Gang Green ready to haul in controversial Williams
It’s amazing what a new haircut, a pair of glasses, and a little outlandish self-promotion can do for a guy.
Just ask Gregg Williams, the former Saints defensive coordinator made infamous for his role at the center of the 2009-2011 Bountygate scandal. Williams is in the final stages of agreeing to a role as Jets’ D.C. under new head coach Adam Gase, fresh off a run as interim head coach in Cleveland, where he led the Browns to a 5-3 record following Hue Jackson’s epochal 3-36-1 run. But how Williams, who turned up in Cleveland looking like he’d blown a witness protection stipend at an Urban Outfitters, went from radioactive following Bountygate to a hot commodity (at least to hear him tell it) is quite the adventure.
Williams got his start in the NFL as an up-and-coming defensive guru with the Houston Oilers (later the Tennessee Titans), who honed his craft under Buddy Ryan. From there, he had a turn as AFC East punching bag, serving as head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2001 to 2003 (17-31 record), and another as a blowhard star assistant in Washington (where, coincidentally, the defense also engaged in a bounty program). But most famously, after a short layover as defensive coordinator in Jacksonville, he was the ringleader of the Saints’ defense on their run to the 2010 Super Bowl.
Once it was discovered he had been issuing payments out of his own pocket to defensive players for injuring opponents, Williams was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in 2012, by which time he was defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams.
Some choice quotes that emerged from the league’s investigation: “We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head. We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.”
“Every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the head. Early, affect the head. Continue to touch and affect the head.”
“We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, No. 10, about his concussion. We need to f---in’ put a lick on him.”
The real issue with that scandal, which involved behavior that did not differ meaningfully from many, if not most other, NFL teams’ defensive strategies, was that Williams and the Saints got caught doing what other teams do as a matter of course.
Williams’ suspension was ultimately overturned after just one season, and since then, he has flown mostly under the radar. He first resurfaced in 2013 as an assistant for the Titans, and was hired as the Rams defensive coordinator under Jeff Fisher for the 2014 season. He led an average defense for the Browns, in 2017 and 2018, before taking over as the interim coach once Jackson was fired midseason. Just like that, with a new look and a new team, Williams was back in contention for a head coaching job. Time and space and drastic changes in physical appearance heal most wounds.
Williams did lead the Browns to that 5-3 record after the carnage of the previous two-plus seasons, (though it would’ve been hard to find anyone who could have done worse), and rookie QB Baker Mayfield did seem to respond better to Williams’ leadership. But his ridiculous claim at a press conference during the season that he had received four offers to be a head coach without even needing to interview was met with deserved skepticism, and suddenly Williams was back in the spotlight for his checkered past.
The claim, believed by exactly no one, did not stop the Browns from considering him as the full-time head coach, though they ultimately decided to cut ties with him and promote Freddie Kitchens as the head man. But it was a reminder that simple things, such as riding a wave of good fortune to a head coaching vacancy or masterminding coordinated efforts to injure opposing players, turned complicated around Williams.
Williams did not receive much consideration for the other openings at head coach this offseason, which left him available to fill the Jets’ open position at defensive coordinator after Kacy Rodgers’ departure.
Gang Green, for its part, has its own history of scandal. In 2010, strength coach Sal Alosi purposely tripped Miami’s Nolan Carroll, who was breaking down the sideline on a kickoff. It turned out that wasn’t an isolated incident. Alosi had been instructing inactive players to line up in a certain way on the sideline so they could impede play. He was suspended indefinitely, incurred a $25,000 fine and the Jets were also slapped with a $100,000 penalty from the league.
They’ve also been dinged in the past for tampering (Darrelle Revis, Michael Crabtree), for failing to properly disclose an injury (Roger Duffy, 1997) and they blew the whistle on the Patriots in Spygate. Mostly, though, the Jets have been known for finding creative ways to lose year after year and for you-can’t-make-this-up headlines (Remember Geno Smith getting his jaw broken in the locker room? Rex Ryan’s foot fetish? Bill Belichick resigning as HC of NYJ?)
But, like Williams, they’re trying to leave that image of the bumbling, misfit franchise in the past. It’ll take more than some hair gel and thick-rimmed specs.