On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills announced that the team will be parting ways with 14 coaches that were a part of Rex Ryan’s staff.
With the Buffalo Bills hiring Sean McDermott to take over as the team’s head coach, that can only mean a new coaching staff to work under him. After a disappointing 2 seasons with Rex Ryan leading the way, it was time again for the Bills to clean house.
The same day McDermott decided to take the job offered by the Bills, he got to work. There were a lot of things to do, which included evaluating the team’s current roster and coaching staff.
Obviously, the coaching staff had to be addressed first and foremost since they will be instrumental in evaluating the roster and deciding what direction this team needs to go in — especially if they want to end this 17-year playoff drought.
Now almost a month since being hired, Sean McDermott has his coaching staff assembled for the most part. Although holes still need to be filled in the wide receivers department, defensive backs department, as well as some assistants/quality control positions, the Bills are pretty set on their staff.
On Tuesday, the team officially announced that 14 assistants will not return to the Buffalo Bills next season. That list includes:
- D’Anton Lynn – Defensive Assistant
- Ed Reed – Assistant Defensive Backs
- David Lee – Quarterbacks
- Bobby April – Linebackers
- Eric Smith – Special Teams Assistant
- Kathryn Smith – Quality Control, Special Teams
- John Blake – Defensive Line
- Jeff Weeks – Outside Linebackers
- Chris Palmer – Senior Offensive Assistant
- Dennis Thurman – Defensive Coordinator
- Pat Meyer – Offensive Assistant
- Tim McDonald – Defensive Backs
- Aaron Kromer – Offensive Line
- Jason Vrable – Assistant Quarterbacks
In addition to these 14, the team also lost offensive coordinator/Interim head coach Anthony Lynn, Tony Sparano (tight ends), Jason Rebrovich (defensive line) and Sanjay Lal (wide receivers) — who all accepted positions for other teams.
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Ed Reed will definitely be missed, although his defensive backs group didn’t perform very well in 2016. Kathryn Smith, who was the NFL’s first full-time female coach, will be missed and the Bills’ offensive line won’t be the same without Aaron Kromer.
As a result, the Buffalo Bills are left with an almost entirely new coaching staff for the 2017 season. Here’s how that’s looking right about now:
- Rick Dennison – Offensive Coordinator
- Leslie Frazier – Defensive Coordinator
- Danny Crossman – Special Teams Coordinator
- Juan Castillo – Offensive Line, Run-Game Coordinator
- Andrew Dees – Assistant Offensive Line
- Rob Boras – Tight Ends
- Bob Babich – Linebackers
- Mike Waufle – Defensive Line
- David Culley – Quarterbacks
- Kelly Skipper – Running Backs
A very solid group of coaches with a lot of experience in this league. The team will soon find out if that experience will translate into some wins for this city. Danny Crossman is the only familiar face from Rex Ryan’s staff that will remain with the team.
The Buffalo Bills had a quick farewell for all the coaches we won’t see next season:
"The Bills organization wants to take this opportunity to thank all of the coaches from the previous staff for their many contributions to our organization and to the NFL through the years and wish them the best of luck."
BuffaLowDown extends that ‘thank you’ to all of the coaches not being retained next year. Good luck moving forward.
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Which coach will you miss the most next season? Leave your comments below!