Apparently wanting to put an early end to speculation that
he would be looking for a head-coaching job at the conclusion of this coming
season, Williams took off on a question about his assistant coaches to perhaps
set a world record for the quickest ending of speculation. “I’m not going
anywhere,” Williams concluded.
The original question was about all of the former
coordinators on the defensive side of the ball. Since he hadn’t been asked the
question that he wanted to be asked and the press conference was drawing to a
close, Williams launched into the answer that he wanted to give.
“When are you guys starting the story this year that I’m
leaving? Is it going to start in training camp this year,” Williams asked rhetorically.
“Don’t get embarrassed again,” he told the assembled journalists,
most of them local. “I told you I wasn’t leaving in year one, I told you I wasn’t
leaving after year two and I’m not leaving after year three.”
Why? “Because of the quality of the people I get a chance to
be around, the players and the coaching staff there.”
“I’ve got good coaches,” he said. “I don’t have to do much
of anything, I just sit back and let them go.”
Williams said that the challenge the organization will face
next offseason is keeping his staff together, not keeping him. “I had another
team come after (defensive line and special teams coach Kirk) Olivadotti this
year. The first year I was here I said no, the second year I said no.”
“The hardest job in the world is to hire good people and the
second hardest is keeping them,” Williams concluded. “That will be the story at
the end of this year, because I’m not going anywhere.
Williams was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from
2000-2002. His stint there was less than a smashing success as he posted a 17-31
record.
As the 2006 season drew to a close and it appeared that
there would be many head coaching openings, Williams’ name was thought to be on
many teams’ short lists for their pending vacancies.
As those jobs were coming open, however, Williams and the
Redskins shut the door on them. Right after the regular season ended, just
before the team started preparing for its first playoff game in six years
Williams signed a three-year contract extension. While the deal technically did
not and does not prevent Williams from talking to another team about becoming a
head coach—NFL rules prohibit such an agreement—it was a clear indication that
he was out of the running for a new job for this season.
