Now it looks like the second of the top candidates to replace Bob Sanders has decided to go elsewhere. Gregg Williams has turned down whatever offer from the Packers and is heading to New Orleans, making him the second coach to spurn Green Bay's advances. Awesome. I would love to know what made both Nolan and Williams a) turn down the job and b) take so long to do it.
My gut feeling is that both Nolan and Williams, who have been head coaches, want to go somewhere where they will have a shot at becoming head coaches again. Josh McDaniels is a first time head coach in Denver and could struggle, and the Saints might need to axe Sean Payton if they keep underachieving. Whether it's good or bad, Mike McCarthy is firmly entrenched in Green Bay (much to the chagrin of some of our readers), and Nolan and Williams have a better shot at the lead gig elsewhere.
If that isn't the reason, then another possibility is that there's something wrong in Green Bay that made both Nolan and Williams decline the offer. Maybe they don't like the personnel that are in place, or maybe they just don't like cold weather. Above all else, however, they might not like how much control over personnel that Ted Thompson wields. I've obviously defended Thompson at every turn, but I can see someone making the claim that Teddy doesn't give the coaches enough input when it comes to which players to bring in.
Or, maybe Mike Nolan and Gregg Williams really weren't the top two candidates. After all, Winston Moss was the only defensive coach retained from the January Purge. So maybe he's the man for the job (even if everyone thinks he's merely a fallback option), and the interviews of Nolan and Williams was just the Packers' due dilligence. Not to mention Jim Haslett, the favorite for the Rams' head coaching job (a position that Moss has interviewed for, in addition to openings in Oakland) was brought in for an interview, and the rumor regarding Philadelphia defensive backs coach Sean McDermott persists.
Or maybe they're just afraid of being shown up by the offensive juggernauts of the NFC North. Who knows?