Where Does Gregg Williams Fit Into Saints History? (1 Viewer)

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Saint Jack

Saint Jack

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Or alternatively, how do you view Gregg Williams?
I ask this because the 15th anniversary of XLIV is creeping up and with that comes the accolades from that early ‘06-‘11 era.
Brees gets into the HOF and the Saints Ring of Honor with Payton following him at some point.
Various players getting inducted into the Saints HOF. Even some executives.
But what about Williams. Does he get excluded from any of this because of the events of the offseason of ‘12? Or does he get a welcome back.
 
I got over it pretty quick. What the NFL did during that whole thing was absurd. There was nothing going on there that didn't go on in every locker room ever. Was it handled badly on our end? Maybe.....but I can understand some of it as self preservation.
 
0rion said:
I got over it pretty quick. What the NFL did during that whole thing was absurd. There was nothing going on there that didn't go on in every locker room ever. Was it handled badly on our end? Maybe.....but I can understand some of it as self preservation.
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Just to play Devil’s Advocate for a quick second; I was taking a law class the year after and I quickly understood the NFL’s motives considering everything came out during the height of the concussion lawsuits and concerns about concussions.
I still think it was too harsh, but I understood why.
 
Flowers for Superbowl
Bricks for the loss to SF in ‘11 - classic snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory
More bricks for being the focal point of bountygate (but I’ll let him hide behind Goodell when the bricks get thrown)
It’s not quite as ‘it’s complicated’ as Sharper, but it’s steps on the path
 
He kind of bent the knee for Goodell and said whatever it took to get back in the league which was extremely disappointing. As a result I have no love lost for him. But his role in bringing a superbowl to New Orleans was very important.
 
Saint Jack said:
Or alternatively, how do you view Gregg Williams?
I ask this because the 15th anniversary of XLIV is creeping up and with that comes the accolades from that early ‘06-‘11 era.
Brees gets into the HOF and the Saints Ring of Honor with Payton following him at some point.
Various players getting inducted into the Saints HOF. Even some executives.
But what about Williams. Does he get excluded from any of this because of the events of the offseason of ‘12? Or does he get a welcome back.
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I felt like he was scape-goated for a while. Then I didn't like what he did as a coach other places and think he just kinda got lucky here. Had a lightning-in-a-bottle season, underwhelmed with the rams and a couple AFC teams.

I thought this part of his wiki was interesting though:

New York Jets​

On January 16, 2019, Williams was hired as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets under new head coach Adam Gase.[44] While the Jets offense struggled, Williams led the Jets to seventh in the NFL in overall defense including second against the run.[45]

On December 7, 2020, Williams was fired from the Jets following a 31–28 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The firing came after Williams called a controversial zero blitz on a Hail Mary play as an attempt to sack Derek Carr. However, Carr found Henry Ruggs open, beating corner Lamar Jackson for a game-winning touchdown with five seconds left, thus dropping the Jets to 0–12.[46][47]
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The amount of mileage he got out of a defense that really didn't have elite talent outside of Vilma, Greer, and Sharper is actually crazy when you sit down and look at it.

Will Smith was at the end of his career and no longer the force he used to be.
Charles Grant? LOL.
Sedrick Ellis was basically a bust.
Hargrove was talented but troubled.
Bobby McCray was a situational roleplayer.

Vilma was genuinely elite.
Fujita was average to above average, but definitely not in the league's elite.
Shanle... absolutely no one will call him elite, great, or even good.

Darren Sharper had one final gallon of elite gas in the tank.
Greer was genuinely elite.
Porter was as likely to lose the game as he was to win it. 2009 he won more than he lost gambling, but when you look at his career, he was not good.
Roman Harper was a downhill in the box strong safety (an extinct position) with zero pass coverage awareness.
Malcolm Jenkins was a rookie.

Gregg Williams was able to turn that into one of the scariest defenses in the league for exactly one season, which honestly was one season more than they had any right of being good.

He called a brilliant 2009 season and constantly had his players, including guys like McKenzie and McAllister signed off the streets balling out of their minds.

It is perfectly fine to hate him and hope he falls down a flight of stairs covered in legos, but you gotta give him credit where it is due, and 2009 was basically his perfect year.
 
I think people forget just how much of a fan favorite Gregg Williams was in 2009. After the defense underperformed in 07 and 08, GW was seen as the missing piece. Sean Payton personally contributed to GW's signing bonus to ensure that we landed him. Especially in the first half of 2009, when the Saints defense was racking up the turnovers, GW was seen as a savior.

Do I like him? No, when I think of him, the first things I think about are Bountygate and the 2011 Niners loss. But there's no denying that he played a huge role in the Saints' one and only Superbowl win.
 
BreesusSaves said:
The amount of mileage he got out of a defense that really didn't have elite talent outside of Vilma, Greer, and Sharper is actually crazy when you sit down and look at it.

Will Smith was at the end of his career and no longer the force he used to be.
Charles Grant? LOL.
Sedrick Ellis was basically a bust.
Hargrove was talented but troubled.
Bobby McCray was a situational roleplayer.

Vilma was genuinely elite.
Fujita was average to above average, but definitely not in the league's elite.
Shanle... absolutely no one will call him elite, great, or even good.

Darren Sharper had one final gallon of elite gas in the tank.
Greer was genuinely elite.
Porter was as likely to lose the game as he was to win it. 2009 he won more than he lost gambling, but when you look at his career, he was not good.
Roman Harper was a downhill in the box strong safety (an extinct position) with zero pass coverage awareness.
Malcolm Jenkins was a rookie.

Gregg Williams was able to turn that into one of the scariest defenses in the league for exactly one season, which honestly was one season more than they had any right of being good.

He called a brilliant 2009 season and constantly had his players, including guys like McKenzie and McAllister signed off the streets balling out of their minds.

It is perfectly fine to hate him and hope he falls down a flight of stairs covered in legos, but you gotta give him credit where it is due, and 2009 was basically his perfect year.
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I generally agree with your analysis. Just as I had problems with Haslett but will still salute him for our first playoff win, I'll do the same for Williams being a part of that SB team.

And remember, Sharper was only really elite for the first 2/3 of the season. Once his knee started acting up, he looked very ordinary and the only play of note he made in the postseason was when a fumble fell in his lap vs. AZ (someone else forced it). And we held Peyton & co. to under 20 points in the SB.

As for lighting in a bottle, yeah, turnovers are always somewhat luck dependent (where a fumble or a tipped pass bounces, a QB under or overthrowing an open WR, a WR/QB getting signals crossed and a pass going straight to a DB). Porter's postseason was a great example (the MIN INT was b/c Favre brain farted and threw across his body instead of to Bernard Berrian who was right in front of him on the sideline at the 30, but the SB INT was a great read). Still, defense wasn't the only lightning in a bottle aspect of that team. Hartley was not a reliable kicker in his NFL career. But he was money in that postseason and set a record for only kicker to make 3 field goals of 45+ yards in the same Super Bowl.
 
Kind of wild of how he was able to hide our weak front 7.
 

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