Archives for January 2011

‘The 58-year-old Wannstedt has spent the past six seasons as the head man at Pitt. He was forced to resign last month from that position.’

‘Wannstedt was the Miami Dolphins coach when he hired Gailey as his offensive coordinator in 2000. The two worked together for two years.’

‘”We are extremely pleased to have Dave Wannstedt join our staff,” said head coach Chan Gailey. “Dave and I have known each other for quite awhile. I respected him when I worked for him, and I’m excited that he is going to be able to join our staff. He’ll have the title of Assistant Head Coach and will be coaching the inside linebackers. I look forward to him being able to help our team in many ways. With his amount of experience he certainly should be able to do that. We look forward to having him.”‘

‘The football player says the 2002 HOF ring, along with a University of Miami “Ring of Honor,” were in a briefcase that was stolen from his vehicle while it was parked at his home in the Buffalo suburb of East Aurora.’

‘The East Aurora Police Department has announced the arrest of two men in connection with the 2009 theft of a Pro Football Hall of Fame ring and other items from former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly.’

‘Wannstedt has agreed to become the assistant head coach and linebackers coach for the Buffalo Bills, a source told FOXSports.com.’

‘"As well as they’ve four guys have played this year, don’t let one other thing get lost in this, and that being there are four pretty good defenses playing this week. Between the Steelers, Jets, Packers and Bears, I’ll bet you they’re all in the top 10 on defense. [They’re all in the top 9 in yards allowed.] That really helps a quarterback. You don’t have to score 36 points a week to win. If he makes a mistake, he knows his defense will stop them and he’ll get another chance. Not having to score every time he gets the ball, you can’t imagine how much that helps a quarterback do his job.”’

‘”I think that says a lot about the guys that we have in that group, just with the amount of uncertainty (we had),” said Ryan Fitzpatrick. “We knew some guys were going to get thrown in that didn’t have much playing time or no experience at all in the NFL. Between what Stevie (Johnson) did this year and even Roscoe before he got hurt, having the year he was having and David (Nelson) and Donald (Jones) stepping up and doing some really good things. We’ve got a lot of talent at that position.”‘

‘"I believe it’s my time this year," Reed said. "Over the last six years, I’ve seen Jim, Thurman, Marv [Levy], Bruce [Smith], James Lofton and Ralph [Wilson] get in. I’m not going to lie and say I shouldn’t be in there with those guys. I was just as competitive as them, if not more. People say I always wanted the ball. That’s the way I was. I’m not going to apologize for that. I wouldn’t be in this position if I didn’t have that attitude."’

‘”I looked at my family and was like, ‘I’m the only one not finishing school right now,’ ” Moats said. “I was tired of being called just the athlete of the family, so I definitely felt the pressure to come back and get my degree.”‘

‘”We’ve got a good player in Geoff Hangartner and now you’ve got a good player in Eric Wood, so it’ll be an interesting process,” said Gailey. “You’ve got good guards and you’ve got good centers. It’s a much better scenario than we started the season with I know that.”‘

‘”I knew it was a fast game, but I didn’t let that discourage me,” said Spiller. “I knew the biggest thing that I’d have to get accustomed to is just my patience. I believe in my speed a whole lot, so that’s not a concern to me. Being more patient is what it is. It’s easier said than done because you’ve got a lot of bullets coming at you when you’re out there. That’s the thing that I’m trying to learn and that’s something that I’m going to work on in the offseason.”‘

‘Now that QB Andrew Luck has opted to return to Stanford for at least one more season, my two new top prospects for Buffalo’s No. 3 pick are Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley and Clemson defensive end Da’Qwan Bowers.’

‘The draft classes of 2005 through 2008, which should be driving the Bills’ bus, have helped crash it into a ditch.’