If their offseason coaching change pays playoff dividends, the Bills will
owe a year's worth of thank you notes to the powers that be at Excelsior
Springs High School in Missouri.
|  | | Gregg Williams, left, has a lot to smile about now that Bills owner Ralph Wilson and team president Tom Donahoe brought him to Buffalo. |
It was there, at the school Gregg Williams first cut his teeth as an
assistant football coach where he was overlooked for the head coaching job --
a job he insisted would have been the end-all for him.
"Had I been hired there as head coach I probably would have retired there,"
Williams says now.
This is the type of character the Bills have brought aboard to replace Wade
Phillips -- a fiercely loyal and impeccably prepared man of youthful
enthusiasm.
The fact that Excelsior Springs was Williams' dream job is now Missouri high
school lore. It'll likely later be Buffalo Bills' lore.
He's since become an accomplished NFL coach, having spent the last 11
seasons in the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans organization -- the last five as defensive coordinator of one of the best
defenses in the league.
The beauty of Williams' snubbing at the hands of Excelsior -- something he
insists he has no hard feelings about -- is that he's been able to show off to
his former employers.
"I told them the day they didn't hire me as the head football coach, 'You
guys might be doing me the biggest favor of all, because I'd like to coach
pro football,' " Williams recalls. "They all snickered."
Since Williams left, at first coaching at another Missouri school (Belton High), then as an assistant to Jack Pardee at the University of Houston
and then with the Oilers and Titans, he's always sent notes on his new
letterhead to those old friends from Excelsior.
Now, after having led one of the best defenses in the NFL at Tennessee for
the last few years, including the 2000 Super Bowl team, Williams has his own
team -- the Bills -- and he believes he's prepared to make them a winner.
"You've got to prove yourself every day," Williams says. "Every day is an
interview. It's one thing to be lucky enough to be given an opportunity like
this, but you have to prove that you belong."
The proving period began quickly for Williams, who was instrumental in
making the difficult decision to choose between bickering Bills' quarterbacks
Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson.
Williams and the Bills' hierarchy chose the younger Johnson and reluctantly
released Flutie, who subsequently was signed by San Diego, where former
Bills' GM John Butler resides as the boss.
There are those who wonder, "Who is Gregg Williams and why didn't the Bills
hire one of the hot-name assistants such as Baltimore's Marvin Lewis?"
Fact is, though, that there doesn't appear to be anyone better prepared
to take over as a first-time head coach than Williams.
"I've been prepared for this for 20 years," Williams says. "I was so
impressed with how well the interview process was with (the Bills) that,
after the interview, I withdrew my name from Cleveland (where he also
interviewed). I wanted (the Bills) to know how serious I was. And, if I
wasn't their guy I'd sit and wait for another opportunity."
As impressed as Williams was with the Bills, Buffalo president Tom Donahoe
was positively blown away by Williams. Donahoe is on record saying he didn't
know much about Williams before interviewing him.
"I've been through this process two different times in my career and the
last time was in 1992 when we hired Bill Cowher," Donahoe said. "At that
time in Pittsburgh we interviewed Mike Holmgren, Bobby Ross, Dennis Green,
Dave Wannstedt, Kevin Gilbride and Joe Greene. All of them but Joe Greene
became head coaches.
"Of all the people I interviewed then and the people I interviewed (for the
Buffalo job), this was the best candidate I ever interviewed. He deserves this job, and he deserves this opportunity. He's a
leader, he has great people skills, he's a football junkie, he loves the
game. I think he's going to be a fantastic coach in this league."
Preparation an edge
How prepared is Williams?
For years, he's compiled detailed lists of assistant coaches, trainers,
scouts, video people and others he would look to put together as his staff.
Those lists included current telephone numbers and contract status.
|
“ |
I think organization is the first thing that a
new place sees in you that gives them confidence they chose the right
person. ” |
|
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— Gregg Williams,
Bills coach |
"When it comes time you've got to be able to hit the ground running and you
don't want to be behind at any stage at getting ready to make the big
turnaround," Williams says. "I think organization is the first thing that a
new place sees in you that gives them confidence they chose the right
person."
Titans general manager Floyd Reese marvels at Williams' uncanny
preparedness.
"Assistant coaches are only one of his lists," Reese says. "He has the same
file on personnel people, trainers, on video people. He had a file on
literally everybody. Not only names, but their contracts and length of
contract. So if he ever had the opportunity, he would have at hand what he
needed."
That helped Williams compile a staff of worthy assistants in Buffalo in
quick time.
For his offensive coordinator, Williams hired Mike Sheppard, who was
Holmgren's quarterbacks coach in Seattle. His defensive coordinator is Jerry
Gray, formerly a defensive back for the Rams, Oilers and Buccaneers who
played for Williams when he was the secondary coach at Houston.
"Every person I hired (to the Buffalo staff) I either coached with or
interviewed at some point in time over last 10 years," Williams says. "I
started tracking from 1992 on who I believed to be best teachers at each
position. I went 20 deep at each position, tracking them. I knew their
contract status."
Ringing endorsements
You don't have to look far for people who believe Williams will be a
successful NFL head coach or pry compliments from them.
|
“ |
Gregg is the man. He's head coach, general manager. Give him the whole thing.
Give him everything. ” |
|
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— Kenny Holmes,
Former Titans' defensive end |
"If I owned a team, I wouldn't mind having him as a head coach," Titans'
defensive end Jevon Kearse says.
"Gregg is the man," says Kenny Holmes, the Titans' former defensive end now
with the Giants. "He's head coach, general manager. Give him the whole thing.
Give him everything."
"Gregg has taken the long road," Titans' head coach Jeff Fisher says. "There
are coaches around the country who would do anything to be in his shoes. His
situation and mine are completely different. I got my start in the National
Football League. Gregg started as a high school coach and worked his way up."
Williams' deliberate path to Buffalo seems to have prepared him better than
had he taken the quick, easy route. You know what they say when trying to
lose weight: The quick, short-cut methods never work in the long-term.
"I've always been motivated by proving that I belonged," Williams says.
"I've prided myself on being an overachiever. This is the next step in that
process. I've never been motivated by money, never been motivated by a lot of
the material things many people are.
"One of the worst things you can say to me is that I can't do something. Can't is a word that's kind of
stricken from my vocabulary. I was brought up that way. If you work hard you
have a chance to overcome a lot of deficiencies you might have. Always try to
outwork your opponent and surround yourself with really good people."
Williams was surrounded by good people early in his life. His father, Ira,
worked 38 years for General Motors and missed only one
day on the job.
That one sick day came when his wife saw him dehydrated with the flu and
asked Gregg to make sure his dad stayed in bed.
"He still blames it on me," Williams says.
"My dad always has believed that the majority of mistakes made in
the world could be prevented if someone really prepared himself," Williams
says. "He's very unforgiving, does not have a lot of sympathy for people
making mistakes or not thinking the process through. Working hard and being
prepared, there's no doubt that in order to survive in my own family
environment I had to come away with those traits."
Will preparation and tireless effort make Williams a successful head coach?
No one knows for sure, but it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think so.
"Gregg definitely has the demeanor and professionalism (to be a head
coach)," Titans defensive end Keith Embray predicts. "A head
coach now has (to deal with) a certain amount of politics. You've got to
shake hands and kiss babies where it didn't used to be like that.
"I know Gregg definitely can handle that. And as far as the
coaching part of it, you won't see a more prepared team than one coached by
him."
Pardee, who was fired by the Oilers and replaced by Fisher in 1994, says
when he first met Williams he saw "a knowledgeable guy with the motivation to
succeed. All he needed was the opportunity."
Now that the 42-year-old Williams has that opportunity, he knows one thing: He won't fail by lack of trying.
Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes an AFC notebook every other Thursday for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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