NY Jets fire DC Gregg Williams after egregious late-game decision

Justin Fried

NY Jets, Gregg Williams

The NY Jets have fired defensive coordinator Gregg Williams after his egregious decision.

The NY Jets have fired one of their coaches, but it’s probably not the person who many believed would be canned first. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has reportedly been shown the door following an egregious late-game decision in Week 13.

As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Jets have fired Williams and named assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach, Frank Bush, the interim defensive coordinator.

Williams has been with the Jets since the 2019 season when he was brought on as part of head coach Adam Gase’s staff. While he was nearly-universally praised for his work last year, the same hasn’t been true for this season.

The Jets’ defense has been, for lack of a better term, disappointing in 2020. Only three teams are giving up more yards per game with only the dreadful Seattle Seahawks defense allowing more passing yards per contest.

The run defense has been better, but they’re still allowing 29.4 points per game which ranks 30th in the NFL. Not to mention the team’s league-leading 11 roughing the passer penalties. No other team has more than five.

But the real reason for Williams’ departure stems from a decision he made in the waning seconds of the Jets’ Week 13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The NY Jets fired Gregg Williams primarily for his poor late-game decision

Trailing by four with under 15 seconds to play, the Raiders faced a near-impossible situation with no timeouts at the Jets’ 40-yard line needing a touchdown to win it.

But instead of playing it safe and dropping the usual seven players into coverage, Williams decided to send a Cover Zero blitz rushing eight to attack the pocket. The results were expectedly not pretty.

Speedy first-round pick Henry Ruggs burnt past undrafted rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson for the game-winning touchdown to not only seal the game for Vegas, but seal Williams’ fate.

It’s that very play for which Williams will be remembered for. And if the Jets do wind up securing the first overall pick, his legacy will live on in franchise history.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that no other coaching changes are expected to be made during the season, but that Williams certainly won’t be the only coach fired. Of course, we all know that the entire coaching staff is gone at the end of the season.

The Jets just didn’t wait until then to let Williams go.

That one play will ultimately define Williams’ legacy in New York. But for Jets fans, as long as their team lands that No. 1 overall pick and Trevor Lawrence, you won’t hear too many complaints.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.