Is Greg Williams an egomaniac ?

Well Vitt seems to think so.

One wonders if GW is so narcissistic
that he wears out his welcome after a
year or two.

I dunno.

Maybe he’s changed some. Maybe Fisher
knows how to handle him.

w
v

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Bad Blood Could Boil Over
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2014/08/bad_blood_will_forever_run_bet.html

MICHAEL DeMOCKER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams adds some heat of his own to afternoon practice at Saints camp on Monday, August 15, 2011.

Michael DeMocker

St. Louis — Traditionally, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is quick to embrace a former assistant coach on the field before a game.

Names like the Bills’ Doug Marrone and Raiders’ Dennis Allen come to mind and there are probably a handful of others Payton has smiled and bantered with during pregame warmups. I’m sure we’ll see Payton and Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi hug it out at Ford Field in mid-October when Payton spots his former quarterbacks coach.

The Saints will take on the St. Louis Rams on Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome. Gregg Williams, the Saints’ former defensive coordinator once praised for guiding the defense in New Orleans’ Super Bowl XLIV triumph, will coach his first game as the Rams’ defensive coordinator.

It’s actually Williams’ first game on the sideline since the Saints’ 2011 NFC divisional playoff loss at San Francisco, and his first game as a defensive coordinator since being dubbed by the NFL as the ringleader of the Saints’ alleged bounty program.

There will be no glad-handing between Payton and Williams. There also will be no hugs between Williams and Saints linebacker coach Joe Vitt. No jokes. Probably no eye contact, either.

Payton, who was suspended for the 2012 season in connection to the bounty scandal, said upon his reinstatement into the NFL in January 2013 he had no desire to talk with Williams. Payton, though, said a few months later he didn’t regret hiring Williams, saying what the 2009 staff established couldn’t be taken away from them.

No suspension, lost wages or damaged reputation can erase the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV crown.

But there’s no forgiving and no forgetting in this story. Not with these guys.

The friction between the Saints and Williams began early in their working relationship. It boiled over as Williams exited the Saints en route to St. Louis after the 2011 season.

Vitt served a six-game ban in connection to the bounty scandal. He also served as the interim for Payton during the 2012 season. Vitt held nothing back in his bounty hearing testimony about Williams.

“And the first time we brought Gregg Williams, we said, ‘Jesus Christ, this guy is nuts,'” Vitt said. “You know, I mean, talking about himself, talking about his accomplishments, talking about his money, talking about how he should — you know, the guy had a pretty bad track record in being a pretty good defensive coordinator.”

Vitt continued his verbal assault on Williams when questioned about his departure to St. Louis in the bounty hearings in December 2012:

“Now, I think the biggest thing that everybody gets tired of with Gregg is just day after day, week after week of the bull(expletive), the crazy stories I mean, I’m going to give you my texts. I’ll show you that all the time he’s got this insatiable desire to talk about himself. He’s got this insatiable desire to talk about how good he is and his family is.

“I would say the final straw was the last two weeks of the season — of the Detroit, San Francisco (playoff games), you know, Gregg kept coming to Sean every day and wanted his contract extension and wanted his extension done. And Sean said, well, we’ll talk about it at the end of the season, well knowing what direction Sean was going in.

“And the last week of the season, it’s all in the papers, you know, Gregg has gone to St. Louis, it’s his best friend Jeff Fisher, you know, ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom, trying to squeeze Sean, trying to squeeze (GM) Mickey (Loomis) to get his contract. And the day after the playoff game that we lost against San Francisco, he went into Sean’s office and says I need to know right now, I need my contract, I’ve got to let Jeff know what I’m doing. And Sean said, you’re not going to get a contract here. I think it’s best go to St. Louis with your friend Jeff. And that was it. …

“It didn’t end pretty. It didn’t end nice. I’m sure that Gregg has a lot of animosity towards me now.”

All of this happened before the bounty drama became public.

Williams returned to an NFL coaching staff last season, serving as a defensive consultant with Tennessee to aid longtime coaching friend Jerry Gray. Then Jeff Fisher, Williams’ admitted best friend in coaching, hired the former Saints defensive coordinator after, ironically, Rob Ryan left St. Louis after the briefest of stints to head to the Saints as their defensive guru.

And now Williams makes his return mentoring a defense.

Here’s the one question I can’t stop from circling my brain: Why would the Saints play anyone in their projected starting offensive lineup in this preseason game?

We already know Drew Brees isn’t playing with his oblique injury, despite Payton’s attempts to deflect the obvious. Oh, and don’t forget Brees questioned Williams’ mental state right after former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue vacated the suspensions for Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita.

I wouldn’t have cared if Brees was injured or not. My advice would have been to sit Brees no matter what.

It’s not like the first unit would play more than a series or two, anyway. It’s not worth the risk of playing the Saints’ most valuable offensive assets.

Then, of course, there’s the Saints’ infamous preseason opener in the 2011 season against San Francisco and then-rookie coach Jim Harbaugh. The alleged backstory of a non-phone call between Payton and Harbaugh about how the game would be played allegedly spurred hard feelings. True, false or somewhere in the middle, something gave Williams the itch to blitz.

The Saints defense, under Williams, battered and brutalized Niners quarterback Alex Smith during the first quarter. New Orleans forced a sack-fumble on the second possession and had a sack-fumble for a touchdown reversed thanks to a challenge.

Graham remembered as much when asked Wednesday about facing Williams’ defense Friday night.

“He (Williams) zero-blitzed four times out of (the first) nine (plays),” Graham said with a smirk. “That’s who he is, and he brings it.”

Sabotaging his coaching career over revenge in his first game back as a defensive coordinator would be as foolish as it gets for Williams, right?

If Williams is a “rogue” coach as the Saints claim he is, what’s to say we can’t put this past him:

“Gregg Williams had a program, a bounty program in to try to hurt opposing coaches on the sideline,” Vitt said in the bounty hearings testimony. “In other words, when you miss a play on the sideline of a tackle, you would get a bonus for knocking the coach down and knocking out his knee. Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t roll your eyes.”