Redskins Next Head Coach Bracket: (4) Gregg Williams vs. (3) Mike Zimmer

(4) Gregg Williams
Current Position: Senior Assistant Defensive Coach for the Tennessee Titans
Specialty: Defense

• Williams was an Assistant Coach at the University of Houston under former Redskins Head Coach, Jack Pardee in 1988
• In 1990, Williams was the Special Teams Coach for the Houston Oilers under Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan. In 1994, he moved up to Linebackers Coach until 1996.
• In 1997, Gregg was promoted to Defensive Coordinator and the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans. As the Defensive Coordinator, the Titans lead the league in total defense and only gave up 191 points which was the 3rd fewest in NFL history since it adopted the current 16-game season format in 1978. The defense helped lead the Titans to Super Bowl XXIV
• In 2001, Williams was hired as the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills. After three years and a 17-31 record, his contract was not renewed
• After his release from Buffalo, Williams was on the top of many team's list for Defensive Coordinator. He signed with the Washington Redskins because Joe Gibbs gave him complete autonomy over defensive players and defensive coaching staff. Gibbs added Assistant Head Coach to his title
• With Williams aggressive scheme, the Redskins ranked 3rd in the NFL in 2004 and 9th in the NFL in 2005
• In 2006, Greg Williams signed a 3-year extension with the Redskins; making him the highest paid Assistant Coach in the league
• Williams called a defensive play with only 10 men on the field in honor of Sean Taylor. He was close to Taylor and was deeply affected by the tragedy
• After Joe Gibbs retired, Williams seemed to be the front runner for the Redskins Head Coaching job. He interviewed with Dan Snyder 4 times. On January 26 2008, Williams was fired and the job eventually went to "Mr. Maroon and Black" Jim Zorn
• Spent one year (2008) as the Defensive Coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars
• In 2009, Gregg Williams was hired as the Defensive Coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton raved about Gregg's preparation for the interview and even took a pay cut of $250,000 to make sure the signing happened
• Williams produced immediate results with the Saints. His aggressive style recorded 35 takeaways (which was 2nd in the league) and played a huge role in their Super Bowl run and victory
• In 2012, Gregg Williams was introduced as the new Defensive Coordinator for the St. Louis Rams under Jeff Fisher (who he worked for before in Tennessee). He never worked a day as a Ram though because a little over a month after his hire, he was suspended indefinitely because of his involvement in "Bounty-Gate"
• Williams was reinstated to the NFL on February 7, 2013 and he was hired by the Tennessee Titans as a Senior Assistant Defensive Coach

(3) Mike Zimmer
Current Position: Defensive Coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals
Specialty: Defense

• Son of former NFL player Bill Zimmer.
• His first coaching job was as a Defensive Assistant at the University of Missouri from 1979-1980
• From 1981-1988, Zimmer coached at Weber State College. He was the Inside Linebackers Coach from '81-'84. and he was the Defensive Backs Coach from '85-'88 all while being the Defensive Coordinator from '83-88
• Zimmer was the Defensive Coordinator for the Washington State Cougars from 1989-1993. In 1993, the Cougars defense was ranked 8th in the nation in total defense and 2nd in the nation in rushing defense
• In 1994, was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as an Assistant Coach of the Nickel defense under Barry Switzer. He was promoted to Defensive Backs Coach in 1995 and held that position until he was promoted to Defensive Coordinator in 2000
• The 2003 Dallas Cowboys gave up the fewest yards in the NFL while running an aggressive 4-3 defense
• Zimmer survived several coaching changes in Dallas (Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, and Bill Parcells)
• In 2005, Zimmer implemented the 3-4 defense that was favored by Parcells
• In 2007, Zimmer agreed to join Bobby Petrino's staff as the Defensive Coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. Zimmer is still mad about Petrino's NFL exit after just 13 games
• Was hired as the Defensive Coordinator of the Bengals in 2008
• In 2009, Zimmer earned NFL Assistant Coach of the Year honors from Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers and CBSSports.com after leading the Bengals to the 4th ranked defense in the league
• In 2011, Bengals had the 7th ranked defense in the NFL. In 2012,Bengals finished with the 6th ranked defense in the NFL
• Cleveland Browns interviewed him for their Head Coaching vacancy before hiring Rob Chudzinski

Feel free to add any additional information/stories about either candidate in the comments section and it may be added to their bio.