Miami Dolphins hire Terrell Williams as their new defensive line coach

The Miami Dolphins are set to hire Terrell Williams as their next defensive line coach. This is according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, who tweeted out the news. It has also been reported by OnlyGators.com, a popular website for the Florida Gators. 

Williams had been hired by the University of Florida at the beginning of January but a month later, he has decided to return to the NFL. In his opening press conference at Florida, Williams had this to say about being a defensive line coach and his passion for the position.

“Obviously, if you coach in this profession, you would like to be a coordinator, you would like to be a head coach, but I'm a defensive line coach first and foremost,” he said. “I don't care if I was a coordinator. I don't care if I was a head coach. I'm a defensive line coach. I played defensive line. I've only coached defensive line. I'm not a quarterback coach. You won't ever see me coaching offensive line. I'm a defensive line coach. I believe in it.”

Williams spent the past three seasons with the Oakland Raiders after working as a college assistant for 13 years. Williams, who is 40, also coached at Texas A&M from 2010-2011. During his time there, the defensive line recorded an FBS best 51 sacks and led the Big-12 with 104 tackles for loss. He has also spent time at Purdue, Akron, Youngstown State, North Carolina A&T and Fort Scott Community College. He has been a defensive line coach throughout his entire career.

The following information comes from Inside the Gators: Rivals.com in regards to Williams and the perception he has in coaching circles. The people on the website spoke to three beat reporters that have covered him in the past - GoldandBlack.com's Brian Neubert, AggieYell.com's Mark Passwaters and the Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group's's Steve Corkran.

• Before Williams was announced as Florida's defensive line coach, the Raiders made a play to try to keep him. 

• When it comes to developing talent, Williams is as intelligent as they come. He knows how to coach players in multiple schemes. At A&M, he ran a 3-4 front and then switched to a 4-3. A lot of the guys he developed along the defensive line, Damontre Moore, Spencer Nealy and Jonathan Mathis, played a big part in TAMU's 11-2 season.
  

• Overall, Williams is a little more laidback and easygoing compared to most defensive line coaches. Players liked him and respected him over at Purdue and rarely ever wanted to cross him. He's not a big yell-in-your-face type of coach. He has a very positive personality. 
  

• Williams has experience recruiting in south Florida, starting from his time at East Carolina and then Purdue. While at Purdue, he was a very good recruiter and had excellent work ethic. When Danny Hope took over in 2009, he wanted a big emphasis on recruiting in south Florida. Williams did an excellent job there and got involved with some very good players in that region. 
  

• He's excellent at getting his message across to kids and connecting with parents. He really does a good job selling of individuals on different aspects of programs. Williams does his homework on players and understands the people he's going after. When he meets with them, he lays out the plan the program has for that specific player and says "if you come here we're going to do X, Y and Z with you." There are never any ridiculous promises. He shows how the piece fits into the puzzle. 
  

• Williams is well connected and has a lot of friends in the coaching business, especially high-school coaches. He established a lot of connections from his days at ECU. 
  

• Throughout his career, Williams has rarely, if ever, been on the hot seat. Majority of the time, coaching staffs' have tried to keep him in town. Purdue offered him a co-coordinator spot in 2011 but he left for TAMU to take the next step in his career. When Kevin Sumlin, formerly an assistant at Purdue from 1998-2000, took over at Texas A&M in 2011, he cleared out most of his staff but retained Williams after getting high recommendations about him from his Purdue contacts. Eventually, the Raiders came in and offered him more money. He was intrigued to coach the NFL because he never had done it before. 
  

• Williams has had a hand in the development of future NFL talents in Von Miller, Kawann Short, Ryan Kerrigan and Mike Neal, among others, at both Texas A&M and Purdue. 
  

• In Oakland, the defensive line had its ups and downs. Lamarr Houston was Oakland's best pass rusher in Williams' first two seasons, but the Raiders made no effort to re-sign Houston last season. He should get some credit for how well defensive tackle Justin Ellis and linebacker/defensive end Khalil Mack played this season as rookies.
  

This story was written by Matthew Cannata. Follow him on Twitter: @PhinManiacs

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