Archives for February 2001

‘Eight of Williams’ assistants – including three who followed him from Tennessee and two holdovers from Wade Phillips’ staff – have had previous NFL coaching experience. However, the other four..Miles Aldridge…Fred Graves…Tommy Kaiser…and Steve Kragthorpe…all developed sparkling reputations as teachers on the collegiate level.’

‘…as he goes riding into the sunset this week after five decades of service to Buffalo journalism. He [Larry Felser] has been synonymous with Bills coverage since Day One. I wish him the best in his retirement.’

‘Jerry Gray has been involved with enough good NFL defenses to understand the special challenge he faces as the Buffalo Bills’ new defensive coordinator.’

‘Inmates work on chain gangs, eat ostrich casserole, among other menu items, and are prohibited from drinking coffee. Troublemakers are fed bread-and-water diets as part of Arpaio’s deterrence program. The average meal at Tent City costs 45 cents to provide, according to Arpaio.

‘Arpaio also has installed Web cameras throughout the jail. Internet users can view inmate activity at http://www.mcso.org. [No Bills Content]’

‘A seven-year veteran of the Oklahoma State football coaching staff and athletics department administration, Tommy Kaiser, will leave Wednesday to join the staff of new Buffalo Bills head coach Greg Williams.’

‘While he plans to instill his aggressive get-after-the-ball philosophy, Gray is aware that he can’t foul up what has consistently been one of the league’s best defensive units since 1997.’

‘John Butler & A.J. Smith, Buffalo’s ex-head office team, have not even been introduced to Ryan Leaf, the poster child for spoiled players. Another reason why rumors keep flying about Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie going to San Diego keep appearing. Of course with with the Chargers having previously a 1-15 season, any moves made by Butler are going to look good.’

‘The Buffalo Bills’ new defensive coordinator, Jerry Gray, isn’t ready to say he wants to re-create the defensive scheme he helped coach in Tennessee the past two years. But he definitely wants to re-create the results.’

‘Thurman Thomas plans to retire and will sign a one-day contract with Buffalo so he can leave the NFL as a Bill, his agent said Tuesday.’

‘"His desire is to retire as a Buffalo Bill, after the long and successful career that he had there," Steinberg said. "That seems right to him."’

‘”He would hope to play a few more years, but Thurman is very intelligent,” Steinberg said. “He wants to go out on top and cap what should be a Hall of Fame career in the right way. Clearly pushing it to try and continue playing is not something he wants to do.”‘

‘But by waiving Thomas before March 1, the Dolphins save $100,000 due to a roster bonus Thomas was scheduled to receive.’

‘Greg Johnson, Moulds’ New Orleans-based representative…characterized the talks as "at a standstill" but he remained confident that Moulds will be re-signing with the Bills well before the free agency signing period begins March 2.’

On the defensive philosophy: "We’re going to play the run with numbers and play the pass with speed." On the inexperience factor in the Bills special teams: "I’m not sure how big a factor the inexperience was. We’re in the process of going through the tape and evaluating the problems."

‘The Buffalo Bills filled out their defensive staff by appointing Pat Thomas defensive backs coach on Tuesday amd Steve Jackson as a defensive assistant.’