DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Hiring Gregg Williams (according to LaCanfora)

Not sure if this is true or not, but it's being reported by LaCanfora FWTW. Here's the link:

Link

Interesting..

Browns haven't even released a statement saying Horton is gone yet have they?

Grossi tweeted that assistants Brandon Fisher, Dennard Wilson, and Blake Wilson coming along as well. Maybe even more.

Say what you will about the guy but unless I'm mistaken his units finished top 15 his last year seasons. Top 10 in 5 of those as well.

Yeah, strange, and like I pointed out, it is LaCanfora. But if it is true, you will see a major change how our defense plays. They'll actually show some attitude and intensity for a change.

Well, we got a big name DC.

Who do you think follows from LA?

Probably several coaches and a player or two, maybe Thomas or McDonald, whoever he has the best relationship with.

I'd expect light action in FA heavy D (and O-line) in the draft. I think that given Williams' style, young players growing together will be key. They'll be able to grow as a team, develop an us against them mentality, and rally around the coach. Bringing in a bunch of vets won't help them do that,IMHO.

MKC just tweeted a Cleveland.com link.. guess its official

And there you have it.

Per Twitter:
Michael Silver @Mikesilver

One reason Hue Jackson sought Gregg Williams as Browns new DC: He can adapt scheme to fit talents of his players. Now Browns need players.

llink

S Tj McDonald and CB Trumaine Johnson. Only valuable rams defensive FA. Trumaines a big money CB TJ is good depth. The rams have cap space though so they may never see FA.

Oh no the sky is falling where is the continuity
our defense was so dominant in 2016.
oh golly another over rated DC coming in
I've fallen and can't get up!!

Lol, stripper!

Well One thing is for sure, no matter who is the D-coord, you gotta have players to run what ever scheme you implement. We need some good free agent pick ups to make the transition go smoother!!

Please let this be true, I know we are deficient talent wise but I just can't stand Horton or the 3-4 at this time. Change is needed in that department.

I don't think it's a stellar move. But I think it's an upgrade.

Well, I'm not a Williams fan by any stretch, but I never wanted us to rehire Horton either.

We'll see how it works out.

At least we're fairly sure Hue will be back next year. I think continuity is more important for us to have on offense as it looks like we should be drafting a lot of defense and would have been lacking continuity in that respect anyways. Don't think the poor D was entirely Horton's fault, and I think firing him is a bit excessive, but I'm down with an attacking 4-3. Sadly, I think this means Cioffi is likely on his way out and I thought he did a pretty good job with Jamar Taylor and Boddy-Calhoun.

Silver is close friends with Jackson. He is also a pretty straight shooter. I believe this was a Hue Jackson move and not a Jimmy Haslam move.

Browns fire DC Ray Horton, hiring Gregg Williams

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-gregg-williams

Hue takes the blame for everything. Ray blames everyone. I can see where issues could arise

As for Williams he is a fantastic coach, didnt think we would get him. He still teaches the buddy ball philosophy he adopted from Buddy Ryan from back in his days with the Oilers. Has a good rep for being a quality teacher, former highschool coach and brings that rah rah highschool spirit to the D room.

So Williams is supposed to be bringing over some defensive coaches with him from the Rams (or other teams).

I don't know much about any of their position coaches, but one guy who caught my eye was this guy:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/16608437/mike-singletary-work-los-angeles-rams-defense-season

A few other guys I noticed were Chuck Cecil and Frank Bush (both are former defensive coordinators).

Mike Waufle is a guy I've never heard of, but he has been around the league forever and has a pretty impressive resume:

http://www.therams.com/team/coaches/mike-waufle/71488f9a-73a6-4439-8965-23924a5710fd

(The Rams have the most detailed coach bios I've ever seen.)

I find it hilarious that they have these great detailed bios, but Williams's bio does not mention he was suspended for a year by the league for trying to kill Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.

Good read. IMHO we got a coach that should do well with the types of plaers we have. I really want him to do well here. Hue and Williams two schemes i love.

This is a very good move. Many teams have moved away from the base 3-4 to more hybridized defenses. The 4-3 hybrid base Williams runs will be a huge help in the run defense scheme.

We actually have players here right now that will fit nicely into the scheme. Also, our D-lineman will not have to worry about taking on double teams to keep the linebackers free. Nassib and/or Ogbah should be moved to a DE in 5 or 7 technique.

The hire should also affect our draft strategy, as we now have to find talent players to fit the scheme. Both Allen and Garrett both fit the scheme well.

well we had the worst defense in the nfl I think last season or at least close to it so it's not like we will do any worse ^^

I am not a big fan of Williams. but here is something interesting:

Tennessee defense in 2012 was 471 points allowed, 32 in points, 27 in yards allowed

2013, Williams took over the defense, and they were 14 in yards allowed and 16 in points allowed. (381 allowed)

In 2014, Horton (yeah, Ray Horton) took over as DC, and they fell back to the bottom of the barrel again .... 29 in points and 27 in yards allowed, with 438 points allowed.

In St Louis/LA, the defense was middle of the pack in yards and scoring for most of his time there. Their points allowed increased, but that was in no small part due to 5 INT and 1 fumble returned against the offense for TDs.

Maybe he'll fit well with Hue, and make the defense better. I sure hope so.

Ray Horton out, Gregg Williams in, Browns calm on surface as waters churn: Doug Lesmerises

By Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com
updated January 08, 2017 at 6:06 AM
link


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- So the Browns went beyond the 1-15 apology letter from Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

Though Haslam after the season finale in Pittsburgh said the Browns had the right people in place, if you weren't named in the apology letter as one of the leaders - and only Hue Jackson, Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta were - then you weren't one of the people he meant.

Here's the thing about 1-15. Even if it's planned, it's bad. Even if you're building, there are problems. Even if you seek and strive for continuity, there must be changes. Even while you were losing, you could evaluate competence.

So goodbye Ray Horton, hello Gregg Williams.

The move Saturday night to fire their defensive coordinator and apparently turn over that entire side of the ball to Williams, who could bring much of his defensive staff with him from the Los Angeles Rams, was a bold stroke for the most broken part of the Browns.

You watched the defense. There are sold, perhaps even good, pieces on that side of the ball, from Danny Shelton to Christian Kirksey to Emmanuel Ogbah to Jamie Collins to Jamar Taylor. But about half the guys on the field at a given moment weren't NFL-quality starters. And they often didn't look like they fit together.

Horton took a hard job and made it look hard. Consistently, achingly difficult.

The Browns finished third-to-last in scoring defense, allowing 28.2 points per game. Only New Orleans and San Francisco were worse. But the Saints (allowing 38, 38, 41 and 45 in their worst games) and the 49ers (allowing 41, 41, 45 and 46 in their worst games) were blown out sometimes and decent in other games.

The Browns didn't get blown out in a handful of games. They were systematically beaten by often average offenses each week. They gave up 33 and 35 to New England and Dallas, the league's two best teams, both with top-five offenses, and 31 and 27 to the New York Jets and New York Giants, both with bottom-seven offenses.

Want to grind yourself down? These were the points allowed by the Browns in their 15 losses: 23, 24, 25, 27, 27, 28, 28, 29, 30, 31, 31, 31, 33, 33, 35.

So in comes Williams, dragging a 4-3 defense that seemingly fits better with the personnel in place. And again, there are pieces.

Put Jamie Meder and Shelton inside, with Ogbah and potential overall No. 1 pick Myles Garrett at end (and Carl Nassib working in) and that's a front four that might work.

This defense wasn't working.

So maybe wiping out the worst side of the ball from the worst team in the league isn't exactly a master stroke. But after the sometimes frustrating year-end news conference Monday, this was more proof to not get dragged down by what the people in charge in Berea may or may not say.

The necessary defensive changes started with a new coordinator. Done.

The necessary offensive changes will begin with a new quarterback. Expect that to come.

Needing to find half of a starting defense isn't easy, but imagine the Browns using three of their four picks in the top two rounds on defense, then maybe making one major signing of a starter, and you're closer than you realize.

The defense will be young and it won't be great. But under Williams, who has more than 25 years in the league, it should be aggressive. It should be competent, which didn't always appear to be the case this season. And it should fit what's already in place with the players here.

Does it mean it'll work? No one can promise that, with anything. Not with the front office decision-makers, not with Jackson as head coach, not with the draft picks, not with the quarterback expectations, not with the salary cap room.

But here's what the Browns did.

They kept the top of the organization in place. They kept the head coach in place. But under that level of surface calm that the franchise is so determined to project, the waters continue to churn. And they should.

Free agency awaits. The draft awaits. But the Browns didn't sit tight. They tried to get better with a football move.

Here's what former Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, a seven-year NFL starter at middle linebacker, said about playing under Williams for three of those seasons.
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James Laurinaitis ✔@JLaurinaitis55
Cleveland if you're getting Gregg Williams, you're getting a great leader, amazing coach, and one of my favorite people!! Culture changer!!
10:18 PM - 7 Jan 2017
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Coaches only fix so much. But if this rough season was part of a plan, and it was, there's only so much you can bring back from 1-15. Keep the pieces that worked. Replace and improve the pieces that didn't.

Project the calm. And keep churning.

Hope our guys are ready to work.

Hope Jamie Colins likes the hire.

Wonder how much turnover we'll have with our pass rushing LB's and dlinemen. We don't really have any big names with any of those positions anyway, so don't have much to lose.

Per Twitter:
Robaire Smith ‏@RobaireSmith

Best DC in the league. Will have the Browns playing with a chip on their shoulders for sure... Great addition

Link

Pretty much sums up my feelings. I am more optimistic this morning than I was yesterday. Good move IMO...

So how long will it take until me hire Ray back for a 3rd time?

Couple of thoughts that entered my mind right away.

1. He brings baggage from New Orleans and that situation.

2. LaCanfora doesn't appear to be someone the Browns talk too so I question that source.

3. They haven't even officially said that Horton is out

Not that any of that means a thing really. The baggage was a while ago and everyone deserves another chance, just no bountygate here please.

As for LaCanfora, he may have inside info from any number of sources in and out of the Browns so that doesn't mean anything.

The firing of Horton is odd.. That's usually something that is out there fairly quickly.

Hue has proven that he doesn't care about what people think in who he brings in to make his players better... ie ex Baylor coach. And now Williams with his bounty gate history.

I too feel better about the pick up though.

Yes, I wanted the continuity of guys learning from the same coach for 2 years, but Horton was not the long term answer. We all knew that.

Bountygate. It boils down to the mere fact that they actually got caught saying what's most likely been talked about in every locker room in the history of sports. Especially football.

He is a lowlife scumbag. At this point promote your buddy Art "rape is okay" Briles to OC and why not bring in Dr. Richard Rydze from the Steelers to be team physician as well? Totally classless front office.

Wow. The Browns never stop surprising me w/how low they can go.

It's to the point where I am finding it hard to even root for this piece of crap franchise.

This is yet another despicable move. I think I only kinda root for them because that's all I have ever known. The Browns were my favorite team ever since I can remember. But moves like this, which follows the Art Briles thing, only help cement the notion that the Browns are scumbags.

Oh, and I am not going to debate this w/posters.

Equating bounties on players with rape is also pretty classless.