Perhaps the biggest change from Hue Jackson to Gregg Williams as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns is the focus on order and discipline within the organization. Williams is noted for his hard-edged discipline and enforcing accountability on players, qualities nobody would ever associate with the deposed Jackson.

The Browns players seem to love the change.

Center JC Tretter, a veteran who started for years on a perennial playoff team in Green Bay before coming to Cleveland in 2017, gave a lengthy answer praising Williams and his disciplinarian style for turning around the season.

“I think the rules and what is expected of each person on the team when it comes to penalties, missed assignments and all of these little things, they are spelled out for you,” Tretter explained. “There is no confusion on what is going on. Gregg has in every meeting hit on all of the same points over and over again to where there is really no grey area to what is expected of each player on this team. That is kind of something that I think has really helped us and helped us to really take that next step that everything is kind of spelled out for you and what it is to be a pro. I think that Gregg has done a really good job of bringing everybody along and getting everybody on the same page.”

Linebacker Joe Schobert expressed a similar sentiment in his conference call.

“I think the discipline has been great,” Schobert exclaimed. “I think it is something that we desperately needed. I think that he has really reigned everybody in and gotten everybody focused on one single goal. I think his leadership has been very strong.”

Two impressive victories in a row, keyed by better positional discipline and coordination as well as fewer penalties, reflect how well the Browns players are adapting to Williams’ more rigid stick-and-carrot style.