Buffalo Bills: Updated 2017 Head Coach Candidates
By Daniel Hahn
Seattle Seahawks Defensive Coordinator Kris Richard
Like Harold Goodwin, Kris Richard is a name not many of us are familiar with.
The basics you need to know about Richard is that he has spent his entire NFL coaching career with the Legion of Boom.
He came in with Pete Carroll from USC, was an assistant defensive backs coach and worked his way to defensive coordinator in 2015.
The @buffalobills are interviewing head coaching candidate and Seattle Seahawks DC Kris Richard tonight.
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 9, 2017
Strengths
I am going out on a limb here. His strength is defensive backs and playing physical.
What the Buffalo Bills’ secondary lacked was that lack of physical presence and aggression that ultimately lead to embarrassing games vs. the Jets and several missed tackles.
He would get a clean slate in Buffalo, with most of the defensive secondary up for free agency.
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Weaknesses
Experience.
While all the candidates thus far lack a feature skill that make them a wildcard, Richard is the least experienced of all of them. He has had an extremely successful stint and like Lynn, his position group has been one of the best in the league.
Unlike Lynn, he hasn’t done that in multiple places and he is leading a defense that has a well established culture. That adds risk to his ability to lead when there is less talent.
Best Fit for Him
Richard is getting interviews this year, but his best fit may be back in Seattle as defensive coordinator. The last two DC’s before him were Gus Bradley and Dan Quinn who went on to being head coaches, so it is only a matter of time.
My Take
I like Kris Richard. I don’t know much about him, but depending on his staff, he could be a nice addition.
The AFC East has a difficult group of WRs to deal with. If he establishes his physical presence in our secondary, it would set the tone that we have been begging our defense to set. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t enjoy seeing Julian Edelman, Jarvis Landry and Eric Decker get leery going over the middle due to big hits from the Bills’ secondary.
Seattle had a tough time versus the Buffalo Bills’ offense this season. IF Anthony Lynn doesn’t get any head coach offers, Richard could keep him on as OC.
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Who do you think would be the best fit as the Buffalo Bills’ next head coach? Leave your comments below!