SBN’s Buffalo Rumblings: Is There A Backup Plan?

With the news that former Steelers coach Bill Cowher will reportedly wait until the offseason before making a decision on the Buffalo head coach/GM job, Bills fans over at SBN’s Buffalo Rumblings are beginning to wonder where the team goes from here:

The prevailing theory behind the timing of Jauron’s firing is that Wilson and COO Russ Brandon wanted to get a head start on the competition for the services of the big-name coaches above. In terms of men who want tocoach, that’s Shanahan and Cowher - and they’re probably going to be the top two candidates for every job opening this season (with the exception of Shanahan being a candidate for a possible opening in Oakland).

As such, Shanahan and Cowher are smart. They know they’re coveted. Cowher has said that he won’t listen to any offers until after the season is over; he doesn’t have to. There will always be a market for his services. The same goes for Shanahan, though he will meet with Buffalo this week to at least discuss the opening and, as everyone is putting it, hear what Buffalo has to say. [...] Shanahan and Cowher are the only options out there that truly fit the GM/Head Coach role that Buffalo seems to prefer.

While Cowher and Shanahan are certainly big names, it’s worth remembering that neither of them has had much success (or in Cowher’s case, experience) wearing both hats as coach and GM. Cowher did not have control over personnel decisions in Pittsburgh, while the Bronco’s floundered under Shanahan once he assumed the dual role of head coach and GM (in particular, Shanahan struggled picking defensive players).

Given that landing Cowher or Shanahan seems like a long-shot at best in what figures to be a crowded coaching field this offseason, Buffalo Rumblings turns back to what moves the Bills should make to restore the franchise to respectability:

[Charlie] Weis is just one of a handful of second-tier coaching prospects that are apparently on Buffalo’s radar. Other names that have been mentioned include Jim Haslett, Kevin Gilbride, Marc Trestman and Perry Fewell. That’s great and all, but that doesn’t fix the Bills’ real issue - the front office. Shanahan and Cowher at least do that in theory; none of these Plan B coaching options have the clout or respectability to handle the dual role the Bills seem to prefer.

My nerves - shot by a decade of brutal football - would be soothed tremendously if we started hearing names of personnel men linked to Buffalo. [...] Buffalo needs to start working on Plan B. Perhaps they already are - and if they are, good on them. Reach out to the available general manager-types, such as Holmgren or Casserly. Make a list of potential GM candidates currently employed by other organizations to speak with in the (likely) event Shanahan and Cowher take jobs elsewhere, or else don’t coach at all. And if we can just never bring up names like Weis or Haslett again until a front office voice is chosen, that’d be fantastic as well.