Todd Haley and Gregg Williams could provide Browns a huge boost
IN HALEY AND WILLIAMS I TRUST
By STEVE KING
Some final thoughts about Browns coordinators before I get back to other issues, such as the team itself, which closes its preseason with a game against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night at Ford Field.
Yes, both offensive coordinator Todd Haley and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are strong personalities, and that’s putting it mildly.
Yes, they are both aggressive in their play-calling and schemes.
And yes, they work under a laid-back, quieter head coach in Hue Jackson.
Yes, yes, yes.
But instead of this being a combustible situation, with the two coordinators running roughshod over the head coach, I think this will work out extremely well because the fact Haley and Williams are good coaches, good coordinators, will override any potential personality clashes. They don’t all have to be buddy-buddy, arm-in-arm – that’s not necessary – but they just all have to be on the same page when it comes to team things and making sure that the offense, defense and special units are all playing complementary football.
In fact, this is the best set of offensive and defensive coordinators the Browns have had in some time. I am excited about what can happen this season once all of these young players come together, get to know each other and figure out what, exactly, is expected of them by the coordinators and how they get that accomplished so it helps the team play … well, as a team.
It is true that you win with players. Wood Hayes made the saying famous, and he’s right.
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But you also with coaches. Hayes was an iconic coach. So is Bill Belichick. Take him away, and the New England Patriots would be much, much, much less than what they are. Urban Meyer is also an outstanding coach. That’s why his absence for the first three games of this season has Buckeye Nation concerned.
To be fair, we don’t really know what kind of head coach Hue Jackson is. So far, he sure hasn’t done much, but I think that a good head coach – not just a good offensive coordinator, which he was with the rival Cincinnati Bengals, but rather a good head coach – lies within him and I believe he’ll show that this season. I really, truly do.
Regardless, in the meantime, in Todd Haley and Gregg Williams, the Browns have two top-line guys – two very talented coordinators, the likes of whom they are lucky to have considering how much they’ve struggled in the expansion era — on Jackson’s flanks, and you can win like that. You can certainly win like that.
And I think the Browns will.
Let’s see if they do.
