dave wannstedt

[ghz in pittsburgh]

reading all the blogs, reports, from espn down to local small time reporters from the camp, it seems to me this guy is draw attention from everyone, players, coaches. he is supposed to take care of the 4 inside linebackers only.

there a re a number of former d-coordinators on this staff. wannstedt is probably the most successful one. i don't think he's going to get another hc gig in nfl. i'm afraid that if the bills have some defensive success this year, he's likely ticketed to be a defensive coordinator somewhere else.

this just reminds me of the dick lebeau time in buffalo. along side with talent upgrade (notably sam adams and tko), the bills d shot off the chart that year with some noticeable 3-4 traces. then lebeau left for the steelers and their d stayed on top 5 for all these years.

maybe history will repeat itself again. the bills have talent upgrade in the forms of marcell and merriman; wannstedt is in town to see the bills d shot off the chart. then he gets offers ...

[Extremebillsfan247]

If Gailey gets fired while Wannstedt is still with this organization, he is the most likely candidate to be our next head coach. It's not something I'd be in favor of, but that is what this organization does, promote from within. JMO

[GreedoII]

Obviously he wil be our next retread head coach. The writing is on the wall.

[methos4ever]

One thing I can tell you about his time at Pitt was that he's burned out by being the head man. Too many people calling him out for things he can't necessarily control and his eternal search for a complimentary OC (and later ST coach) dogged him in the NFL as well as Pitt. In fact, he often jokes during clinics that he should have fired his ST coach way before he was let go (He was his own ST coach).

I think if there is success on D he'll be fine in the background as a voice to Chan and to Edwards. Ultimately, all of Coach Wannstedt's defenses were light on blitz and heavy on coverage, so if anyone thinks that he's going to influence this D into becoming Ravens-esque, they're quite mistaken.

[Jeff1220]

I'd rather him have some success here and become someone else's DC than to have the D suck more, Gailey get fired and Wanny end up the HC in Buffalo.

[Night Train]

Good God... the guy has been here 15 minutes. :rofl:

Right now, he likes the spotlight being on someone else and gets to coach

[BillsOverDolphins]

I swear if Wanny ever becomes the HC here.........***** it, nothing surprises me anymore.

[better days]

Wanny is assistant HC. He said aside from his duties as LB coach he will assist Chan with many of the details a HC is required to deal with. He & Chan are longtime friends & he & his wife are very happy to be in Buffalo. He said he is very familiar with Bills fans from having been HC of the Fins & thinks they are great. He is a Pittsburgh guy & he said Buffalo is very similar to Pitts. I think he will be in Buffalo at least as long as Chan is.

[YardRat]

This is an 'old boys network' hire. Gailey gave Wanny a position and a paycheck to cruise for a season or two and get reacquainted with the NFL circles, until he gets an offer from somebody else.

[better days]

This is an 'old boys network' hire. Gailey gave Wanny a position and a paycheck to cruise for a season or two and get reacquainted with the NFL circles, until he gets an offer from somebody else.

I doubt that. Wanny is asst. HC, the next move up would be HC. Does anyone really see that happening in the next season or two?

[Thurmal]

Phenomenal coordinator, bad HC. See: Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron...oh ****.

[YardRat]

I doubt that. Wanny is asst. HC, the next move up would be HC. Does anyone really see that happening in the next season or two?

He's only a ILBers coach/AHC here so DC/AHC or even all LB/AHC would be a move up.

[Buddo]

Much will depend on how he feels about what he wants to do in coaching. He may not want to be a HC again, and the position he's in, could actually suit him nicely.
TBH, I think if Chan goes, Wannstedt follows him out the door.
Guys like Wannstedt and Gailey, will always want to be involved in coaching - it's what they love. At the same time, there are very different degrees of involvement.

Something the Jets seem to have been very cute with, is getting guys to consult with their coaches, on a regular basis. These are guys like Mouse, who sit comfortably at home breaking down tape, on what the players need to work on, and pass the info on. Keeps them involved, and uses their experience and knowledge, without making them have to move around or show up to work physically every day.

[better days]

He's only a ILBers coach/AHC here so DC/AHC or even all LB/AHC would be a move up.

The key is he is asst. HC/ILB not ILB/AHC. Wanny said he only returned to football because of his relationship with Chan. He likes working with Chan & the City of Buffalo.

I seriously doubt he would leave this situation to go anywhere else unless Jimmy Johnson returns to coach the Cowboys.

[ddaryl]

LOL!.. a bunch found something to whine about in this thread too..

I think we can rename this the cheesezone forums... cause you sure get lots of whine here

[The Jokeman]

I think Wanny will turn out to be our DC in 2012 when Wilson is looking for a scape goat as to once again doesn't playoffs and forces Chan to part ways with Edwards. As a result we'll need to rebuild once more since Wanny likes to run a 4-3 and he feels that guys like Kyle Williams and Dareus are best suited to play inside because Kyle doesn't have the size to be a true NT.

[justasportsfan]

As long as Nix is the GM, Wanny won't be our HC. The only reason why he is listed as asst. HC is just to offset that the title as merely the ILB coach.

Kinda like April. After naming him Asst HC to keep him ,They really had no intentions of making him the HC if anything happened to Jauron . Instead they went with Fewell.

[stuckincincy]

When you apply the designation "assistant HC", he then falls under the NFL's anti-tampering rule - other teams cannot woo him away. Clubs use it to protect key member of the coaching staff, as well as having a fellow who can run the team on game day if something happens to the HC (e.g., Elijah Pitts taking over for Marv Levy for 3 games). CIN's asst. HC is OL coach Paul Alexander. Everybody knows about how dysfunctional that franchise is - what other club would keep Smilin' Jack (Marvin) on the payroll? Fact is Alexander is a terrific OL coach who gets handed ***** sandwiches from the ownership.

I was surprised when MIA canned Wanny. In his 5 years, he was 45 - 42; 41 -30 if you remove his last season with them (4 -12). Got them into the playoffs in 2 of his 5 years.

He certainly helped build the Pitt Panthers into a decent college club.

IIRC, when Pitt purged him only to find out that their new HC was dirty goods, Wanny stuck around for their bowl game (unusual - see Brian Kelly,, Rich Rodriguez, and so on).

I think he just got tired of kissing the fannies of the university self-important tenured brahmins and having to sweet-talk idiot HS kids to come into the program.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Wanny has his warts. I don't know if he is HC material, but he is certainly a top shelf DC. I will bet anything that had he be canned at Pitt a year earlier, he'd be our D coordinator now.

As a former Pitt Offensive lineman, Wanny may be too stuck on old traditional offensive strategy - running the ball. And he does not have a good eye on QBs, both in pro and college.

I like him as a DC, and like it or not, I think he'll be one if he decides to stay in the game - I just don't think he's going to make a living doing TV stuff.

You can tell George Edwards struggled a little bit last year. And Chan Gailey seemed to be a hands-off HC in area he's not expert (ever wondering all these juggling, surprise 1st 2nd string stuff happening to offensive side only?). It's not going to be the results or defensive rankings; it'll be much more in terms of defensive strategy, planning and coach's evaluations behind the scenes that Gailey will see the difference between Wanny and Edwards during the course of the season. He could make a move after the season.

[Historian]

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