Should Gregg Williams return as defensive coordinator in '08?

I figured this poll would run about 90/10 in favor of GW. So far I'm not surprised.

I'm curious about the reasoning behind the 3 people (so far) who have said "no". Are you saying you think, from GW's perspective, he should go elsewhere? Or that, from the Skins' perspective, he should not be brought back?

I thought the poll was asking the second question. If it's asking the first question, I'm not sure what my answer would be.

I absolutely want him back next year. I also want him to remain here as the head coach when Joe steps down. I think Greg learned a lot of lessons from Buffalo, and a TON of lessons from Joe while being here. I think he will be a great coach for us. He is very motivational, and I believe he has learned that being a coach is, as he said " people business" He didn't do that in buffalo, and has changed while being here. Look at what he has done with the limited resources due to injuries. He gets guys to play hard, and never quit, which comes directly from Joe. If Greg became coach, I hope he retains Al (if Al wants to stay) to run the offense. Continuity is huge in this league and I think we have that right now even though we have struggled at times this year. I am not one that always wants coaching staff to be overhauled if we dont win. I have, and still, believe Joe should retire, but I think we have the staff in place under Joe to keep things moving in the right direction.

I want him back. What happened this year says a lot about him. He was under the microscope after last year, and he was tagged as being too stubborn. Well, he sucked it up, showed some humility, and has put together schemes all year that maximize the talent he has on the field, as opposed to the schemes he'd prefer to implement. He'd love to blitz more than he does, but that just wasn't working last year, and to the surprise of a lot of people, he's drawn back on the blitz, even though, on the whole, his front four can't put a lot of pressure on the QBs (Andre being the major exception, of course). As someone has said, the defense is the major reason why we're still in the playoff hunt going into week 15, and it's been his coordination of it that is the reason why we're playing so well. So, we need to keep him. Let him continue to establish an identity for this team's defense.

While I've stated my opinion of being off of the Grilliams bandwagon, I still would like for him to return rather than start all over with another D-coordinator, especially when you're looking at starting next season with at least 3 new starters (Rogers & McIntosh still rehabbing, Springs either gone or moved to FS to replace Taylor, Griffin and Washington have huge cap numbers coming up) it's going to be paramount to maintain continuity on both sides of the ball.

While some say the defense is the reason we're still in the playoff hunt, I'd also say the defense is the reason we're not already locked into a playoff spot. The offense didn't turn the ball over (GB exception) to lose us games, the defense didn't do their jobs in a lot of cases. It ties to being left on the field since the offense didn't get first downs but if 'lack of execution' is the excuse on offense rather than playcalling it needs to be the same thing on defense (which was also ultra conservative in many second halves).

I am not however endorsing him as the next HC.. He burns his players out with his intensity and style and I don't think going from Grandpa Joe to crazy Uncle Gregg (second G is for Genius) would work for this team..

I would not be surprised in one bit if we lost Al, Greg, or Saunders to other teams the offseason. Could be one, could be all, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see our coaches poached.

The longer Gibbs sticks around, the less of a chance GWill becomes our next HC.

Not only should Williams be retained, he should be the front runner for head coach whenever Gibbs steps down. I love the fact that he moved Landry to Free Safety to leverage his athleticism. The hit on Burress and the near interception later were great examples of Landry's range. I don't think that he'll ever quite be what Taylor would have been (a potential all-time great), but I'd be surprised if Landry isn't a Pro Bowler by year 3 in Williams' defensive scheme.

I'm curious about the reasoning behind the 3 people (so far) who have said "no". Are you saying you think, from GW's perspective, he should go elsewhere? Or that, from the Skins' perspective, he should not be brought back?
I said "no", I don't think he should be brought back. Here's why; GWs defense has done fairly well statistically, but the second half breakdowns game after game are a major concern. A stat that was shown in the game Sunday night was that Gibbs 1.0 was 2nd best in the NFL in protecting 2nd half leads from 1982-92 (Richie Petitbone). Gibbs 2.0 was either the worst or 2nd worst in the same stat since 2004 (GW). Gibbs' offensive philosopy hasn't changed dramatically, Gibbs 1.0 was constantly criticized for being "too conservative" also. So IMO this is primarily a D-Coordinator issue. What this indicates is good preparation going into the game but the ability to "think on your feet" and make in-game adjustments is poor.

2004 was amazing defensively
2005 was in the top 1/3, but didn't create many turnovers, overall good
2006 poor, set NFL record low for turnovers created
2007 average at best. 2nd half of games have been poor defensively. 26th in generating turnovers.

The trend is going down, not up. Obviously after last year there was no where to go but up. We should be seeing consistent improvement or at least a steady level of defensive play in the top 1/3 of the NFL for a guy that is one of the highest paid coordinators. Gibbs has given him whatever he has asked for (Taylor, Rogers, McIntosh, Landry, Archuletta, Fletcher, Carter). Even with injuries and Sean's death, we have at least average talent on the defensive side of the ball.

These are the 2nd half breakdowns this year.

Giants: 17-3 Skins at Half / 21-0 NYG in 2nd L
Packers: 14-7 Skins at Half / 10-0 GB in 2nd L
Cards: 14-6 Skins at Half / 13-7 Cards in 2nd W
Eagles: 12-7 Skins at Half / 26-13 Eagles in 2nd L
Dallas: 10-7 Skins at Half / 21-13 Dallas in 2nd L
Bills: 9-2 Skins at Half / 15-7 Bills in 2nd L
Bears: 7-0 Skins at Half / 17-16 Skins in 2nd W

Granted the offense hasn't performed well in the second half of some of these games, but if the D could stay even in the 2nd half of two of these games we are 9-5. Sitting back watching that Cover-2 get picked apart in the 2nd half with almost no defensive shifts or blitzing is sickening. In each of these games it appears the opponent's offense adjusts to our gameplan at halftime and GW isn't prepared.

Obviously not a popular opinion, but I stand by it and honestly hope in the long run I am proven wrong. Bottom line is we all want the same thing; for the Skins to be successful and win Superbowls again. We just don't all agree on how to get there, not that our opinions can do anything to help or hurt the franchise.

I'm more inclined to call 2004 an aberration and ascribe 2006 to GW not having a field general out there. With Pierce gone, we had Washington leading the charge. I love the way Marcus plays out there, but the consensus is that he is not much of a student of the defensive game. With Fletcher, we're seeing a lot more cohesion out there.

Now, you can say that's the players, not the coach, but I think GW's system is back on track with the right core nucleus of players (intelligent MLB, FS with huge range, quick DE).

I said "no", I don't think he should be brought back. Here's why; GWs defense has done fairly well statistically, but the second half breakdowns game after game are a major concern. A stat that was shown in the game Sunday night was that Gibbs 1.0 was 2nd best in the NFL in protecting 2nd half leads from 1982-92 (Richie Petitbone). Gibbs 2.0 was either the worst or 2nd worst in the same stat since 2004 (GW). Gibbs' offensive philosopy hasn't changed dramatically, Gibbs 1.0 was constantly criticized for being "too conservative" also. So IMO this is primarily a D-Coordinator issue. What this indicates is good preparation going into the game but the ability to "think on your feet" and make in-game adjustments is poor.

2004 was amazing defensively
2005 was in the top 1/3, but didn't create many turnovers, overall good
2006 poor, set NFL record low for turnovers created
2007 average at best. 2nd half of games have been poor defensively. 26th in generating turnovers.

The trend is going down, not up. Obviously after last year there was no where to go but up. We should be seeing consistent improvement or at least a steady level of defensive play in the top 1/3 of the NFL for a guy that is one of the highest paid coordinators. Gibbs has given him whatever he has asked for (Taylor, Rogers, McIntosh, Landry, Archuletta, Fletcher, Carter). Even with injuries and Sean's death, we have at least average talent on the defensive side of the ball.

These are the 2nd half breakdowns this year.

Giants: 17-3 Skins at Half / 21-0 NYG in 2nd L
Packers: 14-7 Skins at Half / 10-0 GB in 2nd L
Cards: 14-6 Skins at Half / 13-7 Cards in 2nd W
Eagles: 12-7 Skins at Half / 26-13 Eagles in 2nd L
Dallas: 10-7 Skins at Half / 21-13 Dallas in 2nd L
Bills: 9-2 Skins at Half / 15-7 Bills in 2nd L
Bears: 7-0 Skins at Half / 17-16 Skins in 2nd W

Granted the offense hasn't performed well in the second half of some of these games, but if the D could stay even in the 2nd half of two of these games we are 9-5. Sitting back watching that Cover-2 get picked apart in the 2nd half with almost no defensive shifts or blitzing is sickening. In each of these games it appears the opponent's offense adjusts to our gameplan at halftime and GW isn't prepared.

Obviously not a popular opinion, but I stand by it and honestly hope in the long run I am proven wrong. Bottom line is we all want the same thing; for the Skins to be successful and win Superbowls again. We just don't all agree on how to get there, not that our opinions can do anything to help or hurt the franchise.
We would also be 9 and 5 if the O could have scored 20 points in 9 games. So it goes both ways. The O has only scored 30 or more points one time.