Bills president Russ Brandon said Buffalo’s coaching search would pick up as soon as he got off the podium after Tuesday’s press conference.
He wasn’t kidding.
Buffalo’s top executives flew to Arizona following the press conference to interview potential coaching candidates. Former Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt as well as Arizona defensive coordinator Ray Horton and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Russ Grimm all are reportedly set to interview with the Bills.
Unlike Buffalo’s last coaching search, the Bills don’t appear to have a preference for a coach on one specific side of the ball -- they just want to find a good football coach. Judging from the list of names being associated with the Bills thus far, they should be able to find one.
Here’s a quick look at the coaches whose names have been linked in reports with the Bills’ vacant coaching job so far:
- Whisenhunt, 50, former Arizona head coach. Whisenhunt took the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance in 2008 and had a 45-51 record in six years in Arizona. His team largely went as far as its quarterback did -- with Kurt Warner, the Cards were competitive. With Kevin Kolb/John Skelton/Ryan Lindley, not so much. Assistant GM Doug Whaley has a connection to Whisenhunt after the two worked together in Pittsburgh.
- Horton, 52, Arizona defensive coordinator. Arizona’s recent woes were due to its dreadful offense, not its solid defense. Horton is another member of the Steelers’ coaching tree and was a standout corner with the Bengals and Cowboys during his playing days.
- Grimm, 53, Cardinals assistant head coach/offensive line coach. It’s believed that Grimm declined an interview with the Bills during the team’s last coaching search, but he is set to interview with Buffalo this time around, according to The Buffalo News. Grimm is a hard-nosed O-line coach who is another member of the Steelers’ coaching tree.
- Chip Kelly, 49, Oregon head coach. Kelly is the hot college coaching prospect this year and WGR’s Howard Simon reported that the Bills will take a “hard run” at Kelly. The Bills also could interview Kelly during their trip out to Arizona; the Ducks are playing in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday.
- Doug Marrone, 48, Syracuse head coach. Marrone has done a wonderful job of resurrecting Syracuse’s program to its previous heights. He’s a bit of a darkhorse candidate at the moment but is a young, emerging offensive mind. He was also New Orleans’ offensive coordinator from 2006-08.
- Lovie Smith, 54, former Chicago head coach. Smith was fired from the Bears following a 10-6 season in 2012; he had a 84-66 record with the Bears from 2004-12 and brought the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006. He’s a tremendous defensive mind and the Bills desperately need to be better on that side of the ball.
- Mike McCoy, 40, Denver offensive coordinator. McCoy has served as Denver’s offensive coordinator since 2010; before that he was an assistant with the Carolina Panthers from 2000-08. The “Peyton Manning factor” is the big question regarding McCoy. How much of Denver’s offensive success is due to the coach considering he has a QB of Manning’s caliber?
- Hue Jackson, 47, Bengals secondary coach/assistant special teams coach. Jackson was head coach of the Raiders in 2011, posting an 8-8 record. He did a decent job considering the state of the Raiders organization and Oakland finished that year ninth in total offense.
For more updates on the Bills, follow correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSBills and @MarkLud12.