Gregg Williams fired as defensive coordinator at Tennessee State football
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Former Buffalo Bills coach and Tennessee Titansdefensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been fired as Tennessee State football's defensive coordinator despite having the second best defense in the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference and 29th best nationally in FCS.
Williams, who also served as defensive coordinator at several NFL teams, spent only one season on coach Reggie Barlow's staff at TSU. The Tigers gave up 339.8 yards a game in 2025.
Williams joins co-offensive coordinators Shannon Harris and Toriano Morgan and special teams coordinator Jerod Kruse as coordinators fired after the team went 2-10. Kruse also was the team's secondary coach.
Matt Leone has been named the team's new offensive coordinator. Replacements for Williams and Kruse have not been named.
While the defense shined for TSU, the offense struggled. TSU ranked 125th out of 126 FCS teams in total offense (251.1 yards) and 124th in scoring offense (12.9 points) in 2025. Harris has returned to the DC Defenders staff in the UFL.
Leone was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina Central, where he helped engineer one of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's most productive offenses in 2025. The Eagles averaged 33.8 points, scoring 30 points or more in eight contests, and 420.9 yards per game.
North Carolina Central quarterback Walker Harris was the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference offensive player of the year with 3,214 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. The Eagles also placed four players on the All-MEAC team.
Before his time at North Carolina Central (2021-25) Leone spent five seasons at Southern and before that nine seasons at his alma mater Webber International.
Leone brought Macander Dieundonne with him to serve as the offensive line coach at TSU. Dieundonne replaced Russ Ehrenfeld, who was the Tigers' offensive line coach in 2025 and spent time on the staff in two previous stints.
Dieudonne only spent one season a North Carolina Central. Before that he was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for five seasons at Benedict College. In 2019 he was the tight ends coach at Southern.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State football fires Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator=
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