In a conference call with the Washington media today, New Orleans’ safety Darren Sharper had this to say about his coordinator Gregg Williams (as you might have heard, Williams had the same job in Washington for four seasons and was passed over for the head coaching job):
On Williams’ approach: “From day one he approached the leaders. He talked to myself, Jonathan Vilma, Charles Grant, Will Smith and told the guys it’s not going to be just on him. He’s going to preach to us and give us the message but it’s going to be up to us to carry it through. And the leadership on this team is going to make sure that everyone follows the plan. It wasn’t one moment that I said, ‘Everyone understands what Gregg is trying to teach and we’re going to do what he says.” It started on day one because we knew how good we wanted to be and what kind of team we wanted to have and the leaders on this team made sure we implemented the plan that Gregg was trying to preach to us.”
On Gregg’s personality: “I say he’s hilarious, beyond funny. The things he uses as motivational tools, or just being pissed off and getting on guys. There’s certain things he says at times during meetings or at practices, he knows how to push the button players to get them going. It could be a joke or it could not be a joke. It depends on how you take it.”
An example of his humor: “We had just come out of a meeting and he was talking. ‘OK, this is what we have to do, and this is what we didn’t do well yesterday, we have these coverages, you guys get out there and get ready.’ Then he turned to one of our rookies (linebacker Jonathan Casillas) and said, ‘I don’t know why we kept your freakin’ [butt]. We should have cut you a long [bleeping] time ago. You haven’t done [expletive] yet.’ This was about the third preseason game. He just let the rookie know it ain’t all over, you made the team but you still got a lot left to do. And he’s going to be a good player.”
“He stays on Michael Jenkins. That’s the nature of it, you know he’s going to get on the rookies but he doesn’t stop there. He carries it over to the veteran guys.”
On Sharper’s season: “For me to come here and play under Gregg Williams system, he really lets his playmakers become playmakers and trust themselves to go out there and make plays. He has a great scheme that I love. It was a perfect fit. I knew initially from my visit that it felt good. I met with coach Payton and I knew some other coaches on the staff and I talked to Gregg and it just felt right and sometimes you have to go with your gut. The money aspect wasn’t a big aspect for me. I just felt like this was the perfect situation, to come in and play for a team I think was on the rise and it looks like I made the proper choice.”
