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Bills Fill Out Coaching Staff
Bills Promote Defensive Assistant: The Bills continue to tinker with the coaching staff. They promoted defensive assistant Jason Rebrovich to become the assistant defensive line coach to Pepper Johnson. Rebrovich is a Western New York native who was a defensive assistant at Syracuse under Doug Marrone in 2011 and 2012. Front Office Page.
Levy To Present Reed: Andre Reed and Marv Levy were on SiriusXM NFL radio yesterday and Reed said he has picked Levy to present him for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the ceremony on August 2nd. Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas both also had Levy present them for induction when they went in.
Thursday February 6, 2014
Bills Hire WR Coach: The Bills finally filled a void on the offensive coaching staff by hiring Rob Moore as the new wide receivers coach. Doug Marrone did not have to look too far to get Moore he coached the receivers at Syracuse the past four years, three of them under Marrone. This will be his first season as an NFL coach but he had a solid career as a receiver for the Cardinals and Jets. Front Office Page.
Saturday February 1, 2014
Reed Gets In: The eight time was the charm as Andre Reed made the Hall of Fame Class of 2014. He was a finalist for the 8th straight year and made the final 10 for the fifth consecutive year. A lot of credit for his induction goes to Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan who made the case for him in the longest selection meeting ever lasting 8 hours and 59 minutes. Reed told the team's website, "I want to thank the Bills, the organization, the fans all the support I had over the years. This is for you guys because I wouldn’t have done this without the fans and my teammates, Bruce and Thurman and Jim and all those guys. I could go on and on, but next to my kids this is probably the highlight of my life and to do it all in Buffalo is really special. So thanks to everyone, I appreciate it.” Joining Reed in the hall is a punter for the first time as Ray Guy goes in. The other members of the class are: Michael Strahan, Walter Jones, Derrick Brooks, Aeneas Williams, and Claude Humphrey.
Alonso Not Rookie Of The Year: Kiko Alonso did not win the NFL defensive rookie of the year award. He finished in second place four votes behind Jets DT Sheldon Richardson.
Bills Hire Coaches: Late last night the Bills announced the hiring of two coaches to start the rebuilding of the defensive coaching staff. Pepper Johnson was hired to coach the defensive line and Fred Pagac is the new linebackers coach. Johnson is a five time Super Bowl champion winning two while playing for the Giants and three as a coach for the Patriots. He left New England on his own last week. He spent 14 years on Bill Belichick's coaching staff, eight of them as the defensive line coach and six as the linebackers coach including the last two. Pagac was an assistant in Minnesota the past eight years and even served as the defensive coordinator in 2012.
Friday January 31, 2014
Manuel Had Surgery: EJ Manuel is in New York City with just about everyone else for Super Bowl events. He made the rounds yesterday and revealed he recently had a second surgery on his left knee. He called it a clean up procedure that took about 20 minutes and was an in and out thing. His first surgery on that knee happened back in August when he tore his meniscus. That injury forced him to miss four weeks including the final two preseason games. He suffered a sprained LCL in his right knee costing him four weeks in the middle of the season. He then missed the final two weeks with a similar injury to his left knee. Injury Page.
Wednesday January 29, 2014
Bills Hire Offensive Coach: The Bills have hired Jim Hostler to the position of Senior Offensive Assistant. He spent the last six years as the receivers coach of the Ravens. He has 15 years experience in the NFL including one season as the Offensive Coordinator of the 49ers. He coached with Doug Marrone for two years with the Jets. It is unknown what he will concentrate on but with no receivers coach he could be in charge of that group as part of his responsibilities. His title suggests he won't be filling the open position but a new one.
Weaver To Cleveland? The Bills have given the Browns permission to talk to defensive line coach Anthony Weaver. He reportedly will interview for the same position on Mike Pettine's staff. Doug Marrone said on Monday he didn't feel good about Weaver staying in Buffalo. If he follows Pettine to Cleveland he will be the fourth assistant to do so which means Jim Schwartz's staff will be about two thirds new next year.
Tuesday January 28, 2014
Bills Officially Lose Three Coaches: The Browns made it offical last night, hiring three defensive coaches from the Bills staff. Jim O'Neil will be the new defensive coordinator in Cleveland. Former Quality Control Coach Brian Fluery has also joined Mike Pettine's staff in Cleveland as an assistant LB coach. Cleveland also plucked Jim Hafley who was hired earlier this month by the Bills as a defensive assistant. He will coach the Browns secondary. Coach Marrone also doesn't feel good about Anthony Weaver staying in Buffalo. The Bills will reportedly interview Jerry Olsavsky for the open linebacker coach spot. He is a defensive assistant in Pittsburgh. Front Office Page.
Monday January 27, 2014
Bills Introduce Schwartz: The Bills introduced Jim Schwartz in a press conference this afternoon at One Bills Drive. Doug Marrone says he was looking for someone who he didn't like going against defensive. Jim's defense has been very difficult to run on or score on and has been very aggressive in the past. He is very tough to gameplan against. Schwartz opened up his remarks saying he has admired this organization for a long time and was very careful about this opportunity and didn't step into it lightly. He feels it is a tremendous opportunity for a defensive coach citing the Pro Bowl where it didn't take long to see a Bills helmet on defense in the all star game. He feels continuity is important and they will try to keep as much of it as you can while acknowledging that he and Mike Pettine are different people. He will do what he can to put the players in position to make plays they will be fast and physical and attack. They will not be a reading defense. He's excited about the defensive backs and defensive line. He was disappointed when he couldn't draft some of them in the past. Changes are part of the game so he feels players are prepared for it because they are resilient and smart. There will be some carry over and some changes that are best for the long term benefit of the team.
Three Coaches Leave: Doug Marrone said that to the best of his knowledge LB Coach Jim O'Neil will be leaving to become the defensive coordinator for the Browns. Quality Control Coach Brian Fluery is expected to become an Asst. LB coach in Cleveland and newly hired Def. Asst. Jim Hafley will be also leaving to join Mike Pettine in Cleveland. He doesn't feel good about Anthony Weaver staying as well. He wants coaches that want to be in Buffalo. He said Donnie Henderson is staying as the DB coach and Samson Brown will stay as the assistant DB coach. The team is still in the process of interviewing candidates for the open WR coaching position. This got delayed because of the Schwartz hiring.
Bills Give Browns Permission: The Bills finally decided to give the Browns permission to speak with LB coach Jim O'Neil about their open defensive coordinator position. He is expected to get the job since he is very close with Mike Pettine. That would leave the Bills with both linebacker coaches from a year ago off of the roster. With Jim Schwartz being hired from outside the organization some changes are expected anyway to the defensive coaching staff.
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