Browns make wholesale changes on D, hire Gregg Williams and 3-4 assistantsJason La Canfora
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www.cbssports.com]
The Cleveland Browns are apparently making wholesale changes to their defensive staff and they've begun by acquiring Gregg Williams to be their next defensive coordinator.
According to team sources it's a done deal.
Williams will also be bringing at least three to four assistants with him as the Browns attempt to fix what was one of the NFL's worst defenses in 2016. Coach Hue Jackson was close to former defensive coordinator Ray Horton but was on board with the change.
Horton was in his second stint with the Browns and was very unpopular with the personnel side of the business. Owner Jimmy Haslam signed off on Horton coming back to the franchise.
Williams has traditionally run top-10 defenses and will bring an aggressive approach to Cleveland.
Haslam had continually preached continuity and that the team would not be making changes to its staff, but we have been reporting since November that team sources said it was inevitable that Horton would not be back and major changes were coming to that side of the ball.
Jackson told numerous associates in and out of the Browns organization that he would campaign for the team to add a new general manager this offseason as well. It remains to be seen if he will be successful with that and/or follow through after compiling a list of potential candidates
