By 
Respect comes from fear. These were the words uttered out by former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams the night before New Orleans would take on San Francisco in the NFC Divisional round in an audio file that has been leaked by documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon. In this four minute speech Williams highlights the process of knocking out Kyle Williams, Alex Smith, Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree in different ways, but the main message was to ‘kill the head.’ The timing of this news can’t loom well on the appeal process for Sean Payton and company. Roger Goodell has made it a point to protect players from head injuries and this obviously crosses the line.
While it would be naive to believe these kind of speeches don’t occur frequently in the locker room, this audio has put a black cloud over the New Orleans Saints organization. Dennis Allen, a former New Orleans Saints assistant defensive line and defensive backs coach from 2006-2010, worked alongside Williams. The newly hired Oakland Raiders head coach gives his take on the leaked audio tapes. Dennis Allen joined 95.7 The Game in San Francisco with The Wheelhouse with John Lund to discuss his reaction to the leaked Gregg Williams audio from the 2012 playoffs, keeping in touch with Gregg Williams recently, what Gregg Williams is thinking right now with his suspension in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, his method of motivating players and the biggest challenge he’s encountered so far in being a head coach. You worked under Gregg
Williams for some time. What is your reaction to the leaked audio that has come out from the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers?
“Well I really don’t have a reaction to it. I haven’t heard the audio. I heard there is some stuff out there, but I really have been working this morning trying to get through the off-season program and really focusing in on trying to get our team ready.”
Have you spoken to Gregg Williams in the last couple of months at all?
“I have not.”
What do you think Gregg Williams thoughts are right now with his suspension?
“I’d hate to try to speak for him because I don’t really exactly know what he is thinking. Obviously I know what I saw that came out in the media of him and expressing his remorse for the things that went on and I am sure he feels that way.”
How do you motivate players in light of this whole bounty scandal?
“I think you gotta find out what it is that does motivates them. A lot of guys are motivated by those pre-game speeches. Some guys are motivated by incentives and I am not talking about incentive programs, but I am talking about the money that is in their contract. You gotta find out what are the things that motivate them. Is it their families that motivate them? Find out the things that are important to them and try to motivate them that way.”
As a new head coach what is the biggest thing you have learned so far?
“Well the biggest thing I’ve learned so far is there are a lot of responsibilities that goes onto the head coach. There’s a lot of things that come up on a daily basis whether it be dealing with players, whether it be dealing with the administration, whether it be dealing with the media, whether it be dealing with any aspect like scheduling. There’s just a lot of things that go involved with it and it’s been a challenge. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed coming to work every day and trying to put this thing together.”
Comments