Archives for March 9, 2003

‘LeBeau, a respected defensive strategist, will serve under coach Gregg Williams and work with defensive coordinator Jerry Gray. He will try to improve a defense that ranked 27th in points allowed, 29th in yards rushing per game and 32nd in takeaways last season.’

After two weeks of deliberation former Bengals head coach Dick LeBeau, who was fired after three seasons, has agreed to join the Bills’ staff as an assistant. The move has been rumored for weeks but LeBeau wanted to think about it before accepting the standing offer from head coach Gregg Williams and general manager Tom Donahoe.

Maybe the next time the Atlanta Falcons do business with Tom Donahoe, they will realize the Buffalo Bills president/general manager usually doesn’t blink first, not when he sets a level on the price of doing business. This is the 3rd story on the page.

RB Shawn Bryson and receiver Brandon Stokely are scheduled to visit Carolina Panthers Monday.

Williams is working with the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency on expanding his Water Works Auto Detail Inc., currently located on Broadway, not far from the former Buffalo Forge Co. plant. The urban renewal agency is expected to name Williams designated developer for the expansion at its March 13 meeting.

Jerry Gray remains the defensive coordinator and will continue to call all the defensive signals on game day. Williams expects LeBeau to have a positive impact on game planning, and LeBeau will get the chance to do hands-on coaching of techniques on the field during practices.

“Peerless, I’m glad to give you a lot of the money I have left because I know it will be circulated back into the community”, Blank said at a news conference Friday.

As part of their recruiting pitch to Peerless Price, the Falcons took him to the Georgia Dome, where the big screens featured a highlight film that spliced together Mike Vick passes and Price catches.

While saying the Bengals have yet to decide whether to match Spikes’ offer sheet, Lewis said Hardy and Thornton were players he wanted all along.

Also on Saturday, the Enquirer learned that former Bengals coach Dick LeBeau has accepted a position on the Buffalo Bills coaching staff. LeBeau will be assistant head coach to Gregg Williams and will start work Monday.

‘The view from this perspective is the Bengals are not going to match Spikes’ six-year, $32 million deal. The Bengals have seven days to make their decision, but the aggressive back-to-back deals with Hardy and defensive lineman John Thornton suggest the team is moving in another direction – and that direction appears to go away from Spikes.’

After trading Peerless Price to the Atlanta Falcons, the Bills are escalating their search for a replacement at WR. Kevin Dyson and Curtis Conway appear to be two of the top candidates. Dyson might have an edge because Bills coach Gregg Williams knows him from his days as an assistant in Tennessee. Dyson’s first pro receiver coach also is in Buffalo. Dyson was going to pick between Carolina and Washington this week, but the opening in Buffalo intrigued him enough to make the visit.

Joe DeLamielleure he will be appearing in Chantilly Virginia next Sunday (March 16th) and New England on March 29th.

Donahoe didn’t have a contingency plan if the Bengals matched his offer to Spikes.

"We’re planning that they won’t match," Donahoe said. "If they do, we’ll regroup and come up with plan whatever, B, C, D."

Congratulations to Tom Donahoe for having the foresight to franchise-tag Peerless Price a few weeks ago and then move him to Atlanta for a first-round pick. That was a shrewd maneuver; one I suspect other NFL general managers might copy when unrestricted free agency occurs in the coming seasons.