Gregg Williams: The New Sheriff In Town

As a new season begins for the New Orleans Saints, "Who Dat" fans are once again full of hope for the 2009 campaign. Every year there is a sparkling new addition to be excited about. This year is different only in the fact that the biggest acquisition this offseason won't be playing a single down for the Black and Gold.

Newly acquired defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, will try to bring a new attitude to the much maligned defensive squad. His attack first mentality has been compared quite favorably to the Saints offense led by head coach Sean Payton.

Williams gained notoriety around the league when he led the Tennessee Titans' defensive unit to Super Bowl XXXIV, only to lose that game to the "Greatest Show on Turf", the 2000 St. Louis Rams, in one of the greatest finishes in Super Bowl history.

After being fired in 2003 from his head coaching position with the Buffalo Bills, he once again reminded NFL fans why his past defenses were so successful. He led the Washington Redskins to the third best defense in 2004 and the ninth in 2005.

As a former assistant to Buddy Ryan, the highly reputed defensive guru and the inventor of the 46 defense, Williams has utilized much of what he has learned throughout his NFL career and put it to good use.

This year, Williams must transform a defense which ranked 26th in the NFL in points allowed.

Williams will not be asked to match his defensive output with the Washington Redskins but will, however, be asked to lead the defense in to the top half of the NFL in the scoring department.

Lack of forced turnovers and big plays were a key factor in many losses throughout the 2008 campaign. These were the main factors that eventually led to the firing of Gary Gibbs, the former defensive coordinator.

Williams will not be alone in his quest. He will be led on the field by starting middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who led the defensive unit with 138 tackles. Along with Vilma, Williams will have at his disposal several big-time potential defensive players.

Defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant, both under investigation in the on-going StarCaps trial, have underachieved the past couple of seasons. Williams will be asked to increase the productivity of these high-priced players and help defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis build on his rookie season.

The secondary will have a completely different look this year.

Tracy Porter will most likely return at one of the starting cornerback positions after recovering from a dislocated wrist injury, suffered in the Saints' loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Roman Harper will enter his fourth season as the Saints' starting strong safety. Harper must improve his coverage skills in order to stay on the field full-time for Gregg Williams.

Newcomers Jabari Greer and Darren Sharper are penciled in as the starters in the secondary before the start of training camp.

The biggest change in the scheme for the defense will be the blitz packages.

The past couple of seasons, the Saints played defense with a "bend but don't break" mentality. However, Williams stresses the need to put pressure on the opposing quarterback.

Speedy cornerbacks, such as Tracy Porter and Jason David (provided he is still on the roster) will be required to blitz the quarterback at any point during the game.

Also, Williams will employ Buddy Ryan's 46 defense.

Former coordinator Gary Gibbs kept his staple 4-3 defense full-time throughout the season and rarely used intricate blitz packages to confuse opposing quarterbacks.

Speaking in terms of Williams' aggressive nature, nickel package corner back Randall Gay recently told the media: "The message seems to be there are only so many schemes you can run to do the job. It's how aggressively you run them. That's the bottom line."

Gay and the rest of the defense will be asked to step up their intensity this year and imitate their coach's aggressive mentality. This new sheriff demands nothing less than perfection.