Archives for January 18, 2013

‘Hilliard is the biggest name of the three. He played eight seasons for the New York Giants (two with Bills running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley) and four with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.’

‘”We want it to glow and light up at night,” said architect Scott Radecic, a former Bills linebacker who is now senior principal at Populous. “We want it to be a beacon along Abbott Road. We want people to know and to be obvious about what it is. We want to reinforce the Bills brand when people are passing by the stadium.”‘

‘Scott Radecic, a senior principal at the Kansas City-based sports architecture firm, was a linebacker for the Bills from 1987-89 and played in the 40-year-old stadium he’s now charged with improving.’

‘”Those places haven’t always been successful when he was going into (them), but he turned them into a success,” said Bills tight end Scott Chandler, who attended Marrone’s introductory press conference in Buffalo. “You look at what he’s done with Syracuse, and the Saints hadn’t been winning very much either. He’s been at places where they’ve changed the culture, and that’s what he’s looking to do here. As players, we’re going to be receptive to it. We’re going to go out there and work hard for him and win some games.”‘

‘Hilliard comes to Buffalo after spending the past two seasons coaching receivers with the Washington Redskins. He’s a former NFL receiver who split 12 seasons between the New York Giants and Tampa Bay.’

‘Hilliard, who was drafted seventh overall in the 1997 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, joins the Bills after a stint last season as the Washington Redskins’ wide receivers coach. In 2011, his first year in the league as a coach, Hilliard served as an assistant wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins.’

‘The former first round pick retired after the 2008 season, and went on to start his coaching career with the Florida Tuskers of the UFL in 2009. Hilliard then moved on to be the assistant wide receivers coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2011 before getting his job with the Redskins in 2012.’

‘County Executive Mark Poloncarz and several Erie County legislators on Thursday toured the facility with team officials, the architectural firm, and the media to spotlight the new $271 million agreement. The deal includes $130 million in upgrades and still has to be approved by county legislators.’

‘Legislator Ed Rath says he was impressed, but also does have a concern with the concourse congestion on game days. “And I think it’s a real problem in our stadium, particularly at halftime. I think they are going to take some measures to improve that, and I think they need to be mindful of the concourse congestion,” Rath said, as spoke with reporters at the end of the tour.’

‘New Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone added three more assistants to his staff on Thursday in Ike Hilliard (Wide Receivers), John Anselmo (Special Teams Assistant) and Hal Luther (Assistant Strength and Conditioning).’

‘The Buffalo Bills have selected Populous, a global sport and event architecture firm, to head up the renovation project at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘New concourse lighting, Renovated concession, Renovated restrooms, TVs and sound upgrades, Consistent branding, Renovated dugout suite.’