Gregg Williams Gregg Williams ( born July 15 , 1958 ) is an American football coach , and former head coach of the Buffalo Bills . Williams is known for running aggressive , attacking 4 - 3 schemes that put heavy pressure on opposing quarterback s . On March 21 , 2012 , Williams was suspended from the NFL indefinitely as a result of his ( admitted ) involvement in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal , under which bounties were paid for causing injuries that would take targeted players on opponent teams out of games . Football career . Early career . Gregg Williams was a head coach for the Class 5 Belton High School Pirate football team in Belton , Missouri . He attended Northeast Missouri State University ( now Truman State University ) in Kirksville , Missouri . Williams was an assistant coach for the University of Houston under former Redskins head coach , Jack Pardee . Houston Oilers / Tennessee Titans . In 1990 Williams became the Special Teams coach of the Houston Oilers under then defensive coordinator , Buddy Ryan . From 1994 - 1996 , Williams was the linebackers coach for the Oilers . From 1997 - 2000 , Williams was promoted to Defensive Coordinator of the now Tennessee Titans after the Oilers moved out of Houston . As the Defensive Coordinator , the Titans led the league in total defense and only gave up 191 points , the third fewest in the NFL since the league adopted the 16 - game schedule in 1978 . The defense also helped lead the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV where they lost to the St . Louis Rams . Buffalo Bills . He earned his first head coaching position with the Buffalo Bills . As the Bills ' head coach , his team was known for highly conservative calls , especially on offense . He was the inspiration for Gregg Easterbrook ' s designation of " the maroon zone " by frequently punting in opponent territory . Williams was 17 - 31 as the Bills ' coach , and was fired after a 6 - 10 record in the 2003 season . Washington Redskins . After his release from Buffalo , Williams was at the top of several NFL teams ' list for the position of defensive coordinator . Williams quickly signed with the Washington Redskins , the only team with which he interviewed , because Head Coach Joe Gibbs offered him total autonomy over his defensive players and defensive coaching staff . In Washington , with Williams ' aggressive defensive scheme , the Redskins ' defense ranked third in the NFL in 2004 and ninth in 2005 . On January 3 , 2006 , Williams signed a three year extension to remain with the Redskins , which made him the highest paid assistant coach in the NFL . His defense struggled in 2006 , at point ranked 30th in the League . However , the 2007 season was a vast improvement for Williams . The defense ranked within the top ten in the NFC , and the team finished 9 - 7 , with a loss in the wildcard round to the Seattle Seahawks . Williams had established a particularly close relationship with 24 - year - old free safety Sean Taylor , calling him " the best player [ he ' d ] ever coached . " When Taylor was murdered mid - season on November 27 , 2007 , Williams was deeply affected . In tribute to Taylor , Williams called a defensive play with only ten men for the first play of the Redskins ' first game after the tragedy , a November 30 , 2007 game against the Buffalo Bills . For the remainder of the season , Williams ran an inspired defense which performed , along with the rest of the team , to honor Taylor ' s memory , highlighted by holding star running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings to 27 yards on December 23 , 2007 , and allowing a franchise - low one yard rushing to the Dallas Cowboys on December 30 , 2007 , sealing a playoff seed . After Joe Gibbs retired , Williams was considered to be the most popular candidate to take over as Head Coach of the Washington Redskins . He interviewed four times with team owner Daniel Snyder . However , on January 26 , 2008 , Williams was fired , along with Assistant Head Coach – Offense Al Saunders . Jacksonville Jaguars . On February 6 , 2008 , Williams became the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars . The position was vacated by Mike Smith who was hired to coach the Atlanta Falcons . New Orleans Saints . Williams was hired by the New Orleans Saints on January 15 , 2009 . Head coach Sean Payton , who was heavily involved in the effort to recruit Williams to the team , raved about Williams “ because he was so impressive and prepared ” in his interview . In fact , Williams was so impressive that Payton offered and took a voluntary $ 250 , 000 cut in salary to help facilitate his signing with the team . He took over a Saints defense ranked 23rd in the NFL in yards allowed and tied for 26th in points allowed in 2008 . Williams ' approach yielded immediate results , as the 2009 Saints recorded 35 defensive takeaways , second in the league , and the aggressive defense played an integral role in the Saints ' run to their first Super Bowl championship . However , in the 2010 and 2011 seasons , the defense ( although showing statistical improvement in some other categories ) failed to repeat its turnover successes . After the Saints were knocked out of the 2011 playoffs in a 36 - 32 loss to San Francisco , in which the defense played well for most of the game but twice failed to hold a Saints lead during the last four minutes , it was widely reported that Williams would leave the Saints to become defensive coordinator of the St . Louis Rams , under their new head coach Jeff Fisher , for whom Williams had also worked when Fisher was the head coach at Tennessee . On February 3 , Williams was formally introduced as the Rams ' new defensive coordinator . Involvement in Saints bounty scandal . On March 2 , 2012 , it was revealed that during Williams ' tenure the Saints ran an illegal " bounty fund " which paid players for causing injuries to opponents that would result in those players leaving the game . The NFL found that Williams and as many as 27 Saints defensive players were involved in the scheme . An unidentified Saints player first alerted the NFL to the scheme in the 2010 offseason , but the investigation stalled until the NFL found irrefutable evidence of a bounty system just before the 2011 - 12 playoffs . A league investigation revealed that Williams began the bounty system soon after he arrived in New Orleans , after Payton charged him to make the Saints ' defense " nasty . " Players usually earned $ 1 , 000 for " cart - offs " and $ 1 , 500 for " knockouts " during the regular season ( though payments were known to triple during the playoffs ) , though they were encouraged to put their winnings back into the pot in order to raise the stakes as the season went on . The investigation also found that Payton tried to cover up the scheme , and that linebackers coach Joe Vitt , whom Payton had assigned to monitor Williams ( the two reportedly didn ' t get along ) , knew about the broad lines of the scheme and did nothing . Soon after the investigation came to light , several former players and coaches with the Bills and Redskins claimed that Williams operated similar systems while he was with them . Former NFL coach and current NBC Sports analyst Tony Dungy said that he was certain Williams operated a similar system with the Oilers / Titans as well . However , several players , coaches and team executives who were with Williams in Houston / Tennessee , Buffalo and Washington have denied that Williams ever ran a bounty system . Williams was summoned to NFL headquarters after the investigation concluded in mid - February . He initially denied any involvement , but recanted and admitted everything in a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell . He issued a statement apologizing for his role , saying that he ' d known it was wrong from the start . On March 21 , 2012 , the NFL suspended Williams indefinitely for " conduct detrimental " to the league , effective that day . In a statement , the NFL said that its investigation had found that Williams not only administered the bounty program and occasionally contributed some of his own money to the bounty pool , but lied to league investigators about his role . The suspension will run until the end of the 2012 season at the earliest . If and when Williams applies for reinstatement , Goodell will consider how much Williams cooperates with the NFL in its continuing investigation ; Goodell also expects Williams to participate in league efforts to eliminate bounty systems altogether . The NFL is still investigating allegations that Williams ran a bounty program in Washington . Williams apologized again after he learned of his punishment , and said he hopes to return to coaching in the future . However , Fisher said that neither he nor the Rams knew about the bounty program , and he would have not have hired Williams had he known that Williams might be facing a year ' s suspension . On April 5 , documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon released audio of a meeting Williams held with his defense before their 2012 divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers . In a profanity - laced speech , Williams instructed his defense to target several 49ers players . He ordered his men to try to knock out running back Kendall Hunter , even if it meant hitting him out of bounds . He specifically directed them to try to tear wide receiver Michael Crabtree ' s ACL , and to go after wide receiver Kyle Williams specifically because he had a history of concussions . Pamphilon , who was doing a documentary on the media ' s effect on football from pee wee all the way to the NFL , released the audio to Yahoo ! Sports because he was sickened by what he heard .