Before Gregg Williams went for his long interview with the Redskins bosses last winter, he was warned: Do not make it seem like they have to impress you; you have to sell them.
He didn’t follow the advice.
“He couldn’t help himself,” said one person with knowledge of the situation.
Williams is a terrific coach whose ex-players still love him, but he’s also stubborn and highly arrogant — he rubbed many the wrong way during his four years in Washington, spending his first two years reminding everyone how little football they knew compared to him. Well, duh. The longtime joke among the media was that the second G in his first name stood for genius.
That arrogance cost him the job. He interviewed Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato as much as they tried to interview him. Maybe that was smart — they have a track record, too; unless, that is, he wanted the job. But, in truth, Williams had little chance — one team source said before the job was even open that Williams would be a longshot whenever Joe Gibbs stepped down.
And this bears repeating: Gibbs did not endorse him for the job, according to several sources. Rather, he pushed current defensive coordinator Greg Blache.
“There has to be a chemistry,” Gibbs said at the time.
With Williams, there would have been constant friction between the front office and coaches. That’s why there’s no way he’d ever return here as a coach, despite whatever he might say publicly.
By the way, Blache and Williams have not spoken since Blache took over as defensive coordinator. Perhaps they’ll shake hands before Thursday’s preseason finale vs. Williams’ new club, Jacksonville.
But Williams is not someone who lets go of grudges easily.
In one preseason game with Washington, he blitzed a team heavily because the opposing head coach did not return his call during the week (coaches often talk before certain preseason games to make sure the game is played a certain way, as in not much blitzing).
And how badly would he want to show the Redskins what they’re missing?
“Extremely bad,” said Redskins linebacker London Fletcher, one of many who has remained in contact with him. “He’s very competitive.”
