Here we provide some vintage insights from Gregg Williams on developing a pressure defense (with nickel, which was novel at the time of the clinic) to illustrate how cyclical the game has been over the past few decades. Much of we’re seeing from defenses these days was exactly what Buddy Ryan (and Fritz Shurmur) were spearheading in the 80s against offenses that were just hatching out of the one-back egg (and even more rarely in the gun).
I won’t offer a comment on the reason for his current absence from football (which has been played to death), though I will offer some commentary on reaching your players. While the bravado and violent rhetoric can get you attention, the method will only get you so far until it falls on deaf ears. The more effective of reaching your players is to focus on execution and performance through personal pride (self-efficacy). Appealing to their sense of self-respect as a competitor. The ultimate goal is to play YOUR perfect game, with the by-product naturally being a 1/11th team player and dominating your competition.
That being said, here’s one for the road…..plays Williams’ Saints defense are most renowned for (that are really the result of hustle, not dirty play).
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