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I must admit that I was a bit surprised by the fact that Mularkey wasn't fired when T.Donahoe was let go, but, then again, R.Wilson had 3 million reasons not to fire MM and had the option of trying to force him to resign by having him fire so many of his assistants, etc.
I was far more surprised that Mularkey didn't get the hint when R.Wilson didn't initially say what would happen with MM when he announced Donahoe's departure. The fact that Wilson had to go back in front of the press a second time and that MM had to fire five of his assistants told me that Wilson and Levy fully expected Mularkey to get the point and resign. It should have been obvious to Mularkey that Wilson was trying to save some of the money that he owed MM by stripping away his authority and putting him in an untenable position, regardless of what Levy or Wilson were saying to the press. But, rather than tender his resignation, even as a formality, Mularkey chose to cling to his job and throw half of his staff under the bus.
Of course Wilson and Levy continued to praise MM in the press at that point--what else would you expect them to do, tell the press that they were stuck with a HC that they didn't want to buy out but who wouldn't resign? Still, that situation seemed to me to be untenable for everyone and I was waiting "for the other shoe to drop", which was one reason I didn't write an article about the situation for the front page.
When I read that the Bills had asked for permission to interview Bret Maxie as a replacement for Jerry Gray, that seemed odd. With all of the coaching changes this off-season, there are a lot of defensive assistants that are or will be available around the league and Maxie's Atlanta secondary hardly seemed good enough this season to merit a promotion to a DC job with so many other more deserving candidates likely to be available.
Then, I saw that the Bills were interested in interviewing S.Fairchild to be their new OC and that clinched it for me---and for Mularkey as well. IF MM wouldn't let Tom Clements, a personal friend and a guy that he worked with for 5 years, call the plays for the Bills last season, how comfortable was he going to be having Fairchild, a guy he really doesn't know and doesn't share a similar offensive philosophy with, brought in to call the plays for him? While Fairchild let HC M.Martz call the plays until Martz was sidelined by his health, Fairchild, who has mentioned as a HC candidate for the Rams and others, could hardly be expected to take a step back in his career by letting MM do the play-calling if Fairchild were to take the Bills' OC job.
At that point I think that Mularkey finally realized that he was in a no-win situation with the Bills and decided to resign. Now, perhaps R.Wilson and M.Levy tried to talk him into staying and maybe they didn't. If they did, I suspect that the reasons for doing so were the fact that, with so many HC job openings this off-season and not a lot of outstanding candidates to fill those jobs, the competition for the better HC candidates is going to be very stiff and Wilson is going to have to pay more to secure a new HC than he would have had to pay MM. But, even if Wilson and Levy did try to talk MM into staying with the Bills, I doubt that either of them are really that upset about seeing him go.
Mularkey's departure will allow Levy to select his own man for the HC job in Buffalo and that has to be a better situation for the team than having a HC that everyone knows is on thin ice and that Levy would have to tutor every step of the way in order to enable him to overcome his past mistakes. No matter who the Bills select as their HC will be starting fresh with the team and, consequently, be able to make his own decisions and develop his own relationships with the players that will not be tainted by what happened this past season. The assistants that he interviews and hires will come to Buffalo in the expectation that he will be around for a couple of years rather than fearing that a job with the Bills may only be a one year gig. And, that should generate more interest from some of the better assistants around the league.
There are a plethora of candidates being mentioned for the Bills job: Jim Haslett, Mike Sherman, Ted Cottrell, Jerry Gray, Ron Rivera, etc. Because R.Wilson has reputation for hiring from within and not paying top dollar for his coaches (C.Knox and, perhaps, J.Rauch being the exceptions), I would be very surprised if the Bills end up hiring an experienced HC with a recognizable name--with the possible exception being Haslett, who reportedly has wanted the Bills' HC job for years. Also, with Marv Levy heading up the team's football operations, it would be easier for the Bills to hire a less experienced coach since the new HC could lean on Marv for advice and support--especially if the new coach was someone that Marv was familiar with and would be comfortable communicating with Levy on a regular basis. I don't believe that Jerry Gray fits that bill or merits promotion to HC based on how his defense performed last season. Ted Cottrell and possibly Chicago DC Ron Rivera, who Levy must have had some contact with calling the Bears games, are two potential candidates who, while lacking head coaching experience, could fit those criteria. With the Jets going all out to court the Pats' Eric Mangini and Maurice Carthon being a Parcells/Dallas product, I would be surprised to see the Bills go with either of those two young coaches at this stage, although both could end up being pretty good HCs. I don't see R.Wilson being willing to pay enough to get Mike Sherman or Sherman being willing to be in a situation where he knows that he would have Levy looking over his shoulder.
While I'm not a fan of Haslett based on his work in New Orleans, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bills hire him. Similarly, I'm also not a big a fan of Ted Cottrell as some Bills fans, either, but wouldn't be surprised if he were to get the job based on his ability to work with Levy. But, if the Bills are not going to pay enough to bring in a Mike Sherman and let him run his own show, the guy that I would like to see on the Bills' sidelines is Ron Rivera. But, if the Bills are interested in Rivera, they are going to have to move fast because several teams are interested in him and there is a very good chance that he will be hired by someone as soon as the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs.
I was far more surprised that Mularkey didn't get the hint when R.Wilson didn't initially say what would happen with MM when he announced Donahoe's departure. The fact that Wilson had to go back in front of the press a second time and that MM had to fire five of his assistants told me that Wilson and Levy fully expected Mularkey to get the point and resign. It should have been obvious to Mularkey that Wilson was trying to save some of the money that he owed MM by stripping away his authority and putting him in an untenable position, regardless of what Levy or Wilson were saying to the press. But, rather than tender his resignation, even as a formality, Mularkey chose to cling to his job and throw half of his staff under the bus.
Of course Wilson and Levy continued to praise MM in the press at that point--what else would you expect them to do, tell the press that they were stuck with a HC that they didn't want to buy out but who wouldn't resign? Still, that situation seemed to me to be untenable for everyone and I was waiting "for the other shoe to drop", which was one reason I didn't write an article about the situation for the front page.
When I read that the Bills had asked for permission to interview Bret Maxie as a replacement for Jerry Gray, that seemed odd. With all of the coaching changes this off-season, there are a lot of defensive assistants that are or will be available around the league and Maxie's Atlanta secondary hardly seemed good enough this season to merit a promotion to a DC job with so many other more deserving candidates likely to be available.
Then, I saw that the Bills were interested in interviewing S.Fairchild to be their new OC and that clinched it for me---and for Mularkey as well. IF MM wouldn't let Tom Clements, a personal friend and a guy that he worked with for 5 years, call the plays for the Bills last season, how comfortable was he going to be having Fairchild, a guy he really doesn't know and doesn't share a similar offensive philosophy with, brought in to call the plays for him? While Fairchild let HC M.Martz call the plays until Martz was sidelined by his health, Fairchild, who has mentioned as a HC candidate for the Rams and others, could hardly be expected to take a step back in his career by letting MM do the play-calling if Fairchild were to take the Bills' OC job.
At that point I think that Mularkey finally realized that he was in a no-win situation with the Bills and decided to resign. Now, perhaps R.Wilson and M.Levy tried to talk him into staying and maybe they didn't. If they did, I suspect that the reasons for doing so were the fact that, with so many HC job openings this off-season and not a lot of outstanding candidates to fill those jobs, the competition for the better HC candidates is going to be very stiff and Wilson is going to have to pay more to secure a new HC than he would have had to pay MM. But, even if Wilson and Levy did try to talk MM into staying with the Bills, I doubt that either of them are really that upset about seeing him go.
Mularkey's departure will allow Levy to select his own man for the HC job in Buffalo and that has to be a better situation for the team than having a HC that everyone knows is on thin ice and that Levy would have to tutor every step of the way in order to enable him to overcome his past mistakes. No matter who the Bills select as their HC will be starting fresh with the team and, consequently, be able to make his own decisions and develop his own relationships with the players that will not be tainted by what happened this past season. The assistants that he interviews and hires will come to Buffalo in the expectation that he will be around for a couple of years rather than fearing that a job with the Bills may only be a one year gig. And, that should generate more interest from some of the better assistants around the league.
There are a plethora of candidates being mentioned for the Bills job: Jim Haslett, Mike Sherman, Ted Cottrell, Jerry Gray, Ron Rivera, etc. Because R.Wilson has reputation for hiring from within and not paying top dollar for his coaches (C.Knox and, perhaps, J.Rauch being the exceptions), I would be very surprised if the Bills end up hiring an experienced HC with a recognizable name--with the possible exception being Haslett, who reportedly has wanted the Bills' HC job for years. Also, with Marv Levy heading up the team's football operations, it would be easier for the Bills to hire a less experienced coach since the new HC could lean on Marv for advice and support--especially if the new coach was someone that Marv was familiar with and would be comfortable communicating with Levy on a regular basis. I don't believe that Jerry Gray fits that bill or merits promotion to HC based on how his defense performed last season. Ted Cottrell and possibly Chicago DC Ron Rivera, who Levy must have had some contact with calling the Bears games, are two potential candidates who, while lacking head coaching experience, could fit those criteria. With the Jets going all out to court the Pats' Eric Mangini and Maurice Carthon being a Parcells/Dallas product, I would be surprised to see the Bills go with either of those two young coaches at this stage, although both could end up being pretty good HCs. I don't see R.Wilson being willing to pay enough to get Mike Sherman or Sherman being willing to be in a situation where he knows that he would have Levy looking over his shoulder.
While I'm not a fan of Haslett based on his work in New Orleans, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bills hire him. Similarly, I'm also not a big a fan of Ted Cottrell as some Bills fans, either, but wouldn't be surprised if he were to get the job based on his ability to work with Levy. But, if the Bills are not going to pay enough to bring in a Mike Sherman and let him run his own show, the guy that I would like to see on the Bills' sidelines is Ron Rivera. But, if the Bills are interested in Rivera, they are going to have to move fast because several teams are interested in him and there is a very good chance that he will be hired by someone as soon as the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs.