Browns are hiring Gregg Williams as new defensive coordinator

After a miserable 1-15 season, the Cleveland Browns are making a change in their coaching ranks. Gone is defensive coordinator Ray Horton, and the Browns are hiring Gregg Williams to fill his place, the team announced. Williams spent the past three years with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams.

“We are thrilled that Gregg Williams is joining our staff as defensive coordinator,” Brown head coach Hue Jackson said. “Gregg has been an outstanding defensive coach in this league for a very long time. His defenses have frequently finished among the top 10 in the league. He adapts his scheme to maximize the strengths of his personnel and has always been able to get the most out of his players. We look forward to him coming in, helping our players improve and helping us become the winning team we are all working towards.”

Williams has had a long NFL coaching career that spans multiple decades. He spent 10 years in various positions with the Houston Oilers (later Tennessee Titans), before getting a three-year stint as head coach of the Buffalo Bills. After bouncing around between Washington and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Williams landed with the New Orleans Saints as defensive coordinator, where he found both his biggest success and biggest notoriety.

After building a tough defense that helped the Saints win the Super Bowl in the 2009 season, Williams left in 2012 to rejoin Jeff Fisher with the Rams. But his Saints tenure got shrouded in controversy when he was implicated as part of the BountyGate scandal. In the wake of the investigation, Williams was suspended for the entire 2012 season. Following his reinstatement, Williams returned to Tennessee for one year as senior assistant defensive coach. In 2014, Fisher brought him back to St. Louis as defensive coordinator, where he remained until the Browns hired him away.

The Rams have had good defenses under Williams, although they also got a reputation for undisciplined play. In 2016, they ranked ninth in yards allowed per game, but their play on the field suffered as they were frequently hung out to dry by an inept Rams offense. Still, the defense was hardly the biggest problem in a disastrous 4-12 campaign.

The Browns are trying to get a fresh start on a defense that utterly collapsed this year, ranking 31st in yards allowed per game and 30th in points given up per game.

“It’s very exciting for me to become part of the Cleveland Browns organization and join Hue Jackson’s coaching staff,” Williams said. “I have so much respect for Hue having competed against him in this league for so many years. We’re looking forward to getting to work.”

Williams will likely be tasked with coaching up that side of the ball while the Browns try to rebuild through the draft. His ugly history with the Saints will always follow him around, but Williams is a decent hire for a Browns team searching for credibility.