Popular Post LIJetsFan Posted August 20, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted August 20, 2019 By MANISH MEHTA NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | AUG 20, 2019 | 7:00 AM He marched up and down the sideline and spoke with purpose to everyone within earshot, three decades of an NFL life pouring out of him. There was wisdom in his words, an impromptu lesson for his players who have grown accustomed to the straight talk. He had the fire of a much younger man. Gregg Williams is a fascinating enigma, an NFL lifer whose reputation is sprinkled with myth, hyperbole, truth and brilliance. He is a beautiful mind, a defensive savant who has made a career out of confusing some of the smartest offensive coaches we’ve ever seen. He is self-assured, confident, cocky, brutally honest and kind. He has a lovable ego. The words that spilled from Williams’ lips at a recent practice were powerful. If you took the time to listen, you realized that this guy gets it. The Jets defensive coordinator was preparing his unit to embrace the urgency of the moment at a recent practice. The drill was simple: His defense was leading by four points in the waning moments. Adam Gase’s offense had the ball: 1st and goal from the 10. Something had to give. Williams’ message was pure: This is how you win Super Bowls. Win these moments and you can be champions too. You could sense the urgency in his voice. It was a terrific message that galvanized a group that made not one, not two, not three, but four stops to keep Sam Darnold & Co. out of the endzone. There was a collective roar from the defense. The 61-year-old Williams, who has electroshocked Gang Green’s defense with a confidence that is palpable, was amped. Gang Green agrees Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is a brilliant coach. “He basically kills a gnat with a sledgehammer,” linebackers coach Frank Bush said. “That’s his mentality.” Williams is full throttle all the time. His intensity is piercing. The man dressed in black from head to toe every day is exactly who Adam Gase needs to take care of the defense. “I love Gregg,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “A lot of people have said things about Gregg in the past, but I love the guy. He’s intense. He’s loud. He’s an aggressive guy. He’s a take-no-explicit type of guy. He’s straight-up. If you respect Gregg, he respects you.” Williams’ reputation as a hard-charging tough guy who walks on the edge (see: Bounty Gate) doesn’t tell the whole story. He lives by a simple motto: Respect and trust are earned. He has out-witted some of the smartest people to pass through the NFL in the past three decades. He hasn’t always won, but he’s been a perpetual pain in the posterior to just about everyone he’s crossed paths with because he’s a pretty smart coach. He has boundless energy from an unknown source. He looks like he could crush his walkie-talkie into a million little pieces during every practice. He must do Red Bull keg stands after breakfast. It must be exhausting. Williams has found a passion that most of us never find. So, he keeps going, imparting wisdom to much younger men, pushing, prodding and challenging them to reach a level that maybe they can’t even see. “It permeates,” Bush said of Williams’ fiery demeanor. “Because it’s every day with him. It’s an attitude. It’s a way we go about things… and it spreads throughout the rest of the team. Because they start to see when you’re that way and you try to be organized and try to do things at a high level every day, it makes a difference.” Nothing isn’t important. Detail. Execution. Physicality. Those words have always mattered to Williams. “We all know his personality,” said outside linebackers coach Joe Vitt, who won a Super Bowl with Williams with the Saints once upon a time. “His record speaks for itself. His production in this league speaks for itself. He holds people accountable. Once you’ve earned his trust, he will listen to you. If I didn’t love Gregg, I wouldn’t be back here working with him.” Don’t take shortcuts. When Williams tells a player to take the field like he means it during a substitution run in practice, he better do it. At first, Williams might sound like he wants you to get off his lawn, but it takes a smart person to look beyond the delivery. There’s value in his words. “Don’t listen to how he conveys the message. Listen to the message itself,” Jenkins said. “He says what guys need to hear. He’s not going to sugarcoat it. He’s not going to baby you. And he’s not going to belittle you. He’s going to treat you like a man and you have to respond like a man. And that’s it.” Transparency is a trademark of his coaching style. If you screw up on the field — or God forbid, loaf — he will make sure everyone knows about it in the classroom. “He makes sure that we know who’s the culprit on defense,” linebacker Avery Williamson said. “Accountability. It’s not hidden. We want to make sure everybody’s on point every day… You’ll get called out at a meeting.” Williams doesn’t know any other way. “It's been that way for my whole life,” Williams said. “I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. You can't BS players. You can't BS that. It has to be an every way thing about it and the thing that is easily convinced when you go to a new place is find the best guy there and make him do it. And everybody else says, ‘Uh oh.’ Mom and Dad didn't make you do that stuff. Mom and Dad couldn't play either.” Williams’ intensity has an unintended consequence: He can be funny. He’ll routinely say something — sometimes to nobody in particular — that will make you laugh. It’s unclear whether he’s trying to lighten the mood, but it’s impossible not to chuckle at some of the stuff. Williams’ presence has given Gase the freedom to work with Darnold without worry. The competition between the offensive and defensive play callers this summer should benefit everyone. Will the Gase-Williams marriage work? The true test will come when adversity hits this season. So far, so good. Williams has even taken time during breaks at practice to praise special teams coach Brant Boyer’s penchant for working on directional punting. He’ll slip in history lessons along the way like the time he played a safety (Usama Young) for an injured cornerback (Jabari Greer) in the Super Bowl or how Jimmy Johnson lifted his cutting-edge idea to rotate defensive linemen. He’ll underscore the importance of “concept teaching” and not being a slave to the depth chart. He can talk for days. “He does his own thing his own way,” Bush said. “Some of the stuff you see and hear… it’s just Gregg being Gregg.” He still has a lot to give. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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