Buffalo News

‘Already clear is that we’re going to like him. He’s honest. He’s funny. He’s humble. He has conviction. Donahoe fits in. The guy from Pittsburgh is one of us.’

‘"These people are used to winning. This is a football team that should have been in the playoffs this year. And we want to get it back on track and into the playoffs next year."’

‘"I do intend to interview Ted Cottrell," Donahoe said. "We’ll probably reach him this weekend and set something up for the first part of next week."’

‘Following is a list of possible replacements (in order of probability) for the recently fired Wade Phillips. Most are familiar with Donahoe through Pittsburgh ties.’

‘It is more power than Donahoe has ever had in his career. His duties during his eight-year tenure as director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers were equivalent to those of a general manager. But Steelers owner Dan Rooney had several vice presidents, including two of his own family members, between himself and Donahoe in the Pittsburgh front office.’

‘Donahoe’s down-to-earth style figures to win him friends in Buffalo, the City of No Illusions. If he can repeat the success he had in Pittsburgh, his popularity will be guaranteed.’

‘”You can’t overstate Tom. He will accomplish his goals.”‘

‘He could not have found a better available man than Donahoe, who is respected throughout the NFL and was widely perceived as the best personnel man on the NFL market when Wilson abruptly fired Butler three weeks ago.’

‘The movie, which was directed last summer in Toronto by Buffalo native Rob Lieberman, is about a group of second string Bills who win the Super Bowl after the first team gets food poisoning.’

‘Donahoe, 53, was widely viewed around the NFL as the top general manager candidate on the market.’

‘”I did feel like it was my responsibility and my fault that I brought in a guy who didn’t have any experience with special teams,” Phillips said two days after being fired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills.’

‘”The only thing I can contend is I know I can coach football,” Jones said. “I probably will never coach special teams again. But I feel like I’m a good football coach. Our last three years in Philadelphia (from 1988-90) we were 31-17. I went to the Houston Oilers and we were 12-4 and won the AFC Central. I went to Arizona, and my first year there we were third in the NFL on defense.’

‘But Wilson outdid himself Monday in an interview with The News. Once again, he came across as out of touch and in a state of denial about his responsibility for his team’s failures.’

‘”We’re going to be OK. We’re going to be better than OK. We’re going to go forward. We’ve got a difficult salary cap situation that got completely out of hand under the old regime. We’re going to take a hit. But we’re going to get it right, and we’re going to be back where we were a few years ago.”‘

‘”I’m especially proud of my coaching staff and proud of my players, whose 29 wins represent (the) sixth (best record) in the NFL in wins in the last three years. I want to also thank a great general manager, John Butler, who was a big factor in those wins for us. And I want to especially thank the Buffalo Bills’ fans. Not only the ones in Western New York, but throughout the country, who gave us tremendous support. I need to talk to my coaching staff before I comment on anything else.”‘