Archives for February 2001

‘On Thursday, the Bills web site briefly put out a release announcing the hiring of Gregg Williams as the team’s new coach several hours before the team officially announced his hiring. What happened?.."It was an honest mistake," said Berchtold.’

‘And, get this, he even scouted assistant coaches compiling a dossier on their strengths, weaknesses, and whereabouts, just in case he had to fill a staff on short notice.’

‘Bills president and general manager Tom Donahoe verified yesterday the team’s widely anticipated plan to cut or trade one of the team’s quarterbacks by the start of NFL free agency on March 2.’

‘"Of all the people I interviewed then and most recently (Marvin Lewis, John Fox and Ted Cottrell), this was the best candidate I ever interviewed," Donahoe said.’

‘Enthusiasm. Obsessiveness for details. A sense of humor. A belief in discipline, defense, accountability, teamwork. That’s what Williams promised to deliver.’

‘"There were seven jobs available. We are the only team that waited to interview Marvin Lewis (an African American) so I think if there is heat to put on teams it should be on the other six teams that didn’t even wait to interview him."’

‘”I won’t mention The Throwback, if you don’t mention The Comeback,” Williams said.’

Interesting article from the tireless Len Pasquarelli. He enthusiastically defends Tom Donahoe’s decision to hire Gregg Williams and goes into a lengthy explanation of how the situation turned sour for Marvin Lewis. At the end of the article he mentions: "The Bills are prepared to offer star wide receiver and potential unrestricted free agent Eric Moulds a six-year contract worth $64 million, which will be severely backloaded."

‘"We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, and I mean we. We’re bringing a great staff in here, starting off on the right foot, getting our systems in place and be ready."’

‘"Deep down, you hope it’s a record that stands," Levy said. "We were able to maintain a continuity on our roster. I think it’s extremely difficult."’

‘"Was it a forward pass, Gregg?" Wilson asked…responded a smiling Williams, who was then the Titans’ defensive coordinator: "As of today, my thinking was it was a forward pass."’

‘Williams impressed Donahoe with a detailed research plan and strategy that he had been preparing since 1992 that would help him land a head coaching job. The plan included a list of coaches whom he’d want on his staff, and he updated it annually, grading the coaches’ performances through each football season.’

Empire Sports reported that Tom Donahoe has stated that only one quarterback [Flutie or Johnson] will remain on the team this season. He also mentioned that there is a possibility that unrestricted free agent Eric Moulds will receive the Franchise Player tag.

Len Pasquarelli reports that Jay Riemersma agreed to reduce his base salary to the veteran minimum of $484,000 and the team guaranteed the balance of $1.116 million in a signing bonus. Washington and Hansen were also notified that they will need to restructure their current contracts.

Here are some select quotes gathered from today’s press conference announcing Gregg Williams as the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills.