four times with team owner Daniel Snyder. However, on January 26, 2008, Williams was fired, along with offensive coordinator Al Saunders, with Jim Zorn ultimately getting the job. Jacksonville Jaguars On February 6, 2008, Williams became the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The position was vacated by Mike Smith who was hired to coach the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans Saints Williams was hired by the New Orleans Saints on January 15, 2009. Head coach Sean Payton, who was heavily involved in the effort to recruit Williams to the team, raved about Williams "because he was so impressive and prepared" in his interview. In fact, Williams was so impressive that Payton offered and took a voluntary $250,000 cut in salary to help facilitate his signing with the team. He took over a Saints defense ranked 23rd in the NFL in yards allowed and tied for 26th in points allowed in 2008. Williams' approach yielded immediate results, as the 2009 Saints recorded 35 defensive takeaways, second in the league, and the aggressive defense played an integral role in the Saints' run to their first Super Bowl championship. However, in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the defense (although showing statistical improvement in some other categories) failed to repeat its turnover successes. The Saints were knocked out of the 2011 playoffs in a 36–32 loss to San Francisco, in which the defense played well for most of the game but twice failed to hold a Saints lead during the last four minutes. At that time, the relationship between Williams and Payton deteriorated, with Payton regarding Williams as a "rogue coach". Williams' departure from the Saints was originally publicized not as a dismissal since his contract was expiring, however Loomis and Payton fired Williams telling him "There's no place for this in this organization or this league" after the NFL informed the Saints that it had reopened its investigation in the illegal bounty fund. It was widely reported that Williams would leave the Saints to become defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, under their new head coach Jeff Fisher, for whom Williams had also worked when Fisher was the head coach at Tennessee. Involvement in Saints bounty scandal On March 2, 2012, it was revealed that during Williams' tenure, the Saints ran an illegal "bounty fund" which paid players for causing injuries to opponents that would result in those players leaving the game.