Archives for January 2013

‘The 48-year-old Marrone compiled a 25-25 record in four seasons at Syracuse and his tenure with the Orange ended with a 38-14 victory over West Virginia in last month’s Pinstripe Bowl.’

‘Marrone is the first college coach to reportedly bolt for the NFL, despite much speculation that Oregon’s Chip Kelly would be the head coach of an NFL team next season. Marrone also had an interview with the Cleveland Browns, and reportedly had an interview scheduled with both the Eagles and San Diego Chargers.’

‘The one thing that must be admitted, though, is the Bills are trying a fresh line of thinking.They’re taking a chance on a guy that’s never done it before because they haven’t been able to make their previous formula work over the past 13 years.’

‘I found out the Bills had decided Marrone was their guy when a co-worker called me at 5:45 Sunday morning. The early wake up on a day off plays no role in my feelings here although I may have cursed out the Bills and said something like “you couldn’t wait till Monday?”‘

‘While Oregon’s Chip Kelly is the hot coaching name in college football, Syracuse coach Marrone is more of a known commodity in NFL circles.’

‘With the Saints from 2006-2008, Marrone’s offense led the NFL in total offense twice in that three-year span with Drew Brees as the quarterback.’

‘”I don’t really know yet. I think time will tell. I think he comes with experience; he’s a young guy, he’s going to be energetic and enthusiastic. I think it could be a good thing for the Bills.”‘

‘Some of the criticisms I have seen about Marrone say that he’s a “.500 coach” Obviously those fans forget just how badly Greg Robinson had destroyed the proud tradition of Syracuse football before Marrone arrived. From a football perspective he is very much like Bill O”Brien of Penn State who was an NFL coordinator and then took over a program in turmoil (obviously under very different circumstances) NFL people looked at O’Brien and Marrone in very similar ways and the same teams (Eagles, Browns, Bills) that liked O’Brien liked Marrone.’

‘Anyone else notice that Marrone is conveniently leaving Syracuse as they leave an awful football conference to join a way tougher-to-win ACC?’

‘Marrone knows how to develop quarterbacks. The job the Bronx native did with Ryan Nassib has been remarkable.’

‘Smith, eager to meet, flew to Phoenix for them. The Bills interviewed him around lunchtime Friday in Arizona. Two league sources told The News the meeting went well enough to consider Smith a legitimate candidate for the job.’

‘The team has more talent than in 2009. The Bills are good on both lines of scrimmage, despite the underachieving results of the defense this season. Solid teams are good at quarterback and in the trenches. The Bills have the latter. The overall roster is deeper.’

‘”It’s not a ‘wow,’ it’s to upgrade it, make it functional, make it work,” Deputy County Executive Richard Tobe said of the sum dedicated in the new lease agreement for stadium improvements. “But it’s not like there’s a whopping new thing. It’s the same stadium."’

‘Gailey had a rough year with play-calling, game management and motivation, and Wannstedt had a rough year in every aspect. His defense was one of the worst in team history despite notable roster improvements.’

‘”I’m confident in the skills possessed by our seasoned football front office staff. What I feel we need is a person with Russ Brandon’s proven leadership to pull it all together,” Wilson said. He didn’t say this five days ago, it was FIVE years ago.’