Two Bills Drive

‘”There were a lot of very good candidates,” owner Ralph Wilson said. “There were a lot of very competent coaches in the seven we interviewed. All of them. You couldn’t go wrong.”‘

‘Antoine Winfield (URFA. Pound-for-pound among best tacklers in the NFL and can cover, but lack of interceptions hurts his chances of signing top deal, particularly with players like Charles Woodson also hitting the market. Bills will make attempt to re-sign Winfield, but won’t go overboard and he has sent off plenty of signals that he’s ready for a change).’

‘The length of Mularkey’s deal was not immediately known, but it’s believed to be four to five seasons for slightly less than the $1.5-million per year average San Francisco defensive coordinator Jim Mora, Jr. received from Atlanta.’

‘Mularkey rescued struggling quarterback Kordell Stewart in 2001, when he threw 14 touchdown passes and led the Steelers to the AFC championship. He also rejuvenated journeyman quarterback Tommy Maddox’s career the following year, when he tossed a career-high 20 touchdown passes as the Steelers advanced to the AFC divisional playoffs.’

‘It’s easy to say the Bills should have hired a guy with head coaching experience. It depends on what “experience” you get. Do you get the Dick Jauron that won 13 games for the Bears, or the one that couldn’t get over 500 the last 2 years ? Do you get the Jim Fassel that went to a Super Bowl, or the one that lost his last 8 games in New York ? One man’s “experienced” coach is another man’s retread.’

‘”What do think his (Mularkey) challenges might be in the next year? Marv Levy: “Well, Stefan, number one, put together a good coaching staff. That is number one. That is the most important thing a coach does. Every successful coach has an outstanding coaching staff.”‘

‘”I’m excited to have a guy like that who has proven to have a great offense the last few years. He is an intelligent offensive minded football guy. He does a lot of different things to trick the defense and that’s exciting to me. It makes it a lot of fun.”‘

‘Mularkey began his coaching career as a tight ends coach and graduated to the position of offensive coordinator, a position he held for three years. A year ago he was a finalist for the head coaching job in Cincinnati. That position eventually went to Marvin Lewis.’

”’With all the experience that Mr. Donahoe and Mr. Wilson have, they certainly know what they are doing better than anybody in the NFL,” Bills’ receiver Eric Moulds said. ”I feel real good about the decision.”’

‘On other levels, though, it just doesn’t seem to be a truly good fit. The Bills needed a veteran coach who would come in and establish things right away. There will be little time for learning on the job, which is exactly what Mularkey is going to have to do. The Bills are a team of talented, even playoff-caliber veterans who simply, honestly need to be pointed in the right direction. A coach such as Fassel or Jauron would have been more capable of pointing the team in the right direction than Mularkey.’

‘The hiring of Mularkey could also have an impact on the Bills defense, as it’s expected Bills Assistant Head Coach Dick LeBeau would remain on the Bills staff. LeBeau was in Pittsburgh Tuesday talking with Steelers coach Bill Cowher about the Steelers defensive coordinators position. Currently, Jerry Gray remains the Bills defensive coordinator, although there is speculation he’ll join former Bills coach Gregg Williams in Washington once it’s official Gray didn’t land the Bills head coaching job.’

‘In 2001, Mularkey’s first as coordinator, Pittsburgh had the league’s top rushing attack and the third-ranked overall offense. That year the Steelers posted a 13-3 regular season record, won the AFC Central title and advanced to the AFC Championship Game. The next year, Pittsburgh had the league’s fifth-ranked overall offense and again won the division crown.’

‘Mularkey was named Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator on January 5, 2001 after five seasons as Pittsburgh’s tight ends coach. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.’

‘The 42-year-old traveled to Detroit on Tuesday to meet with Bills owner Ralph Wilson one final time to discuss the job vacancy. He met with the Bills last Wednesday to first discuss the opportunity.’

Mularkey becomes the 13th coach in the team’s history.