Prior to kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday, we learned that the Buffalo Bills parted ways with special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley. Since Sean McDermott arrived in Buffalo, he hasn’t had a lot of success with various coordinators for that unit. However, McDermott may have just made a great hire to help fix the special teams unit heading into 2025.
According to Adam Schefter, the Bills have hired Chris Tabor as their new special teams coordinator. Tabor will replace Smiley who faced a lot of criticism the last two seasons. Tabor wasn’t with a team last season, but he served as the Carolina Panthers’ special teams coordinator as well as interim head coach after Frank Reich was fired.
Bills are hiring former Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor as their special teams coordinator, per source. Tabor spent last season out of the NFL and now returns in Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/kaw6Ys1Zio
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 11, 2025
Chris Tabor has a lot of special teams coaching experience
Tabor’s NFL coaching experience started in 2008, but his coaching career truly began in 1993 when he was coaching high school football. Then he joined the college game in 1994 all the way through 2007. He coached at Hutchinson, Central Methodist, Missouri, Culver-Stockton (where he was the head coach for one season), Utah State, and Western Michigan. Through these experiences, Tabor was primarily on the offensive side of the ball working with running backs and wide receivers.
In 2008, he was hired by the Chicago Bears as an assistant for their special teams unit. He spent three seasons with the Bears in that role before being hired by the Cleveland Browns as their special teams coordinator for seven seasons from 2011-2017. Then from 2018-2021, Tabor went back to the Bears to serve as their special teams coordinator.
In 2022, Tabor was hired by the Carolina Panthers as their next special teams coordinator and then was promoted as the interim head coach in 2023 after the Panthers fired Frank Reich in year one of his contract. In six games as the interim head coach, Tabor went 1-5 where his one win was a low-scoring 9-7 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The Buffalo-Carolina connection stays alive, as Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane have a history of bringing in players and coaches from the Panthers since 2017.
The Bills’ special teams unit has been inconsistent the last two seasons. Whether it’s allowing teams to make solid returns for a big gain or even giving up touchdowns as well. Tabor now gets to come to Buffalo and fix those careless mistakes that fans have had to watch.