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When the New Orleans Saints line up against the Washington Redskins in FedExField on Sunday, there will be many in the big stadium who’ll be thinking that Gregg Williams is standing on the wrong sideline.

Several Redskins could be among that group, considering many of them endorsed Williams’ candidacy to become the team’s coach when Joe Gibbs retired after the 2007 season.

They liked the way the Redskins ranked sixth in total defense in the four-year period Williams served as defensive coordinator under Gibbs, a Hall of Famer, in his second stint as head coach.

The players liked his aggressive, attacking style and envisioned doing bigger things after helping get them to the playoffs in two of his four seasons there.

But after four interviews with owner Dan Snyder, Williams was passed over in favor of Jim Zorn and was shown the door, much to the dismay of irate fans who let their feelings be known on Internet message boards.

Two years later, the Redskins are 3-8 after going 8-8 in Zorn’s maiden voyage as a head coach. With Zorn clearly on the hot seat after having his play-calling duties taken away earlier in the season, things might get a little ugly with Williams coming back to town as the Saints defensive coordinator.

That the Saints are 11-0 with Williams, who has gotten much attention for transforming a once-porous defense into one that leads the NFL in takeaways with 32, won’t make it any easier for players and fans to take.

But the 51-year-old Williams takes it all in stride.

After all, this is old hat for him as it will be the second time he faces one of his former teams since joining the Saints. In Week 3, they beat Buffalo, the team Williams coached from 2001-03.

“When you stay in it as long as I have, you’re going to cross paths with lots of different people and lots of different places you have been at,” Williams said Friday. “My old (defensive) staff is there, so there are some very, very close friends in that organization. And like I’ve said before, Dan and I are still very good friends.”

When told that some of his old players have joked with quarterback Jason Campbell this week that Williams is going to take it out on him, Williams said there is no emotion, nor is there anything to prove.

“When you step inside the white lines, there’s a certain way you have to compete every day. And when you step inside the white lines on game day, there’s a certain way you have to compete,” he said. “Regardless of whether I’ve coached there or not, there’s a certain way I have to compete.”

There’s no doubt he’ll compete hard, but not because he was passed over. Williams then mused if he hadn’t been rejected, he might not be with a contender now.

www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman

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ScottF

Um, yeah. Okay.