The Buffalo Bills have made several changes on the coaching staff and the team has reportedly hired a new special teams coordinator.
Buffalo Bills fans had to sit through some awful displays of special teams play throughout the past few years.
Then a change came this offseason when the team fired Danny Crossman, who had been the special teams coordinator since 2013.
The team has reportedly hired his replacement today.
Per a league source, Panthers assistant special teams coach Heath Farwell has been hired by the #Bills as ST coordinator.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) January 15, 2019
Great hire. Here’s a look from back at training camp at what make him and Panthers ST coordinator Chase Blackburn so, well, special: https://t.co/KGAgVyNUc6
Heath Farwell played in the NFL from 2005-2014 and was known for his work on special teams. He even made the Pro Bowl as a special teamer for the 2009 season.
Since retiring he has been a special teams coach for three seasons and comes over after two years with the Carolina Panthers, thus continuing the Carolina to Buffalo connection.
The tweet above from Panthers reporter Jourdan Rodrigue shares an article that was written back in August about Farwell’s unorthodox, but effective ways as a special teams coach. The Bills need some sort of spark in that phase of the game and I have no problem with Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott going after someone who can bring in some new ideas.
Things were clearly trending in the wrong direction with Crossman so hopefully some new ideas from a long-time special teams player will get things fixed. If someone is able to stick around the league for a decade mainly as a special teamer, that says something about his ability to understand that part of the game.
This hire is not going to make major headlines and the goal is to rarely hear Farwell’s name mentioned next year. That means that his unit is doing its job.