GREEN MONSTER
Jets to hire infamous Bountygate villain as DC Mehta: Williams brings needed swagger and is great fit for Gang
New Jets defensive coordinator looks like a different man since his scandal-ridden days with Saints, and he’s the right man for this job.
The roughest, toughest, cockiest defensive coordinator in all the land is about to electro-shock everyone on One Jets Drive.
New Jets head coach Adam Gase will be hiring Gregg Williams to run Gang Green’s defense, according to sources. Williams should be called Swaggy G for the charisma and confidence oozing out of his pores.
The well-traveled 60-year-old Williams will be making his eighth tour stop during his entertaining 30year career that has included 17 as a defensive play-caller and three as a head coach.
Williams’ and Gase’s fiery makeups have prompted inquiring minds to wonder whether there’s enough square footage in- side the House That Woody built to contain the pair of giant personalities. It might be time for Christopher Johnson to dial up Chip and Joanna Gaines to put an addition on One Jets Drive.
Gase obviously isn’t threatened by Williams, who might be the most self-confident human being on the planet regardless of occupation.
“I’m pretty sure that everyone is in the same boat that I need to spend my time with the quarterback,” Gase said at his introductory press conference on Monday. “Whoever we bring here on the defense has to do a great job of making sure that he’s really the head coach of the defense. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Williams’ personality was on display during HBO’s Hard Knocks series last year and his eight-game run as the Browns’ interim head coach. (He went 5-3).
“I want to hire a guy that has plenty of experience and can run his defense,” Gase told WFAN radio on Tuesday. “I want to spend my time with the offense and do everything I can to keep those three phases working together…. I love guys that bring swagger and attitude and want to defend every blade of grass (and) want to make practices competitive. That’s how, to me, it starts. If your practices feel like a game, then you’re going to perform better in the game.”
Gase said that he’ll talk about situational elements with his defensive coordinator, but won’t be micromanaging him during the game.
“I try not to get demanding with the defensive coordinator,” Gase said. “Because I know I never liked it (as an offensive coordinator) when you felt like somebody was looking over your shoulder and constantly hounding you on calls.”
Williams, suspended by the NFL for one year (2012) for the Saints Bountygate scandal, will bring an aggressive and attacking 4-3 scheme that should benefit Leonard Williams, who could shift to a threetechnique lineman, and linebacker Darron Lee, who never looked fully comfortable in Todd Bowles’ 3-4 alignment.
However, free-agent defensive lineman Henry Anderson, who tied for a team-high seven sacks, is better suited for a 3-4 scheme. He was traded from the Colts because he wasn’t an ideal fit in their 4-3 defense.
Gase made it clear that his top priority was getting a quality staff in place. With special-teams coach Brant Boyer’s extension in the books, Gase now has his coordinators in place. It will be interesting to see if defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, the de facto defensive coordinator for much of last season and widely respected by players, will be back with Williams after serving on his defensive staff with the Rams for three seasons.
Regardless, the Gase-Williams tandem looks strong.