Archives for January 16, 2004

‘”I’m just relieved that we finally got a head coach I don’t really know alot about Mularkey, but I understand he is one of the youngest head coaches which is pretty cool. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”‘

‘”I think it will be good for us. Looking at his past two years and reading his stats, I think he is a positive coach for us. It will definitely be a positive influence for our offense and for our team as a whole. He comes from an offensive background, looking at last year that is where we had some problems. I’m not saying we were perfect on defense but as a whole I think an offensive minded coach of this caliber is definitely a big positive for our team.”‘

‘Somehow, when Mularkey says the Bills will control the clock offensively and wear people down, you believe him. More importantly, I have the feeling Bills players will believe him too.’

‘The new Bills head coach also talked about installing an offensive philosophy that fits the team, and fits the personnel. There have been plenty of questions about the effectiveness of Drew Bledsoe, but Mularkey was quick to say he thinks the team can win with Bledsoe as quarterback. “I don’t think he’s broken. We’re probably going to take a step back, to take two steps forward.” Mularkey talked about simplifying the offense in order to become more productive.’

‘At the news conference to announce his hiring, Mularkey said, “I told Tom (Donohoe) during the interview, “You can break my bank account, get into my garage, you can do a lot of things becausee Super Bowl has been my password for a long time. It’s just the number behind that you have to figure out.”‘

‘Gilbride, a 29-year coaching veteran, has spent the last 14 years in the pro ranks, including two seasons as a head coach and 11 others as an offensive coordinator. Known as one of the preeminent offensive minds in the game, Gilbride has spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, which he led to offensive rankings of 11th and 30th in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, respectively.’

‘Clements has been with the Steelers for three seasons, having previous held the same position with the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs. Clements is a native of McKees Rocks, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh, and played quarterback at Notre Dame where he was an All American. He led them to a National Championship in 1973.’