Two Bills Drive

Buffalo Bills News and Discussion

Archives for January 16, 2015

Is Ryan the coach who ends the Bills’ playoff drought?

‘Ryan didn’t pay enough attention to his offense in New York, and it came back to bite him. Hopefully, he’s learned his lesson and realizes he must be the CEO of this team and not devote too much of his time to the defense. Thanks to his Tyrannosaurus rex-sized personality, the Bills have become one of the more entertaining stories in the NFL. They’ve become relevant, but will they become better?’

Bills know Ryan was their guy

‘”We just felt that he was our guy and trust me, we had some pretty impressive people that we felt could be the Bills coach. But we said, ‘Hey, let’s go after Rex.’ And Russ told me, ‘Don’t let him out of the building.'”‘

Ryan’s honeymoon won’t last forever

‘But Ryan hasn’t blown a timeout or mismanaged the clock or lost a single game, either. He talked about improving the Bills’ defense from fourth to first, a tall order for anyone. He intends to establish a running game. We’ll see if he does. I’ve been burned enough times to know it’s too early to form an opinion.’

Ryan begins filling coaching staff

‘”Dennis Thurman has been my right-hand man for a long time,” Ryan said. “We’ve been together I think for 12 years (going back to his days with the Baltimore Ravens). I think all through this process you’re seeing coaches get opportunities to be a head coach and Dennis Thurman will be at the top of the list in a very short time. It won’t just be talking about my defense or whatever. This has been Dennis Thurman’s defense, as well as mine, for years.”‘

Grading the Bills: Marrone not bad, but won’t be missed

‘However, he did lead the Bills to nine victories in 2014, the most since Mike Mularkey – who also quit on the Bills after his second year at the helm – did that in 2004. Buffalo was in the playoff hunt until a disastrous Week 16 loss at Oakland, and Marrone deserves credit for keeping the team on task through the ownership transition, and of course the historic snowstorm that displaced the Bills for nearly a week and cost them a home game at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan says he was interested in doing TV, won’t ‘seek out’ HBO’s Hard Knocks

‘”I wasn’t going to be a coordinator again,” Ryan said. “I was either going to be a head coach in the right place or I was definitely interested in doing the TV thing instead of being a coordinator. But I was very honest and up front. I wanted to be a head coach in the league again but it had to be a good situation. I wasn’t just going to take any job. And when the Bills offered me that opportunity to be the head coach I jumped on it.”‘

Buffalo Bills hire Dennis Thurman as defensive coordinator, add seven others to coaching staff

‘Aprill III will coach linebackers for the Bills after spending the last two years in the same position with the Jets. Dunbar will coach the defensive line after serving in the same role for Jets the last three seasons. McDonald (defensive backs) and Weeks (assistant defensive line coach) round out the Bills’ defensive coaching staff. Donnie Henderson will stay on board with the Bills as co-defensive backs coach.’

Hiring of Rex Ryan helped Bills GM Doug Whaley get on same page with owner Terry Pegula

‘”Let’s look at it this way: I last saw my daughter in 2014,” Whaley said Wednesday. “Dec. 31 2014. Since then I’ve spent every single day with the Pegulas and Russ until yesterday. It was an incredible bonding experience. I think we got a feel for how everybody operates, them for us and us for them. It’s something I wasn’t planning on doing, but I think we made the best out of the situation.”‘

Rooting for Rex and backing a Braves banner

‘True, the Bills-following community has caught some big waves before, only to see them crash down. Remember all the hoopla and dreams of the promised land surrounding the big trade for Drew Bledsoe?’