Alan Williams’ NFL roots are with the 2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one of the great influences on coach Matt Eberflus has been Rod Marinelli, whose career also began in the Tampa-2.
So it’s fair to assume the Chicago Bears will be returning to a version of what they had success with during the Lovie Smith era. But Williams, the new defensive coordinator, made it clear he wants to mesh what he’s doing schematically and from a play-calling sense with the skills of his personnel.
Actions will say more than words when it comes to that, but Williams in an introductory video conference call Thursday morning did not come across as a coach that is going to be rigid in his ways. What is nonnegotiable is relentless hustle that Williams believes will lead to takeaways for a defense that hasn’t gotten enough the last three seasons.
