Archives for January 8, 2013

‘If Marrone, a renowned disciplinarian, understands that he is now coaching men, and not budding young men, his hurdle will be far easier to clear.’

‘”He didn’t mention it, but he gets a lot of credit for what went on in New Orleans,” Nix said, referring to Marrone’s three years as offensive co-ordinator under Sean Payton from 2006-2008. “He has been through rebuilding and turning around (teams). He has done it and he knows how to do it. You would like to think that you wouldn’t hire someone that this league was foreign to, that didn’t understand the NFL because it is different. But with seven years in he knows how to do it, plus he’s run the show at Syracuse.”‘

‘”I feel this town. And the core values here, again, are one of the things I look for. We’re going to be proud of this organization,” he said.’

‘Marrone becomes the Bills’ fifth coach in 12 years, and inherits a franchise that newly promoted team president Russ Brandon described as having a ”tarnished” reputation.’

”’I’m not going to talk about the coaches that were before me, and I don’t know what their philosophy was. But I do understand the responsibility that I have,” Marrone said. ”I’m excited about this. I’ve done this before. I’ve been in this league as a player, been here as a coach. I’ve gone through this change. And I’m excited to work with the players in this change.”’

‘”I’m dying to go to work. We have a lot of work to do,” Marrone said.’

‘”No, I wont be calling the plays. But everything will go through me,” he said. “The main thing is when you’re the head football coach, you want to make sure that you’re truly the CEO of the program, that you know what’s going on on offense, know what’s going on on defense, and know what’s going on on special teams. So from a management style, that’s who I am. I have to make sure we know how to win games, make sure I’m managing all three of those phases. It will be with the coordinators, I’ll be heavily involved in game planning.”‘

‘”What I’m not going to do is put a parameter around exactly what I’m looking for from a certain position,” said the Bills’ new head coach Monday. “Obviously, with the coordinators, we want people that have thorough NFL experience, as far as especially on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, we want people with NFL experience. For our coordinators, we want to make sure they’ve been in this league.”‘

‘The former Syracuse head coach accrued a 25-25 record in his four seasons with the Orange before bolting for the Bills’ job. Some fans look at that record and shake their head in disbelief that the team would hire that person to be a head coach in the NFL. Adam Benigni of WGRZ (Channel 2 in Buffalo) caught up with Syracuse Post Standard columnist Bud Poliquin on that exact topic. “When you are 25-25 after inheriting basically the land of the zombies, you’ve done something pretty extraordinary,” the columnist told Benigni.’

‘He has been the defensive coordinator with the Jets for each of the past four seasons, coaching that unit to be a top-five defense in yards allowed through the first three seasons. This past year, the Jets were in the top-ten in the same category.’

‘”Once we say this guy fits what we want and this is the guy then we’ll sign him,” said Nix. “We won’t say, ‘Let’s go see if we can find a better one.’ If we’re happy with that guy we’ll pull the trigger.”‘

‘”The guy understands the big picture. He is not just an o-line coach, he understands the passing game. I think he has a vast background of defensive football too. I just think he knows the game. I have a lot of respect for the way that his offenses attack and the way that he has grown with the game.”‘

‘”It’s a great opportunity for Doug. He played in the league and has been a great coach. He was my first coach in the NFL and got me going as a player. He’s very knowledgeable at the game. He really got that program at Syracuse turned around and got those guys winning. He’s paid his dues and I think he’ll be a good head coach in the league. He knows what it takes to win. He knows that it starts up front with the offensive line and as a former lineman, I think he’ll do a good job as a head coach.”‘

‘The field of coaching is considered a brotherhood. Former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden is one that has respect for Bills new head coach Doug Marrone.’