Williams hired as New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator (1 Viewer)

[valhallan]

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2009/01/gr...s_new_or_1.html

The Saints made their first big free agent acquisition of 2009, agreeing to terms with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on Thursday morning. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

One of the most respected defensive minds in the game and one of the most coveted candidates on the market, Williams will take over a Saints defense that ranked 23rd in the NFL in yards allowed and tied for 26th in points allowed last season.

"A lot has gone into this decision, and we targeted Gregg as the coach we'd like to hire after our first interview because he was so impressive and prepared," Saints Coach Sean Payton said in a statement. "As an offensive coach, I have game-planned against his defenses in the past, and I know the problems they create. He's an aggressive coach, but his units are always sound fundamentally. We have some pieces in place for him to work with, and I know he's excited to get started."

"Gregg is a tremendous addition to our coaching staff," General Manager Mickey Loomis added. "We were looking for a coach with experience, a proven track record of success and a clear philosophy on where the improvements needed to be made on our defense and that process."

Williams, 50, is known for running aggressive, attacking 4-3 schemes that put heavy pressure on opposing quarterbacks. That would make him a perfect fit in New Orleans, where the Saints have struggled to get consistent pressure on the quarterback and force turnovers.

One of his top priorities will be to maximize the talents of defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant, both of whom have struggled with injuries and inconsistency since signing hefty long-term contract extensions in the past two years.

Williams built standout defenses as a coordinator with Tennessee from 1997-2000, as a head coach with Buffalo from 2001-2003 and as a coordinator with Washington from 2004-2007. He spent last season with Jacksonville on a one-year contract, but he and the team mutually decided to part ways after a disappointing season, in which the Jaguars finished 5-11 and ranked 17th in the league in total defense.

Williams quickly emerged as the Saints' top candidate after they fired coordinator Gary Gibbs last Wednesday. Williams flew into New Orleans that night and interviewed with the team a day later. Since then, the Saints looked into other possible candidates but kept their primary focus on working out a deal with Williams.

His agent, Marvin Demoff, said last week that Williams did not know Saints Coach Sean Payton very well before the meeting, but that after coming to New Orleans his interest in the job was "definitely stronger."

"He was extremely impressed with everything in the organization, from Sean on Down," Demoff said.

Williams was reportedly on several teams' radar screens. He interviewed last week in Green Bay, and reports out of Tennessee suggested that the Titans would be interested in re-hiring him if they lost current coordinator Jim Schwartz to a head coaching job.

 

[sho nuff]

Ugh...wanted him for GB...but heard he was leaning towards NO.

Wonder if there is more stability there with Payton than maybe in GB with McCarthy possibly on the hot seat.

Good hire for NO but not the end of the world for GB.

 

[Ridgelake]

Good move by NO. They just got a lot more dangerous.

 

[valhallan]

As a Saints fan, this certainly gives me a lot more hope for the defense than any player we've acquired in the past. Venturi and Gibbs just couldn't get anything done. Williams had an off year with the Jags, but I think he can make the Saints much more respectable for 2009 and possibly even good by 2010.

 

[trader jake]

Solid hire by New Orleans.

Now they need some more talent on that side of the ball.

 

[saintfool]

As a Saints fan, this certainly gives me a lot more hope for the defense than any player we've acquired in the past. Venturi and Gibbs just couldn't get anything done. Williams had an off year with the Jags, but I think he can make the Saints much more respectable for 2009 and possibly even good by 2010.

i think this is a fantastic hire. it seems like we haven't had a legit, experienced nfl DC in forever. he's a real improvement.

 

[Marvelous]

Anyone know what happened in Jax?

Also, is Williams likely to bring in any assistant coaches? One tough thing for Williams is that the Redskins hired a lot of guys based on his recommendation when he went there, and then kept them all when he left.

 

[Haberdasher]

Impressive hire, IMO. The Saints now seem to recognize their problems and take action, unlike in the past. This shows a commitment to winning, so congratulations to all the Saints fans.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Anyone know what happened in Jax?

Also, is Williams likely to bring in any assistant coaches? One tough thing for Williams is that the Redskins hired a lot of guys based on his recommendation when he went there, and then kept them all when he left.

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

 

[Gadabout]

To my Saints brethren......

We can only get better.

Shooo, we might even see more than 10 blitzes next year!!

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

 

[DCThunder]

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

 

[rzrback77]

Mixed bag of comments here. I would say that the Saints supposedly have the horses up front to put pressure on the QB, but it hasn't happened. Secondly, their DBs all need for there to be pressure on the QB and they have been repeatedly beaten. Maybe his schemes will help the DL to attack the QB more and that will in turn help out the DBs.

Are folks in New Orleans still content with the HC Payton? There were so many comparisons early to Haslett who also won big in his first year and then tumbled. In my opinion, the Saints have badly disappointed in each of the past two seasons.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

Anyone know what happened in Jax? Also, is Williams likely to bring in any assistant coaches? One tough thing for Williams is that the Redskins hired a lot of guys based on his recommendation when he went there, and then kept them all when he left.

The line got older (or traded) and new additions were rookies on the ends. Also, the Jags don't have the personnel that fits Gregg Williams scheme.

 

[Vicktimized]

Mixed bag of comments here. I would say that the Saints supposedly have the horses up front to put pressure on the QB, but it hasn't happened. Secondly, their DBs all need for there to be pressure on the QB and they have been repeatedly beaten. Maybe his schemes will help the DL to attack the QB more and that will in turn help out the DBs.Are folks in New Orleans still content with the HC Payton? There were so many comparisons early to Haslett who also won big in his first year and then tumbled. In my opinion, the Saints have badly disappointed in each of the past two seasons.

I'd say they disappointed due to the defense more than anything. Payton's had the offense as one of the nfl's top units over the past three seasons...that's where he's really hands on.In theory, the Williams hire is perfect -- it adds what basically amounts to a defensive head coach. In a perfect world, it'll be a similar dynamic to Reid/Johnson in Philly, or even Gruden/Kiffin. The other idea is two egos collide and blow the whole thing to kingdom-come. But it's worth trying. The Payton/Haslett comparison has already been foiled in one distinct way -- Haslett wouldn't rid himself of Venturi, his defensive achilles heel. Same as Jim Mora, who kept going with Carl Smith as his OC in the 80s. This is the first Saints HC in recent memory to pull the trigger on a coaching weakness. To me, its refreshing.

 

[Tiger Fan]

hopefully he'll be calling plays on 3rd and 1 as well

 

[Football Menace]

Hiring Williams is a good start, but we need a few more playmakers on that side of the ball. Starting with a ballhawking safety, then a OLB, and another solid CB. If we don't get those players, I'd really don't know how much Williams could do.

Also, I agree with the poster that said that Williams should be the defensive HC. And I think that is what landed Williams in NO.

 

[teamroc]

Anyone know what happened in Jax?

Also, is Williams likely to bring in any assistant coaches? One tough thing for Williams is that the Redskins hired a lot of guys based on his recommendation when he went there, and then kept them all when he left.

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

A lot of the JAX players knew he was a 1 year rental. They didn't fully buy into his system, and the D basically fell apart. I believe it was a poor fit from the start.

 

[Gadabout]

 

[Sidewinder]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

 

[DCThunder]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

 

[Gadabout]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

So how'd he crank out all those good defenses?I'd be interested in hearing some adjectives about him when the Skins' D was #3 in the league.

 

[DCThunder]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

So how'd he crank out all those good defenses?I'd be interested in hearing some adjectives about him when the Skins' D was #3 in the league.

OK, whatever. Don't say you weren't warned. Enjoy him. Not many people in Buffalo or DC or Jax want to see him back.

 

[Gadabout]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

So how'd he crank out all those good defenses?I'd be interested in hearing some adjectives about him when the Skins' D was #3 in the league.

OK, whatever. Don't say you weren't warned. Enjoy him. Not many people in Buffalo or DC or Jax want to see him back.

We're welcoming him with open arms. It's what you do when you've had to sit back and watch the Venturi/Gibbs defensive era.

 

[DCThunder]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

So how'd he crank out all those good defenses?I'd be interested in hearing some adjectives about him when the Skins' D was #3 in the league.

OK, whatever. Don't say you weren't warned. Enjoy him. Not many people in Buffalo or DC or Jax want to see him back.

We're welcoming him with open arms. It's what you do when you've had to sit back and watch the Venturi/Gibbs defensive era.

OK. Check back in a year and see how things are going. How long a contract did he sign and how long is Sean Payton's deal?

 

[T Bell]

DCThunder is right, though I might not go as far. It's true that Williams rules with an iron fist, and he loves to be in front of the cameras and give his dissertations about defense or why a certain player is good. He's another Brian Billick in that regard, and it's different from a guy like Zorn who will give explanations because IMHO he's what amounts to being a football geek. Gregg truly believes that you desperately want to learn at his feet.

None of that's important if the guy is good at what he does, and Williams is, though his scheme is tremendously complex, and likely more than it needs to be. The first thing that Greg Blache did this year in taking over the Redskins defense for Williams was to simplify it, and he got the same production out of it as measured by yards and points that Williams had over the four years he was in Washington. Blache was in fact an unsung hero during Williams' tenure because Blache, as the DL coach, squeezed every bit of production out of a mediocre group of players for four years, and that allowed Williams to showcase his "exotic" blitz and coverage schemes with his back seven.

The key here is the defensive secondary. If the Saints have CB's and S's who are good in man coverage, and especially a safety who can play the cover-one "centerfield" position that Ed Reed plays and Sean Taylor played, then he can run his aggressive defense with blitzing LB's and DB's. If not (as was the case with the 2006 Redskins defense, after a lot of injuries) then that defense is going to give up a lot of big plays.

Also, he needs some very intelligent LB's and S' to run the defense and make on-field adjustments and get players in the proper alignments, and they have to know this complex scheme very well to do this.

One more thing- despite being known as an "aggressive" defense with "exotic" blitz schemes, both in Washington and in Buffalo before that Williams' defense was NOT known for generating a lot of big plays. There were few sacks and turnovers to show for all of this aggressiveness. I was never sure why that was, and I don't know if it carried over to Jacksonville (I gather that it did given that he was fired) but that was definitely a criticism in those two cities.

 

[rzrback77]

DCThunder is right, though I might not go as far. It's true that Williams rules with an iron fist, and he loves to be in front of the cameras and give his dissertations about defense or why a certain player is good. He's another Brian Billick in that regard, and it's different from a guy like Zorn who will give explanations because IMHO he's what amounts to being a football geek. Gregg truly believes that you desperately want to learn at his feet.

None of that's important if the guy is good at what he does, and Williams is, though his scheme is tremendously complex, and likely more than it needs to be. The first thing that Greg Blache did this year in taking over the Redskins defense for Williams was to simplify it, and he got the same production out of it as measured by yards and points that Williams had over the four years he was in Washington. Blache was in fact an unsung hero during Williams' tenure because Blache, as the DL coach, squeezed every bit of production out of a mediocre group of players for four years, and that allowed Williams to showcase his "exotic" blitz and coverage schemes with his back seven.

The key here is the defensive secondary. If the Saints have CB's and S's who are good in man coverage and especially a safety who can play the cover-one "centerfield" position that Ed Reed plays and Sean Taylor played, then he can run his aggressive defense with blitzing LB's and DB's. If not (as was the case with the 2006 Redskins defense, after a lot of injuries) then that defense is going to give up a lot of big plays.

Also, he needs some very intelligent LB's and S' to run the defense and make on-field adjustments and get players in the proper alignments, and they have to know this complex scheme very well to do this.

One more thing- despite being known as an "aggressive" defense with "exotic" blitz schemes, both in Washington and in Buffalo before that Williams' defense was NOT known for generating a lot of big plays. There were few sacks and turnovers to show for all of this aggressiveness. I was never sure why that was, and I don't know if it carried over to Jacksonville (I gather that it did given that he was fired) but that was definitely a criticism in those two cities.

Isn't this the main Saints defense short-coming?

 

[valhallan]

I guess no one other than Saints fans really understand what we've had at DC in New Orleans. A four-assed monkey would do better, so Williams can't be any worse. I'm happy to take other team's trash - at least he's NFL-caliber.

 

[T Bell]

I guess no one other than Saints fans really understand what we've had at DC in New Orleans. A four-assed monkey would do better, so Williams can't be any worse. I'm happy to take other team's trash - at least he's NFL-caliber.

He's probably a step up. He was certainly a step up for us in Washington after enduring a year of some inept career assistant as the DC (name escapes me right now) under Spurrier after Marvin Lewis had moved on to the Bengals job. I have a feeling your first draft pick is going to be a safety.

 

[saintfool]

DCThunder is right, though I might not go as far. It's true that Williams rules with an iron fist, and he loves to be in front of the cameras and give his dissertations about defense or why a certain player is good. He's another Brian Billick in that regard, and it's different from a guy like Zorn who will give explanations because IMHO he's what amounts to being a football geek. Gregg truly believes that you desperately want to learn at his feet.

None of that's important if the guy is good at what he does, and Williams is, though his scheme is tremendously complex, and likely more than it needs to be. The first thing that Greg Blache did this year in taking over the Redskins defense for Williams was to simplify it, and he got the same production out of it as measured by yards and points that Williams had over the four years he was in Washington. Blache was in fact an unsung hero during Williams' tenure because Blache, as the DL coach, squeezed every bit of production out of a mediocre group of players for four years, and that allowed Williams to showcase his "exotic" blitz and coverage schemes with his back seven.

The key here is the defensive secondary. If the Saints have CB's and S's who are good in man coverage and especially a safety who can play the cover-one "centerfield" position that Ed Reed plays and Sean Taylor played, then he can run his aggressive defense with blitzing LB's and DB's. If not (as was the case with the 2006 Redskins defense, after a lot of injuries) then that defense is going to give up a lot of big plays.

Also, he needs some very intelligent LB's and S' to run the defense and make on-field adjustments and get players in the proper alignments, and they have to know this complex scheme very well to do this.

One more thing- despite being known as an "aggressive" defense with "exotic" blitz schemes, both in Washington and in Buffalo before that Williams' defense was NOT known for generating a lot of big plays. There were few sacks and turnovers to show for all of this aggressiveness. I was never sure why that was, and I don't know if it carried over to Jacksonville (I gather that it did given that he was fired) but that was definitely a criticism in those two cities.

Isn't this the main Saints defense short-coming?

we don't have great safeties. bullocks is a nimrod. kaesviharn is undersized. harper isn't good in coverage. this is maybe the #1 priority in the offseason, i think. CB's aren't nearly as bad as perceived. Porter, the rookie, played great until he went down to injury. mckenzie was the same as he as always is. gay was better once he learned the system. young is still raw.williams might not be the second coming of buddy ryan but he's a helluva lot better than Gibbs. i don't worry about his ego getting in the way because payton's own ego is supreme. if the defense is even mediocre then the saints will be a much improved team. they lost too many close games because the defense wasn't able to hold a lead late in a game.

 

[guderian]

I guess no one other than Saints fans really understand what we've had at DC in New Orleans. A four-assed monkey would do better, so Williams can't be any worse. I'm happy to take other team's trash - at least he's NFL-caliber.

...but he's arrogant and the press doesn't like him...

 

[gianmarco]

I guess no one other than Saints fans really understand what we've had at DC in New Orleans. A four-assed monkey would do better, so Williams can't be any worse. I'm happy to take other team's trash - at least he's NFL-caliber.

Akin to Lion's fan complaining about who their new GM might be.

 

[MAC_32]

From what I've gathered...

-Williams never saw eye to eye with Del Rio and the players, lots of in-fighting

-Players never bought into his system

-Players didn't fit his scheme

-Rookies did not play well enough to offset the regressing old guys

-Reggie Nelson is soft and he sucks

-Williams would leave after practice Friday's to spend time with his family and return Saturday night for games

-Williams is an arrogant stick that doesn't listen to anybody, which is fine when things are functioning fine but not so much when they're not

 

[T Bell]

From what I've gathered...-Williams never saw eye to eye with Del Rio and the players, lots of in-fighting-Players never bought into his system-Players didn't fit his scheme-Rookies did not play well enough to offset the regressing old guys-Reggie Nelson is soft and he sucks-Williams would leave after practice Friday's to spend time with his family and return Saturday night for games-Williams is an arrogant stick that doesn't listen to anybody, which is fine when things are functioning fine but not so much when they're not

It bears mentioning that Joe Gibbs had a very hands-off style with his defense, and let Williams run his show. Del Rio, who has a background as a defensive coach anyway, doesn't strike me as being that hands-off. That probably contributed to the turbulence.

 

[PranksterJD]

From what I've gathered...-Williams never saw eye to eye with Del Rio and the players, lots of in-fighting-Players never bought into his system-Players didn't fit his scheme-Rookies did not play well enough to offset the regressing old guys-Reggie Nelson is soft and he sucks-Williams would leave after practice Friday's to spend time with his family and return Saturday night for games-Williams is an arrogant stick that doesn't listen to anybody, which is fine when things are functioning fine but not so much when they're not

It bears mentioning that Joe Gibbs had a very hands-off style with his defense, and let Williams run his show. Del Rio, who has a background as a defensive coach anyway, doesn't strike me as being that hands-off. That probably contributed to the turbulence.

I'm somewhat doubting that Payton will have a problem with this.

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

From what I've gathered...-Williams never saw eye to eye with Del Rio and the players, lots of in-fighting-Players never bought into his system-Players didn't fit his scheme-Rookies did not play well enough to offset the regressing old guys-Reggie Nelson is soft and he sucks-Williams would leave after practice Friday's to spend time with his family and return Saturday night for games-Williams is an arrogant stick that doesn't listen to anybody, which is fine when things are functioning fine but not so much when they're not

It bears mentioning that Joe Gibbs had a very hands-off style with his defense, and let Williams run his show. Del Rio, who has a background as a defensive coach anyway, doesn't strike me as being that hands-off. That probably contributed to the turbulence.

I'm somewhat doubting that Payton will have a problem with this.

:X I think Payton would rather not deal with defense at all. it frees up more time for him to devise those sneaky trick plays that never work.

 

[valhallan]

Yep, if Williams wants full control over the defense then he absolutely came to the right place.

 

[Vicktimized]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

 

[DCThunder]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

 

[Marvelous]

DCThunder is right, though I might not go as far. It's true that Williams rules with an iron fist, and he loves to be in front of the cameras and give his dissertations about defense or why a certain player is good. He's another Brian Billick in that regard, and it's different from a guy like Zorn who will give explanations because IMHO he's what amounts to being a football geek. Gregg truly believes that you desperately want to learn at his feet. None of that's important if the guy is good at what he does, and Williams is, though his scheme is tremendously complex, and likely more than it needs to be. The first thing that Greg Blache did this year in taking over the Redskins defense for Williams was to simplify it, and he got the same production out of it as measured by yards and points that Williams had over the four years he was in Washington. Blache was in fact an unsung hero during Williams' tenure because Blache, as the DL coach, squeezed every bit of production out of a mediocre group of players for four years, and that allowed Williams to showcase his "exotic" blitz and coverage schemes with his back seven. The key here is the defensive secondary. If the Saints have CB's and S's who are good in man coverage, and especially a safety who can play the cover-one "centerfield" position that Ed Reed plays and Sean Taylor played, then he can run his aggressive defense with blitzing LB's and DB's. If not (as was the case with the 2006 Redskins defense, after a lot of injuries) then that defense is going to give up a lot of big plays. Also, he needs some very intelligent LB's and S' to run the defense and make on-field adjustments and get players in the proper alignments, and they have to know this complex scheme very well to do this. One more thing- despite being known as an "aggressive" defense with "exotic" blitz schemes, both in Washington and in Buffalo before that Williams' defense was NOT known for generating a lot of big plays. There were few sacks and turnovers to show for all of this aggressiveness. I was never sure why that was, and I don't know if it carried over to Jacksonville (I gather that it did given that he was fired) but that was definitely a criticism in those two cities.

The Redskins identified having 3 good cover CBs was essential to the Gregg Williams defense. The need to be able to man cover while they are running all the blitzes. Although as time went on, Williams blitzed less in DC.

 

[Marvelous]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

But the Redskins did have very good defenses under Gregg Williams 3 out of his 4 years here. The one bad year Springs was injured most of the year and they ran a much less aggressive defense. And Springs was one of the first free agents they signed when Gibbs and Williams arrived.

 

[saintfool]

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

i don't think you understand the average saints fan here. we're not asking for shut outs or the dome patrol redux. we just want a competent coach. my preference is a decent coach with real experience as a DC instead of a darkhorse candidate or "emerging" positional coach. the saints haven't had one of those in many, many years.

 

[Gadabout]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

Did Greggggg kill your cat or something?

 

[Doug B]

There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

"Being a tool" does not equal "incompetent". See Bill Belichik, Bill Parcells, Mike Martz, and Tom Coughlin.Williams can have Black & Decker tattooed on his forehead for all I care, so long as he can coach defense.

 

[PranksterJD]

There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

"Being a tool" does not equal "incompetent". See Bill Belichik, Bill Parcells, Mike Martz, and Tom Coughlin.Williams can have Black & Decker tattooed on his forehead for all I care, so long as he can coach defense.

Agreed, though I am a little worried about Williams' ego. Is he going to be a guy that tries to push in his scheme wholesale without looking at the parts he's using to build it? Some of the packages that he tries to use might not work that well with the Saints "special" group of defenders.

 

[Doug B]

There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

"Being a tool" does not equal "incompetent". See Bill Belichik, Bill Parcells, Mike Martz, and Tom Coughlin.Williams can have Black & Decker tattooed on his forehead for all I care, so long as he can coach defense.

Agreed, though I am a little worried about Williams' ego. Is he going to be a guy that tries to push in his scheme wholesale without looking at the parts he's using to build it? Some of the packages that he tries to use might not work that well with the Saints "special" group of defenders.

Inflexibility is a bigger concern than irascability ... your takeis more relevant. IMHO, the Saints have a good enough front seven, but they don't (yet) have the cover corners or the elite safety to run D the same way Williams did in Washington.

 

[guderian]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

Jihad against Gregg Williams? Sounds like someone listens to too much sports radio.

 

[Sidewinder]

If he ends up an abject failure, I'll come back and give props to those warnings. For now though, think I'll go with the comments of some more compelling sources than some random anonymous internet posts:

http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index.ssf?/....xml&coll=1

...

"He'll revitalize that defense," said ESPN NFL analyst Floyd Reese, who was the general manager in Tennessee when Williams started his coaching career with the Oilers, then Titans. "By the time training camp is over, that defense will certainly have an identity."

...

Talk to people around the NFL about Williams, and two words are repeated most often: bright and demanding.

Other descriptions: Tough. Cocky. Stubborn. Aggressive.

Sound familiar, Saints fans?

In short, Williams is a defensive incarnation of Sean Payton, right down to the coaching visor he wears on Sundays.

"Gregg will be aggressive," Reese said. "He puts pressure on players to make plays. He's very demanding and very bright. He has the kind of personality that the vast majority of players love to play for. . . . The way the Saints play offensively is going to be matched by their defense now."

...

"He's a warrior," Reese said. "It's not going to be easy (for the Saints defenders). He's very demanding. They'll do it his way or they'll hit the highway, but the results will be impressive. I think they'll improve dramatically on defense." ...

http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index.ssf?/...&thispage=3

...

Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said it was hard to see Gibbs go because the two had developed a close relationship during the past three years, but he said he looks forward to working with Williams.

"Obviously his reputation speaks volumes," said Fujita, who said he got a call Thursday from friend and former college teammate Andre Carter, who played for Williams in Washington. "The first thing he said to me is, 'This is a guy I'd play for any time, any place.' " ...

http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index.ssf?/....xml&coll=1

...

"He's not going to sit back in Cover 2 the whole game," said Saints cornerback Leigh Torrence, who played for Williams in Washington. "You know that. And that'll be a good thing for New Orleans." ...

"He's a tough coach, now," Torrence said, recalling his days with the Redskins. "No nonsense. He gets in players' faces. By the time the game comes, you know what you're doing." ...

"At the time, he was in the running for the head coaching job, and guys were behind that," Torrence said, citing Williams' good communication with his players as a reason for his popularity. ...

Williams will be expected to bring more intensity and urgency to the Saints' defense, and his on-field personality is expected to suit that mission. Tim Hasselbeck, an ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback who crossed paths with Williams in Buffalo and Washington, described Williams as "not afraid of sitting a guy who's making a lot of money or sitting a guy who was a high pick if he doesn't know what he's doing." ...

Hasselbeck, who remembers being cut by Williams in Buffalo and said he is "not necessarily on the Christmas-card list" for Williams, said Williams is a "phenomenal football coach" who "generally, if he goes somewhere, he will make the defense better." ...

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/2009/0.../#comment-29297

...

The New Orleans Saints hired Gregg Williams to run their defense next season. I played two seasons under Gregg, and that “Summer Camp” the Saints were running down in Mississippi in August is going to change from an episode of “Little House on the Prairie” to a “Hell in the Cell Match” between Stone Cold and Mankind.

...

Matt Bowen

January 16, 2009

1:33 pm

Saints will be tough with Williams next year B Roo…

Brees might throw 50 TDs if that defense can create turnovers in Gregg’s scheme.

...

Peter

January 16, 2009

2:18 pm

Matt - what do you think of Williams as a DC, aside from the grueling training camp of course? I always thought he is pretty good, and wished he’d come to my Packers, but he chose the Saints since they’ll be higher scoring in his opinion. They’ll be a good team next season I guess.

...

# Matt Bowen

January 16, 2009

2:33 pm

Peter-

I think he is one of the best in the league… up there with Rex Ryan, Lebeau, J Johnson for sure.

He was pretty good when he was in DC….

Great motivator, which is key, and a great teacher

But, the most important thing, is that he holds everyone responsible for their actions on the field. He will pull anyone (superstars) and put their butts on the bench,

You play for your job each and every practice. Don’t perform on Wednesday in 7-on-7, then you don’t play on Sunday....

 

[Vicktimized]

Although the Jags lost Marcus Stroud to the Bills and the players, noteably Peterson, got older and less effective, the Jaguard defense took a huge nosedive that no one talks about much. The only thing we know for sure is that the Jags did not hesitate to say goodbye to Williams.

Caveat Emptor. I expect continued fantasy success from the Saints offense as nothing good will come from the Williams hire.

Just remember that the second "G" in Gregg stands for "Genius" and all will be well. And so long as you keep ing to him, it will be well also.

From his days here in DC he's an arrogant, know-it-all, who plays favorites and was not particually well liked by the press. Why he was one and done in Jaz would be very revealing, if the truth is ever known.

Good luck with him. You're gonna need it.

I'm not going to judge Williams by his one year in Jax, where he may or may not have had much to do with their defensive failings. In fact, there were several reasons listed as to why he really wasn't the core cause of their slide this year. To say nothing good will come from the hiring, at this point, is pretty short-sighted. As far as dealing with the press or being an "arrogant know-it-all", who cares if the guy can coach...When you go 15-17 over the past 2 years with the offense the Saints have, there is really only one place to put the blame. Gibbs was unimaginative in his schemes and poor at making in-game adjustments with his defenses. In 2008, we ranked 26th in points allowed and 23rd in total yardage allowed; in 2007, those rankings were 25th and 26th respectively. This season, the Saints offense gave the team three leads late into the 4th quarter, only to have the defense lose the game by giving up a long pass completion or committing a long pass interference penalty, with each directly leading to losses. A change was necessary, no make that required. Gregg Williams has a proven track record with three different organizations, and I have full confidence that he will make a difference here. I'm under no illusions that this will be a top 10 defense under Williams, but as Sean Payton showed in 2006, with his offensive mind, a middle-of-the-pack defense is good enough to get the job done.

Gregggggg's system here in DC was linebacker and saftey oriented. The DL was somewhat intentionally kept pretty ordinary and the pass pressure was designed to come from the outside LBs and blitzing CBs and safeties. I don't know who the Saints have on defense, but if you think that your personnel will fit this kind of a system, then you'll be golden. But Gregggg also had very strange "rules" For instance, he refused to start Sean Taylor in his first few games as a rookie because, even though he'd clearly won the job, "rookies don't start in a Gregg Williams defense". He essentially ran Antonio Pierce out of DC because when Pierce was coming off a breakout season as a FA and wanted bigger bucks, Williams essentially said "fork him, I made him what he was and I can make another LB just as good" He ran Lavar Arrington out of town as well, benching him for no reason and playing inferior OLBs in his place. And he was behind the Adam Archeleta signing, and then realized that Archdeluxe was a turd and benched him.

There was an infamous article in the WaPo a couple of years back the really laid out all of the short-comings and bad blood of the dysfunction of the Redskins defense. The CBs and the safeties had different meeting (and never met as a group) because the coaches of each position hated each other and hated Greggggggg. You should try to find it. It was out around the end of Gibbs 3rd year here, so late 2005 or so. It's probablly in an old Redskins thread too.

Finally, when Joe Gibbs quit last year, Williams essentially assumed that he'd be named HC. When that didn't happen for over two weeks (a long story in and of itself) he removed his name from consideration and left town in a huff, blasting the organization as he left. Now that blasting may have been deserved, but there aren't many here in DC who have very fond memories of Greggggggs tenure as DC.

So good luck with Greggggggggggg.

Wasn't the Skins D very good under him? We'll take a few hissy fits with a solid defensive performance.He can be a total %^%^$, but results are what matters, especially when you've got one of the league's better offenses just waiting for some help on the other side.

As I said to the other Saints fan, OK, don't say you weren't warned and check back in a year or so.There is a reason that Greggggg isn't getting interviewed for HC gigs and that's because he's such a tool to deal with. But live in your little fantasy world that he's gonna take you to the promised land.

Who said anything about promised land? Or making him a head coach? We're just looking for an improved defense, to give our offense a chance. Nobody cares what kind of humanitarian he is. You haven't given one reason for me to believe the D can't improve under him. Apparently, he's always been a tool, and historically, his defensive teams play well under him anyway. So who cares?

I mean, maybe in DC you guys want one thing... but I guarantee after what we've been through, if our defense can play anywhere near what yours has in his time there, nobody in New Orleans will care if he's the biggest tool on earth. I don't want to have a beer with the guy.

 

[Vicktimized]

"Obviously his reputation speaks volumes," said Fujita, who said he got a call Thursday from friend and former college teammate Andre Carter, who played for Williams in Washington. "The first thing he said to me is, 'This is a guy I'd play for any time, any place.' " ...

Man, sounds like a real team cancer, let me tell ya...