Leonard Williams has had many coaches throughout his football career, but no one has matched the intensity of Ed Orgeron, who coached the Jets defensive lineman at USC. But that may change with the addition of Jets new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
"I feel like that kind of energy brings the best out of people," Williams said at the team's new uniform unveil. "Same with our offensive coach (Dowell Loggains) and head coach (Adam Gase) — he's a great, passionate offensive coach — so I feel like practice is going to be really competitive and it's going to be able to push our team."
Despite speculation Williams would install a 4-3, Gase told reporters at the Combine that the Jets will stick with a 3-4 base. The Big Cat, who registered 49 tackles and five sacks while leading the team with 12 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits last season, knows his new coordinator has a reputation for tinkering with defensive fronts and blitz schemes, which already excites the 6'5", 302-pounder.
See the Jets Working Out on the Field During Week 1 of the Offseason Program
"I can play nose, 3-technique, defensive end," he said. "Even as a defense, I feel like we have a lot of playmakers on the team. Putting guys in the best position to make a play is really important and if we have that many playmakers on the defense, play with it. Put us in the best spot and let guys fly around. I'm excited about it."
Williams takes the same versatile approach on the field to his training. Throughout the course of the offseason, his goal has been keeping his workouts fun and different such as running up the Malibu sand dunes, martial arts and strength training at the Mamba Sports Academy.
"I don't try to stick to the same workouts all the time and I feel like by doing that, it makes my body more functional and able to do different stuff," he said. "I'm running in sand, I'm running on grass, concrete, and then I'm doing a bunch of different type of workouts. I'm doing jujitsu type of workouts where I'm understanding my body control and balance, which I think will correlate to football, learning body position and all that type of stuff. I feel like switching it up is helping me understand my body more."
