The wheels on the wagon keep turning, and turning, and turning…
“Whew.” That was me taking a deep breath after the past 48 hours of news that has come out of western New York. Dick Jauron was fired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills yesterday afternoon after a private meeting with Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. at his home in Detroit. I wish there were surveillance cameras set up in Buffalo to watch the people running out onto the streets in pure jubilation. This was something that was long overdue and something that finally let Bills fans know that their voices are being heard.
Ralph Wilson spoke with The Buffalo News this afternoon in which he discussed the firing of Jauron. "It's the toughest thing I ever had to do personally because he's such a great guy," Wilson said. "But nothing ever seemed to go right. He's just a great guy, and I feel very bad about it, but I think it's best for the team and the fans and everybody."
So the question now is, where do they go from here? Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has been named the interim head coach for the rest of the season. He spoke with the media on Tuesday evening about taking the reigns as head coach. Watch here.
Fewell named interim coach
Fewell’s first real move as interim head coach was naming Ryan Fitzpatrick the starter this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is not good news for quarterback Trent Edwards, whom the team has lost confidence in this season. Granted, Fitzpatrick is not the next Joe Montana, but the team believes he gives them the best chance to win on Sunday. The Bills have only won three games this season, and two of them were with Fitzpatrick under center. When asked why he is going with Fitzpatrick and not Edwards, Fewell responded, “We just felt like, from the offensive staff and myself, we just felt like Ryan gives us the best opportunity this week against Jacksonville to win. Coming out, he was 2-1 and was playing relatively well, and we felt he gave us the best opportunity to win.” Fewell was then pressed on if the switch is a permanent one or if it was temporary. “Week to week, day to day, yes,” said Fewell.
Bills wide receivers Terrell Owens and Lee Evans seemed to be on board with the quarterback change to Fitzpatrick, and spoke about it this afternoon:
"I think Ryan, No. 1, is a veteran. He has a lot more experience. There are some situations where he’ll be able to buy time with that experience. There will be some times where he can assess the defense and really take some shots down the field. We’re looking forward to the opportunity with Ryan. Obviously he was 2-1 before the bye week when he was in there. Personally, I felt like it was his job to lose. But again, there are things that are out of our control. This coaching decision … and you just have to go with it. I think the guys are going out there and playing hard. What’s so disappointing is we are practicing hard, and it’s not showing for four quarters on Sunday,” said Owens.
"I think some of the things that Fitz does are really good," Evans said. "When he played before, he stepped up and made some big plays. So I think it’ll help. We have a lot of confidence in him. I’m excited to see him play,” said Evans.
The news doesn’t stop there.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported this morning that the Bills have made contact with former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan. Yes, you all just read that correctly. Mike Shanahan. They supposedly are arranging a meeting with the two-time Super Bowl champion coach, and it should happen sooner rather than later. This news will shock the majority of Bills fans because this is something that they have never seen before. History says that Wilson will either bring in a retread coach (Dick Jauron) or an up and coming coordinator (Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey). I guess he has finally realized, at the age of 91, that in order to build a championship team, you need to have good football guys from the top down to succeed. You would have thought he would have remembered what he did when Bill Polian was running the show during the Super Bowl runs of the early 90’s.
This would be a tremendous hire if the Bills can somehow lure Shanahan to become the next head coach of the Bills; but he won’t come cheap. Shanahan will want full control of all football operations, and that is something that hasn’t been done since Wilson gave that to Tom Donahoe, and we all know how that turned out.
Schefter is also reporting that the Bills also have interest in former New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams and current Florida Tuskers head coach Jim Haslett. Does that name sound familiar? Bills fans remember him from his playing days with the team at linebacker from 1979 to 1985. Other names being mentioned are former Bills offensive coordinator and current New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and Montreal head coach Marc Trestman with the Canadian Football League.
All I know is, the days and weeks ahead for the Bills organization are ones to keep a close eye on. I haven’t seen this kind of buzz around the team and its fans since the Terrell Owens signing; and no, that’s not a bad thing.
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TERRY LONG