Archives for January 2015

‘The only dates that are set in stone for Buffalo next season are the Oct. 25 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London and the bye week the following week. Other than that, the Bills just know who they will be playing and where.’

‘”Anytime you get a text message saying that it’s happening, you feel like you got punched in the stomach,” Jackson said. “Stuff could have been handled different. We all weren’t in the room and understand what went down. But it’s like I said man, what we’ve got to do as players is not dwell on it and let it be what it is.”‘

‘According to Josina Anderson of ESPN, the Oakland Raiders have also requested an interview with Hamilton. With the Colts still alive in the playoffs, a team will have to be patient to land Hamilton, but there is some interest around the league.’

‘Austin is not as seasoned as some of the other candidates the Bills will interview. This season is his first as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. He has never been a head coach at any level, either, so it may be a bit soon for him to make the jump to NFL head coach.’

In NY Jets interview, Doug Marrone ‘failed to close the deal’ source says, Woody Johnson continues coaching search (New York Daily News)

Doug Marrone’s Wikipedia page edited to say he ‘walks out on his team,’ has ‘no offensive skills’ and ‘cleaned toilets’ (New York Daily News)

Ex-assistant trashes NY Jets coaching candidate Doug Marrone, calls him ‘self-centered, selfish, greedy’ (New York Daily News)

Former Syracuse assistant coach rips Doug Marrone (Newsday)

Doug Marrone’s head coach interview with Jets ‘did not go well,’ per report. Could he still get the job? (Newark Star Ledger)

Jets coaching candidate Doug Marrone is ‘selfish, greedy,’ former assistant says in radio interview (Newark Star Ledger)

‘Team officials, including owners Terry and Kim Pegula, interviewed the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach in San Francisco on Sunday, a person familiar with the search process told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not released details of their search to replace Doug Marrone, who abruptly stepped down last week.’

‘”Any time you get a text message saying that it’s happening, you feel like you got punched in the stomach,” Jackson said during his weekly appearance on WGR 550 in Buffalo. “I mean, stuff could have been handled different. We don’t … we all weren’t in the room and understand what went down.”‘

‘”Schwartz I love. He’s a great dude,” Jackson told WGR Sports Radio 550 on Monday. “I’ve heard nothing but good things coming from Detroit when he got out here. Then him being on the coaching staff last year, I got a chance to get close to him and know him. I think he would do an excellent job.”‘

‘”He’s just going to be another guy,” Jackson said in regards to Marrone hypothetically landing the head coaching job with the New York Jets. “Obviously we’ll want to beat him when we play him, but, it’s not going to fuel or motivate us in any different capacity. He’s just another guy now. He’s not somebody that we’re worried about what he’s doing, it’s going to be about the guys in that locker room focusing on us and what it is we have to get done.”‘

‘I’m as excited as anyone about what the Pegulas have meant to Buffalo. I have faith that they’ll get a lot things right with both the Bills and Sabres. Right now it’s difficult for me to se them as anything but scrambling and that’s a tough way to start your first off season owning an NFL team.’

‘I could be proved wrong, but I don’t believe any potential head coach with excellent credentials and Super Bowl aspirations would risk taking the Buffalo job with such glaring problems on offense and so much insecurity upstairs. Coaching the Bills would be a tremendous challenge but also a potential roadblock to future opportunities elsewhere.’

‘”It’s definitely tough because depending on what direction we’re going we may have to learn a new system and learn a new coaching staff and maybe put guys in different positions,” he said. “It’ll be somewhat of a re-fit, but with the team that we have those guys dealt with a lot of different adversity last year like a major snowstorm, a transition of ownership and things like that.’

‘With Orton now retired, Manuel is, for now, the No. 1 quarterback on the roster again. The Bills will add one, maybe two, before the team shows up at St. John Fisher College in late July. In the meantime, it’s on Manuel to prove that he really can be the guy. With Marrone – who clearly had lost faith in his ability – now gone, perhaps the new coach can help Manuel achieve that goal.’

‘Jackson has one year of head coaching experience under his belt. In 2011, he led the Oakland Raiders to an 8-8 season but was fired at the end of the year. The Raiders haven’t had five wins in a season since Jackson was fired and he hasn’t gotten another crack at a head coaching gig.’

‘”The seeds of discontent were sown in Buffalo last May when the Bills traded up to land Sammy Watkins,” Schefter said. “According to those in the Bills’ draft room, Doug Marrone clearly was not pleased with the trade in which Buffalo surrendered a future first-round pick to Cleveland in a deal that did not involve a quarterback. There are different accounts of exactly how unhappy Marrone was. Some say he stormed out of the draft room and others simply saying he walked out of the draft room. The bottom line was, Marrone was not in favor of the Watkins draft day deal that made headlines and continues to reverberate today.”‘