Will Mularkey stick as Bills coach? It's too soon to tell

[The_Philster]

By LARRY FELSER, Buffalo News
The football question I get asked most frequently by Buffalo Bills fans these days is: "How is this new coach going to be?"
I have a stock answer: "Ask me again in the middle of October."

Actually, that's the earliest date for an honest appraisal of Mike Mularkey. But people keep asking anyway because there is a certain cynicism about the Bills hiring another NFL assistant without major college or NFL experience as a head coach.

There are two main reasons for the cynicism. The first is that Mularkey's predecessor, Gregg Williams, never won the allegiance of the fans and the fans were proved right. The second is that the three most successful head coaches in Bills' history - Marv Levy, Lou Saban and Chuck Knox - had serious head-coaching experience before they came to Buffalo....
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[Goobylal]

Williams and a lot of rookie head coaches didn't have a guy like Wyche at their disposal. That's why I think he'll succeed where others have failed.

[Halbert]

An unusually weak article by Felser. Instead of highlighting the exceptions that become strong head coaches, why not tell me the percentage of rookie coaches that are successful in their first three years. I suspect that number would not be too encouraging.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by Goobylal
Williams and a lot of rookie head coaches didn't have a guy like Wyche at their disposal. That's why I think he'll succeed where others have failed.

I think you're right. Wyche's experience will help out Mularkey a lot.

[Goobylal]

Originally posted by Halbert
An unusually weak article by Felser. Instead of highlighting the exceptions that become strong head coaches, why not tell me the percentage of rookie coaches that are successful in their first three years. I suspect that number would not be too encouraging.

You'd be right that the percentage of rookie head coaches that are successful in their 1st 3 years is low. However as I said above, few if any had a former HC like Sam Wyche as their right-hand man.