The first coaching staff for new Bills head coach Doug Marrone is continuing to take shape.
Former NFL wide receiver Ike Hilliard will be the team’s wide receivers coach, jumping from the Redskins after one year in the same position at Washington. He spent a year on the Dolphins’ staff before heading to Washington and was a teammate of Buffalo’s new running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley for a couple of years with the Giants. Hilliard also played two years in Tampa when Bills offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was an assistant with the Buccaneers.
There’s no word on who the Redskins will hire to replace Hilliard. Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com points out that it took a long time for the team to hire Hilliard last season and doesn’t expect a quick answer this time. Tandler also reports offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is very hands on with the receivers during practice.
The Bills announced that Hackett would handle the quarterbacks coach duties in addition to being the offensive coordinator. They also hired John Anselmo as a special teams assistant and Hal Luther as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Both Anselmo and Luther were part of Marrone’s staff at Syracuse.