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| WEEK IN REVIEW - JAN 1ST - JAN 7TH, 2001 | PREVIOUS WEEK |
Phillips Fired As Coach As GM Situation Drags On
The week ended in a bang with the reports of the firing of Coach Wade Phillips. Before that the main story was the ongoing saga of the general manager situation. Here's the latest week in review complete with our take on the off season issues:
Late Sunday night the Bills fired head coach Wade Phillips. He was let go because he refused to fire a few of his assistant coaches. We will have more on this in our latest news section and again in next week's week in review. Our Take: The final straw in firing Phillips was his refusal to fire his assistants, in reality his handling of the quaterback controversy, gameday decisions, and the uncertainty at the GM position had a part in his firing. The GM saga drags throughout the week. Early in the week it looked like a done deal with Tom Donahoe coming over to take on the GM duties. By the end of the week, it was looking like he may be cooling on the job. Issues in the hold up was speculation over money and the head coach. Our Take: We've said this in our news section, the Bills need Donahoe and need to get this done immediately. There is an urgency on getting a GM on board with no coach and the likelihood that Donahoe may be pursued by the Lions and the Jets. Wilson needs to give him the money he deserves and bring in the best GM candidate on the market. Former GM John Butler as expected signed with San Diego to be the general manager. Reports say he will get $1.5 Million a year although later reports say it is actually less than that. Butler expects to bring three or four scouts along with him including A.J. Smith the Bills director of pro personnel. Our Take: Butler proved he was going to leave anyway so Wilson definitely did the right thing firing him before his contract just lapsed. The A.J. Smith situation is also getting ugly as Wilson denied the Chargers permission to speak to Smith until his contract expires Feb. 15th. It is expected the NFL will let him out of his contract and Smith will go to San Diego soon. Our Take: Wilson was just being petty standing in Smith's way. He was going to leave anyway and Smith wasn't a serious candidate for the Bills GM job, so Wilson should have just given him his blessing. It was learned this week that Ted Cottrell will interview for the head coaching position with the expansion Houston Texans. It will be his first NFL head coaching interview and it will take place Wed. and Thurs. of this coming week. The Bills also this week denied the Rams permission to talk to Cottrell about their open defensive coordinator position. Our Take: The interview is a longtime coming for an obvious head coaching candidate. Lets hope that now there is an opening in Buffalo, the Bills fill it with Cottrell now. It is also understandably that the Bills wouldn't let the Rams talk to him since it would be a lateral move. Free agent kicker Steve Christie made news this week with his comments that the QB controversy tore the team apart. He said while, Rob Johnson is well liked, Doug Flutie took control and made things happen on the field. Christie also said neither was a real leader. This problem was compounded by the loss of leadership due to the salary cap last off season. Our Take: These staements confirm the fact that Phillips grossly mishandled this controversy. In on the field news, Sam Cowart is recovering from his high ankle sprain and will play in the pro bowl. Our Take: It will be nice to see him play one more time this year. If he remained healthy he may have won the defensive MVP award.Talk about it on The Stadium Wall
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