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Marrone Introduced As New Head Coach
 Spiller Gets 5 Player Of Week Honors: As we do every year after the season we have listed all our player of the week winners on one page complete with their stats in that game. As expected, C.J. Spiller got the most honors winning the Bills Daily award for best player five times. Complete List.
Saturday January 12, 2013
Byrd Is An All-Pro: Jairus Byrd made the Associated Press All-Pro team today as a second team safety. Byrd had a fantastic season despite being shunned from a Pro Bowl nod. This honor will give him even more leverage in negotiations with the Bills or other teams as he heads into free agency.
Three Have Six Goats: We have tallied up our goats given out in the 2012 season and Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mario Williams, and Chan Gailey led the way with six goats each. It is no wonder that Gailey is gone, Fitzpatrick may be on his way out, and Williams first season in Buffalo was considered a major disappointment. Complete Tally.
Friday January 11, 2013
Reed A Finalist: For the seventh straight year Andre Reed is a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is one of 15 modern era finalists along with 2 senior committee finalist. The Class of 2013 will be announced on February 2nd with four to seven people being inducted but only five modern era candidates can make it. Reed is a finalist once again with two other wide receivers from his era, Tim Brown and Chris Carter. Steve Tasker was a semi finalist but didn't make the cut from 25 modern era semifinalists to 15.
Spiller Had 10 Gameballs: Bills Daily has been talling up Gameballs for 11 years now and nobody has even come close to getting as many as C.J. Spiller got this year. Each week during the season we give out gameballs to the best players in each game. Spiller won an impressive 10 this year to run away with the title. Complete Tally.
Thursday January 10, 2013
Coordinator Hirings Official: The Bills officially announced the hiring of Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator and Mike Pettine as the new defensive coordinator. Doug Marrone said he has no history with Pettine but he came highly recommended from those inside and outside the organization. Marrone said they are not locked in to the 3-4 or the 4-3 they will put the players in whatever scheme fits the personnel best. Marrone was intrigued by Pettine's defenses being known for their relentless attacking style. "They can be very difficult for offenses and create all kinds of mismatches. When I accepted the job, that’s exactly how I envisioned our defense and so Mike was the coach I felt was best suited to lead our defense.”
Marrone On Hackett: Doug Marrone said about the hiring of 33 year old Nathaniel Hackett, “I have worked closely with Nathaniel the past 3 years and the first thing that jumps out at you is his boundless enthusiasm. He has a genuine love and excitement for the game of football, offenses in particular, and that transcends into everything he does. Secondly, he has a great knowledge of offenses for someone his age. Having grown up as the son of coach, particularly the son of a good coach, has certainly served him well. He’s been surrounded by offensive-thinking football all his life and he’s absorbed it. It’s in his DNA. Finally, you hear coaches speak of “everyone being on the same page?” Well Nathaniel is on the same page with me when it comes to the offense, and it’s multiple variations, that we are looking to run here in Buffalo.” Marrone went on to say he hired him because he was the best offensive coordinator available. Marrone wouldn't commit to running an up tempo K-gun type offense saying they will evaluate the personnel and see what offense suits them best.
Year End Grades Disappointing: The 2012 season was definitely a year of unfulfilled expectations. The disappointing season is reflected as we do our year end grades for the 13th straight season. We grade each position and give individual player grades for key personnel. This article is on our gameday homepage and on the right side we give our post season awards with C.J. Spiller being named our player of the year. Complete Story.
Wednesday January 9, 2013
Chandler Surgery: The Bills website is reporting that Scott Chandler will have surgery tomorrow on his torn ACL. He's told it is straight forward operation and he should be on the road to recovery rather quickly. Injury Page.
Pettine Hired As Defensive Coordinator: ESPN reports that the Bills have hired Mike Pettine as the new defensive coordinator. Pettine's defense has been in the top 10 all four years as the coordinator of the Jets. He ran a 3-4 defense in New York and it is unknown if he will bring it to Buffalo but he isn't adverse to playing the 4-3 if the personel dictates that like it does in Buffalo. Before goint to the Jets he coached outside linebackers for the Ravens for four years. A report in the Daily news also says that Pettine will bring former Jets assistant defensive backs coach Jim O'Neil with him to Buffalo.
Hackett Hired As Offensive Coordinator: Several reports say the Bills have hired Nathaniel Hackett as the offensive coordinator as Doug Marrone brings him over from Syracuse. Hackett is just 33 and has been the offensive coordiantor the last two years with the Orange. He was previously on Dick Jauron's coaching staff in Buffalo for two years and his offense is loosely based on the old K-Gun offense after Jim Kelly gave him an old playbook during his time in Buffalo. He also picked Alex Van Pelt's brain about that offense. He is the son of former NFL coach Paul Hackett. Last year the Syracuse offense ranked first in yards in the Big East and third in scoring. Hackett doesn't fill Marrone's requirement to have coordinators with thorough NFL experience. Besides his two years in Buffalo as the offensive quality control coach, he spent two years in Tampa Bay in the same role.
Tuesday January 8, 2013
Pettine Interview Today: Rex Ryan confirmed at his end of season news conference today, that defensive coordinator Mike Pettine is interviewing with the Bills today. He did not sign an extension and Ryan confirmed he won't be back with the Jets. He has always run a 3-4 defense which would not suit the Bills current personnel well. They are likely finding out if he can run a 4-3 or not.
Bills Look For Defensive Coordinators: It was just a few hours after Doug Marrone was named the new head coach of the Bills that reports started coming up about possible defensive coordinator candidates. WGR reports that the Bills plan an extensive search for this all important position. One report says the Bills have asked permission to talk to Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine who's contract is about to expire. Newsday reports that permission has been granted. He was offered an extension with the Jets but he declined. He has done a great job running the defense with the Jets but he is strictly a 3-4 coach so far in his career. The Bills have also reportedly received permission to speak to Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. He runs a base 4-3 defense in Jacksonville but has only had one top ten defense in four years at his current position.
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Monday January 7, 2013
Bills Introduce Marrone: The Bills introduced Doug Marrone as the 16th head coach of the Buffalo Bills at a noon time press conference. He is the first coach hired directly from the college ranks. Marrone said he moves on from Syracuse to be part of a fantastic organization and he has reached a new dream in his job. He is from New York State and he has worked in the state and it means a lot to him to stay in New York State. He has a lot of opportunities and he chose to come to Buffalo. He can't relay how excited he is to move to Buffalo and work with the organization especially the players. He has gone through it as a player and a coach in the league and he hopes the players are as excited as he is. He will be in communication with the players because there is a lot of work to be done. He called it a great day and said they will be proud of the organization. He had a great comfort level through the process and has complete trust in the organization. He said he is most comfortable in Western New York with Russ Brandon, Buddy Nix, and the rest of the organization. He understands the responsiblity he has for the team and the region. He is getting right to work and he feels he is the best person for the job. When hiring his coordinators, he wants to find ones that have extensive NFL experience. His other coaching positions he is looking for coaches that want to be there and are the best fit for the team. He wants to use analytics to be on the cutting edge and move the team forward. They used some of those things at Syracuse and New Orleans and he looks forward to implementing it in Buffalo. He takes offense to being called an offensive coach since he understands defense from attacking it for years. He will be involved in the play calling but will not call the plays. Everything will go through him as he will be like the CEO of the football team. He will know what is happening on offense, defense, and special teams. He said he is dying to get to work because they have a lot of work to do. He will evaluate the team with the scouting staff while he goes about the business of hiring the coaches. He will look at the personnel before deciding if they will play a 3-4 or 4-3 defense.
Brandon On Marrone: Russ Brandon started the press conference and talked about the three elements he promised the fans. His firm belief is organizations win championships and individual do not. He believes they have done just that as they feel they have hired the right man to build the future and the culture of a winning franchise. The Bills met with Marrone five times during the process. Brandon said he met with Doug Marrone five times during the process. He said he will lead the organization to the winning formula. From the first time they got together, Brandon said they were impressed with Doug. He's ready, and he has done it and is the unquestionably the right man to lead the organization. He said the hiring was a group decision. There is no question Marrone was a leading candidate for other jobs but they focused on their search and not other team's searches. Brandon said Marrone has the toughness and intellect to help the culture change. He's a guy that will bring competitive leadership and an NFL pedigree. Brandon said Marrone coming from Syracuse certainly doesn't hurt regionalization of the franchise but it had no bearing on the decision to hire him. He would have taken a coach from the University of Tahiti if he was the right guy.
Nix On Barrone: Buddy Nix said the decision on the coaches is Doug Marrone's and he will take a look at some of the coaches from the previous staff but it is up to him if he wants to re-hire any of them. Nix was impressed how Marrone had Syracuse playing especially at the end of the year. Nix again said they aren't in a rebuilding mode but Marrone can help them turn things around. Marrone knows how to do it with his NFL experience and running the show in Syracuse.
Press Conference Set For Noon: The Bills have scheduled a news conference for noon today to introduce Doug Marrone as the new head coach. The team has now officially announced the hiring. We will be following the press conference and put snippets on this page and our twitter account.
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Still No Official Word: The Bills never made the hiring of Doug Marrone official yesterday as the two sides hammer out the final details of his contract. Adam Schefter reports that the deal when completed will be a four year agreement. Russ Brandon told several members of the Buffalo media that they had an agreement in principle. If they get his name on a contract today there is a chance an introductory press conference could take place today.
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