McCarthy finishing interview with Williams
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 9, 2009 6:17 p.m.
Green Bay -- Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy met with former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Gregg Williams Friday, a day after interviewing former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan.
McCarthy had been pursuing an interview with Williams all week, but was unable to find a time that worked for both parties until today. Williams was at the Packers' facility all day, according to his agent, Marvin Demoff, but as of late afternoon he had not reported back to tell Demoff how things went.
The interview was critical for McCarthy, who has to decide whether he wants to hire someone with whom he has no past history (Williams) or someone with whom he knows quite well (Nolan).
Williams interviewed in New Orleans on Thursday and then flew to Green Bay to meet with McCarfthy. The Saints got the first shot at Williams and may have attempted to lock him up before he left, but Williams wants to find out what the Packers have to offer.
It's unclear if McCarthy will make his decision quickly or wait until after the weekend when there could be a couple of assistant coaches in the playoffs available for interview. All along it has been thought that Nolan was the leading candidate, but sources said McCarthy was very intrigued with Williams and wanted to find out whether they would be a good fit together.
A big part of McCarthy's requirement, according to sources, is that his coordinator is able to adapt to the talent the team has. He is not locked into running a 3-4 or a 4-3 scheme. It is more important for him to find someone who can be multiple with his defensive schemes.
The Nolan interview probably wasn't near as in depth as the one with Williams because the two coached together for a year in San Francisco. Still, there are things McCarthy has to know about with Nolan, such as how he would use some of the in-house talent and which assistant coaches he would recommend hiring., but
So far, no other team has expressed publicly its interest in Nolan, but that might be because everyone anticipates him getting the job with the Packers. He may be drawing interest behind the scenes.
Williams has drawn interest from the Saints and Packers. The Houston Texans were thought to be another team interested, but they seem likely to promote from within.
If McCarthy is going to offer the job to either Nolan or Williams, he probably won't want to wait much past the middle of next week. Once teams with vacant head coaching positions start filling those spots, the competition for coordinators will be far greater than it is now.