Browns hire Gregg Williams for DC job/Blake Williams for LB coach

[Rabid Ram]

Okay. How did Williams blow the lead? What did he do that deviated from the gameplan we employed over the entirety of the game?

I'm sure it had nothing to do with the defense being worn down due to the offense's failure to sustain drives...

How about the affinity to not stop anyone on 3rd down? 3 and 1 or 3 and 15 we all know 70 percent of the time opposing offense was gonna convert

 

[DaveFan'51]

View: https://twitter.com/jasonlacanfora/status/817914079520161792

I DON'T KNOW WHY HE WOULD WANT THIS JOB!!

 

[LACHAMP46]

Told Gregg Williams will be bringing assts. Brandon Fisher, Dennard Wilson & Blake Williams to #Browns. Possibly more.

Cronyism & Nepotism continues on....

Nothing wrong with off coverage. People choose things to pick at, but there was always a method to GW's madness. It was part of his defensive philosophy. And it worked until the team quit.

Perhaps it was a cause of the teams lack of effort & quitting too...countless conversions...slow bleeding...and never dominant defensive play.
There is a place for off coverage. Not as much in a pass happy league. And our corners knew what type of offense we have, and played off a little too much.

 

[BonifayRam]

Even with GW departing with that cadre of Ram defensive coaches one should remind ourselves that the Rams still have both DL coaches Clyde Simmons & Mike Waufle, LB'er coach Frank Bush & secondary coach Chuck Cecil remaining (at this time).

I think that this Browns defense could excel with the addition of Gregg. This defense could break out in 2017. Then there is a very good chance the Browns will retain the ability to secure the best pass edge pass rusher in DE Myles Garrett or the best interior DL in Jonathan Allen.

The DL has 2 good young DE's Emmanuel Ogbah & Carl Nassib with interior DL starters Stephen Paea & Danny Shelton. LB'er Chris Kirksey and Joe Schobert are 2 starters & if they can resign all star LB'er Jamie Collins back this is a very young & talented.

I could see the Browns seeking to beef up that secondary & Rams UFA starting strong safety TJ McDonald would be a great place to start with a decent enough trio of corners in their Joe Haden, Tramon Williams & 2016 2nd round pick Jamar Taylor. The Browns do not have a good safety cadre but TJ could end up being teamed with Ibraheim Campbell a 4th round selection in 2015.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Guess we'll never find out with his 10 yard deep CB scheme will we?

His defense held many good offenses to low scores. Many. I prefer press coverage as well, but I'm not going to crucify Williams for it. He gave us a chance to win a lot of games if we had an average offense.

 

[Merlin]

I don't get the overall dislike of the guy, he's a quality DC who wasn't exactly set up for success here with the Rams. He was given a constant influx of young kids and fielded respectable and near-elite units, and last year probably would have been a great year for him if the front office hadn't allowed for him to lose a key piece in Jenks. No DC looks great when he's down a CB, plain and simple, not in this league.

So best of luck to him and family and thanks for all the effort in developing the young starters all over our defense. IMO the Browns just added a quality guy to their staff.

 

[Warner4Prez]

Many will undersell the Browns, but as @BonifayRam points out, their arrow is pointing up. 4 picks in the top 50 of the draft, which I'm sure they'll add to with a move or two back. The defense has some pieces in place and with a key acquisition or two should be largely set.
And if Hue Jackson were an available HC candidate right now, he'd be one of my Top 3 targets.

 

[Corbin]

Okay. How did Williams blow the lead? What did he do that deviated from the gameplan we employed over the entirety of the game?

I'm sure it had nothing to do with the defense being worn down due to the offense's failure to sustain drives...

Playing his secondary off and playing prevent almost every damned time we got a lead. Early on played alot closer instead of 8-12 yards deep when it's 3 and 5 for a crucial 3rd down.

Hey this is how they set up the team, a pathetic offense with a 'dominate defense' that they take the foot off the pedal when we take the lead just to give them the game back.

 

[Prime Time]

Here's Florio ragging on GW again for his suspension a few years back. I'm glad we have these daily updates from PFT because they're easy and fast to copy/paste, but Florio is really beginning to get on my nerves.

Gregg Williams isn't great at what he does but he's still pretty damn good when he has the right players. For the Browns this is a step in the right direction. There should be nothing confusing about that for anyone who follows the NFL on a daily basis and who is without an agenda, unlike Florio.
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...g-williams-is-confusing-for-multiple-reasons/

Cleveland’s hiring of Gregg Williams is confusing for multiple reasons
Posted by Mike Florio on January 8, 2017

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So much for continuity in Cleveland.

A year after Browns coach Hue Jackson embraced defensive coordinator at his 3-4 defense, the Browns will implement a 4-3 system under Gregg Williams. For that reason alone, the decision to ditch Horton for Williams makes little sense.

“I know what it looks like and I know what it feels like for everybody here,” Jackson told reporters on Sunday. “‘Here are the Browns again changing out.’ But it is not about that. I am going to say it again, it is about trying to be the best we can be everywhere. I get what it feels like to everybody and I respect that, but at the same time, I think everybody would be disappointed in me if I did not as the leader make tough decisions that I think are going to get us to where we want to go to.

It goes both ways so you are kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. I do not worry about that. I am worried about getting this organization, this football team and this coaching staff as good as I can get it, and I think that is my charge.”

Still, moving from a 3-4 to a 4-3 is no small project, especially not for a team that is making a big deal out of not changing anything. More (and different) defensive lineman are needed. Fewer (and different) linebackers are needed. Sure, some outside linebackers in a 3-4 can become defensive ends in a 4-3, and some inside linebackers in a 3-4 can become outside linebackers in a 4-3 and some defensive ends in a 3-4 can become defensive tackles in a 4-3. But it’s hardly smooth, and it’s never easy.

If the Browns were going to dump Horton, why not replace him with a 3-4 defensive coordinator? (A fairly good one is available in Denver.)

Making the move even more confusing is Williams’ Bountygate baggage, which extends beyond the scandal that undermined the 2009 playoff run in New Orleans to the cartoonish “kill the head” comments from the night before a Saints-49ers divisional round game in early 2012.

Regarded as damaged goods after serving a one-year suspension (and testifying against players as part of the league’s effort to enforce suspensions that former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue eventually scrapped), Williams eventually found work with his longtime friend Jeff Fisher.

Now Williams becomes the defensive coordinator in Cleveland, as if his pattern of misconduct (which possibly traced to every prior stop as a defensive coordinator and head coach) never even happened.

Given where the Browns currently are and where they hope to eventually be, either dynamic would seem odd. Combining the two into one fell swoop for a franchise supposedly obsessed with consistency makes no sense.

“At the end of the day, the whole buck stops with me,” Jackson said Sunday. But the thing is he’s staying and Horton is going.

If nothing else, the move shows that Jackson realizes that another 1-15 season will result in a franchise supposedly obsessed with continuity making even more changes. The real question is whether Williams, whose defense didn’t do much to keep Fisher from getting fired, will make a difference.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Best of luck to him in Cleveland. He's a very good DC. Our defense was always among the better units for points allowed, until this year, when they finally threw in the towel and gave up. If they ever had any support from the offense I think they would have been elite.

 

[OldSchool]

Florio is a hack and hates Fisher and especially hates Williams. Maybe his trash talking of the Rams stops now that both are gone but I doubt it.

 

[jrry32]

Perhaps it was a cause of the teams lack of effort & quitting too...countless conversions...slow bleeding...and never dominant defensive play.
There is a place for off coverage. Not as much in a pass happy league. And our corners knew what type of offense we have, and played off a little too much.

There is a place for off coverage in a pass happy league.

The fact that our team didn't quite in 2014 and 2015 undermines the argument that it was the cause of the lack of effort.

 

[jrry32]

Playing his secondary off and playing prevent almost every damned time we got a lead. Early on played alot closer instead of 8-12 yards deep when it's 3 and 5 for a crucial 3rd down.

Hey this is how they set up the team, a pathetic offense with a 'dominate defense' that they take the foot off the pedal when we take the lead just to give them the game back.

How did that differ from our gameplan all game long? Did we stop blitzing? We almost always played off coverage.

We gave huge cushions all game long. It was part of Williams's philosophy (especially after we lost Jenkins). People complained about it all the time. It didn't start after we had a lead.

 

[jrry32]

How about the affinity to not stop anyone on 3rd down? 3 and 1 or 3 and 15 we all know 70 percent of the time opposing offense was gonna convert

We were 5th best in the NFL in opponent third down conversion percentage (we actually stopped teams from converting 63.7% of the time):
https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-third-down-conversion-pct

We were 6th best in 2015.

 

[Loyal]

Even with GW departing with that cadre of Ram defensive coaches one should remind ourselves that the Rams still have both DL coaches Clyde Simmons & Mike Waufle, LB'er coach Frank Bush & secondary coach Chuck Cecil remaining (at this time).

False hope, imo. Why would the incoming DC want these guys? What if the new HC believes in the 3-4 defense? What if he doesn't want any of the old staff around, probably all of which he has never worked with before? Whatever works no matter how it shakes out, but in my experience its rare that old coaching staff (any of them) survive in a normal HC change, unless that HC is emasculated by the owner/GM because they they think they know more (Jerry Jones).

 

[Prime Time]

What if the new HC believes in the 3-4 defense?

Do we have the right players for a 3-4 defense? I'm not seeing it. Is Brockers the big, fat guy that can plug up the middle? Aaron Donald can switch to DE. Hayes will be 32 by the time the season starts. Quinn unfortunately seems like he's fading away.

Do we have four solid linebackers? Barron, a converted safety is on the small side. Ogletree is fine. Maybe a couple of the youngsters can step in.

It seems that our offensive needs the most attention during the draft and free agency. O-line and wide receivers should be at the top of the list. This doesn't leave a lot of room for revamping the defense. Let's hope the next HC and DC is all in on keeping a 4-3 defense.

 

[Zodi]

Is he taking Barron and his massive contract with him?

 

[Corbin]

It didn't start after we had a lead.

Exactly and it didn't work.

 

[jrry32]

Exactly and it didn't work.

Except it did work for the past three years. In fact, it was working incredibly well this year up until the point that NO kicked our ass and the team quit. That's despite our #2 CB stinking up the field all year and Quinn missing most of the year with an injury.