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As the CEO of the Bills by title, Russ Brandon knows a thing or two about how that works and spoke last week about employing world-class talent and empowering them to succeed. That seems to be the way the Bills will be approaching the next items in the off-season queue: finding an offensive and defensive coordinator.
Marrone confirmed that he would not be calling plays on either side of the ball, but rather serve as an overseer of the operation that has a heavy involvement in all three phases. That puts all the more emphasis on finding the right candidates to assume the roles of his key assistant coaches.
"What I'm not going to do is put a parameter around exactly what I'm looking for from a certain position," said the Bills' new head coach Monday. "Obviously, with the coordinators, we want people that have thorough NFL experience, as far as especially on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, we want people with NFL experience. For our coordinators, we want to make sure they've been in this league."
After going through an extensive, exhaustive and exhilarating six-day search for a head coach, that tone was once again echoed when it comes to finding the right coordinators to come to Buffalo.
"For me, there is a process. It's going to be thorough," Marrone remarked. "We're going to pick the coaches that best fit what we would like to do. In doing so, I want people that want to be here. That's the one thing I can guarantee. The coaches that we speak to are going to be coaches that want to be here and coaches that do not have an ego, that understand the work ethic and that are going to be willing to work with these players and get the job done."
A league source indicated to WGR that the Bills would be very aggressive going after a defensive coordinator. With Marrone's offensive background, who the team hires at that position figures to be key to their success on that side of the ball.
While the coaching staff employed under Chan Gailey were all relieved of their duties, the Bills didn't close the door on a possible return of some assistants.
"I would say there’s a chance, but it’s strictly up to Doug," general manager Buddy Nix said. "He has said he would interview these guys if they haven’t been hired, then the decision will be his."
Some highly regarded assistants of the Bills in 2012 include offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris, defensive backs coach George Catavolos and defensive line coach Giff Smith.
Marrone is the 16th head coach in Buffalo's franchise history.