Two Bills Drive

‘Overall, Mularkey has retained five of former coach Gregg Wiliams’ 15 assistants but none on offense.’

‘Buffalo Bills general manager Tom Donahoe gets the Salesman of the Year award hands down for selling Mike Mularkey to Bills owner Ralph Wilson after the lousy year Mularkey and the Steelers’ offense had. Donahoe had better get it right with Mularkey. He already has blown one coaching hire, firing Gregg Williams after just three seasons. Wilson should fire Donahoe before he get the chance to hire a third head coach.’

‘New to the Buffalo Bills are tight ends coach Frank Verducci, offensive assistant Mike Miller and strength and conditioning coach Brad Roll. Verducci comes to Buffalo from Dallas in 2002, he didn’t coach last year; Millar arrives from Pittsburgh and Roll from Miami.’

‘The Giants have made several additions to their coaching staff under new head coach Tom Coughlin, most notably former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride as their quarterbacks coach.’

‘That maintains the Bills’ average ticket price at approximately $41. According to figures published in 2003 by Team Marketing Report, that is the third lowest in the National Football League, behind Atlanta and Arizona. The TMR report said the average NFL ticket price in 2003 was $52.95.’

‘New head coach Mike Mularkey also added tight ends coach Frank Verducci, offensive assistant Mike Miller, and strength and conditioning coach Brad Roll.’

‘The Bills announced that the team has promoted strength and conditioning coordinator Rusty Jones and added three more assistants to the staff of head coach Mike Mularkey. Jones will have his duties and responsibilities expanded in the newly created position of Director of Physical Development.’

‘The Bills announced that the team’s ticket prices will not increase for the 2004 season.’

‘The Bills also are expected to add Brad Roll to their strength and conditioning staff, joining Rusty Jones. Roll has been assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Miami Dolphins.’

‘Tolbert spent last season coaching receivers for the Arizona Cardinals, his first NFL job after nine seasons at the college level.’

‘Gilbride, 53, was Coughlin’s first offensive coordinator in Jacksonville. “He works extremely well with quarterbacks,” Coughlin said in a statement.’

‘”Before I hired Kevin in Jacksonville,” Coughlin said, “I talked to Warren Moon about him and Warren was emphatic about how much Kevin meant to his career and development. He is a determined, strong personality who really excels in game planning and on game day.”‘

‘The hiring of Gilbride could make for an interesting mix with Kerry Collins. Gilbride was formerly a major proponent of the old “Run and Shoot” offense, a trend that emphasized quarterback mobility. Collins is a stationary pocket-passer who has proven mostly ineffective when on the run.’

‘The third finalist, former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, was offered the job by athletic director Andy Noel late Friday night. Gilbride, however, declined the job after being offered the position of quarterbacks coach of the New York Giants. “Kevin was offered a job by Coach [Tom] Coughlin with the Giants,” Noel said. “He wasn’t able to tell me that yet on Saturday because it wasn’t official, but to say I was surprised is a big understatement. We had fully expected that he would be on campus for our football banquet on Saturday night.”‘

‘Some players – and teams – don’t understand that until it’s too late. When he returned to the Super Bowl with the Falcons in 1999, former Bills linebacker Cornelius Bennett said excessive partying was a key reason Buffalo went 0-4 in the big game. ”Let’s just say we thought we were THE party team of the 1990s,” Bennett said. ”What we did was cheat ourselves and get caught up with the Super Bowl hype. … It’s the biggest party in world, and we were world-class party people. Everyone tried to outdo everyone. I look back now and think of it as wasted opportunities.”’