APAnother NFL head coaching job has come open.
Bills coach Doug Marrone has opted out of his contract with the club, team owner Terry Pegula announced Wednesday afternoon.
“Doug Marrone informed me late today that he has decided to exercise the option clause in his contract and relinquish his responsibilities as our head coach,” Pegula said in a team-issued statement this afternoon.
Continued Pegula: “We are disappointed that Coach Marrone will no longer be an important part of our organization. We thank him for all of his hard work and leadership during his tenure and wish him and his family the best with the next chapter in their lives.
“We will now begin the important process of conducting a thorough search for a new head coach as we continue to strive to reach our goal of returning to the playoffs and bringing a championship to Buffalo for our fans.”
Marrone had just finished his second season as Bills head coach. Buffalo was 15-17 in his tenure, improving from 6-10 in 2013 to 9-7 this year.
The Bills join the Jets, 49ers, Bears and Falcons as clubs that will have new head coaches next season. The Raiders could also very well choose to move on from interim coach Tony Sparano.
Speculation now centers on where Marrone could be headed, considering he left what seemed to be a secure job for 2015.
The Bills, meanwhile, are left to search for their seventh full-time head coach since Marv Levy’s final season in 1997. Of Levy’s six successors, only Wade Phillips (1999) has even led Buffalo a playoff berth, and the club has not won a postseason game since 1995.
However, the Bills’ job could be as attractive as it has been in some time.
First and foremost, Buffalo has one of the NFL’s top defenses. And though the Bills have considerable uncertainty at quarterback, the new coach will likely get to pick a passer to build around. Moreover, Pegula has vowed to keep the team in Buffalo, which has long embraced the Bills.
On the other hand, the Bills lack a first-round pick in 2015, and the looming presence of the powerful, unshakable Patriots in the AFC East cannot be overlooked.
Nevertheless, the Bills’ cupboard is not bare, and Marrone’s replacement will inherit Buffalo’s first winning team since 2004.
Wow. Just wow.
Go Bills!
Make sure you take Hackett with you
There you go, he couldn’t wait to get out of that desolate never was town.
Greg Schiano is still available…
Hmmmmm what college job is he eyeing ? The raiders! That’s it!
Wow.
Surprise, thought he did a good job. Must have something going with one of the other NFL openings.
Hire a bright offensive mind, retain Schwartz and try to acquire Sam Bradford without the high cap figures. Playoff talent but poor coaching and average QB play. Move Manuel to WR or DB.
Wow that says a lot .
this is not good for my Buffalo Bills.
Holy crap just when things were looking up a little bit for Bills fans. Constantly changing coaches and systems is a major factor in keeping a franchise down.
Oh oh, that means Jim Schwartz has a shot at being a head coach again. Don’t do it, Bills.
Schwartz and no1 else…there’s
No1 else impressive enough…why start over…
He does not want to work for Bill Polian,
No QB worthy on the roster and nothin work there draft position made for a easy decision to leave.
Am guessing he got some incentive to opt out and save face all around.
Wow. This is surprising!
Think this was a smart move by Marrone bc he really is just a college guy.
Haha! Who can blame him though?
Another rat off a sinking ship. After giving up next years first round pick Marrone knew he’d better bail out now before he becomes unemployable. Hope Sammy Watkins can throw to himself since the Jills have nothing else on offence.
Half the AFC East is looking for a new coach.
The pegulas wanted to trade for Matt Schuab and he did not. Owners win.
Any explanation why he would voluntarily give up an NFL head coaching job?
irrelevant team and dump of a city. “saint doug” will be canonized somewhere else lol
Wow… Whats he know that we don’t?
Article didn’t say why he left? Hello…
Not good news for Bills Nation. He seemed to have instilled a winning mentality with the Bills. Something they haven’t had since Marv Levy.
Did not see this coming at all…I thought he was commited to turn this around. I wonder what made him move on? This team was headed in the right direction..
No way he does this without a deal already in place, but who the hell else wants him over the other available candidates?
He’s an offensive specialist who offense completely failed.
The fourth ranked D in the NFL and you can’t figure out how to make the playoffs? Marrone won’t be missed, Hackett won’t be missed and neither will Whaley if he’s the next shoe to drop. “They don’t have a QB!” Neither do the Bengals and they figured it out. Strong run game, a good O line and a top five D would have got us in even with Orton. Hell, even with EJ. Marrone was an O line “specialist” and we had a dreadful line ALL year. Couldn’t spot talent, stuck with Richardson too long at RG and had no idea how to utilize Spiller when Chan Gailey (of all people) could.
See ya, Dougie. Take your punt first, score later approach to some other desperate franchise.
Didn’t see that coming. I’ll bet he got a whiff of the new owners’ expectations and style of management.
Translation: power struggle with Doug Whaley. Marrone lost.
Give me a J… give me a E… give me a T… give me a S… What does it spell?
Well nothing good, but its still better than having to live in Buffalo.
This move will make a lot more sense when we find out his next stop.
At this early hour, it certainly does scream of vvovv!
Guess he’s going from a bad QB situation to a worse one with the Jets. Oh well, at least the Jets have a higher pick.
What a jackass. Decimate our draft and then not bother to stick around to clean up the mess you made. Oh, and I’m sure CJ is next now that we need a new staff.
Sweet Jesus.
JETS.
Great news. Now he can come to Toronto and be the head coach. But, I guess he doesn’t want to wait until the 2050 season for his next gig.
Happy Day! Him and his miserable attitude and crappy conservative coaching won’t be missed at One Bills Drive.
Damn go 9-7 and still quit???? 😂😂😂 buffalo must really suck.
Opt out? Lets call him what he is…a quitter
Strange news. That would seem to be a team on the rise, with the glaring exception of QB. Manuel was a reach and a miss. I wonder if Marrone doesn’t mesh with Whaley, and wanted to move on while he’s still got capital (instead of losing another season to Manuel/fill in the blank, and trying to find a job after that).
Schawrtz scares me as a coach, he’s a great DC, but he’s kind of a doofus when leading from the HC position, at least, that’s how how saw him when he was in Detroit.
Marrone had the team playing tough and we were hitting people. We were in every game and the gameplans were sound, I now, I’ll miss him.
azcardsfan4life says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:19 PM
…..Move Manuel to WR or DB.
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A 244lb guy with a history of knee injuries who’s never played anything but QB? WR or DB? Why???????
joetoronto says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:16 PM
There you go, he couldn’t wait to get out of that desolate never was town.
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Well, at least we do know he won’t be coming to Toronto anytime soon…….they don’t have an NFL team….they don’t have any sports team, including the Maple Laughs, who lose year after year, after year after year.
Bring in Sexy Rexy!!!
Wow. And we wonder why Patriots win AFC East every year?
LOL! The media and all the supposed “insiders” just got Punk’d big time.
That’s fine, let him go to the Raiders, in 3 years he will have a crappy record and he will be fired, then people will comment on how he should have never opted out in the first place…
First guy to get team to winning record in 10 years and he voluntarily leaves rather than stay. It is so hard being a Bills fan. Sounds like he wanted more money and the Pegulas called his bluff and he walked.
Well at least hackett is gone
canetic says:
Any explanation why he would voluntarily give up an NFL head coaching job?
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I’m sure he already has an agreement for another one. Whatever team it is has to check the Rooney Rule block first.
This is the best day of Jim Schwartz’s life.
He still gets paid $4 million next year. He must have a really good agent.
Pretty simple really. They don’t have a QB & they burned at a 1st on EJ Manuel. Bolt now while your stock is somewhat high. Good move.
Good
azcardsfan4life says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:19 PM
…..Move Manuel to WR or DB.
What an idiotic comment. Wonder why you would want to move Manuel to WR or DB. I know !!!
I wonder if this is related to Orton’s retirement. I doubt it, but the timing of the two is at least an interesting coincidence.
Too bad for the Bills. I was kind of enjoying watching the turn around happen. With that defense and a solid offense they were a trigger man away from giving New England a legit fight for the division. Hopefully they get the right guy. I’m not sure why Joe Toronto feels the need to talk smack, the Raiders won 3 games this year and lost the first 10. Zip it dude, you’re giving those of us who are intelligent Raider fans a bad name
Maybe this guy isn’t as big a moron as I thought he was
espn sez the jets have interest in him, have fun jet fan
Buffalo is Jacksonville North. Can’t blame the guy one bit. Greener pastures await…anywhere. Best of luck.
“240 lb, why”, you missed the DB part, move him to safety
This is not nearly as shocking as when they drafted E.J. Manuel ahead of Ryan Nassib. After all, if Nassib wasn’t Marrone’s QB at Syracuse, Marrone never would have gotten an NFL offer. I have no idea who picked Manuel, but if it was the GM, then I’m not surprised that Marrone would get out of town. Nassib was the best QB in the draft that year, and he’ll prove it once he gets an opportunity.
I hear he made a power play for more $$$ and new ownership told him no.
Bet a dollar he was told to fire Hackett or else.
E.J. Manuel, coach killer.
Last time we had a winning season the coach quit then too. Mularky quit after going 9-7. I can’t remember another time a guy actually quit a NFL head coaching job. Sucks being a Bills fan – but at least I don’t live in Toronto!
Mr. Marrone, you’re no Joe Maddon.
Maybe Orton will unretire now?
Did he have a crumpled napkin with him that said, “I am no longer the HC of the BB”
That really stinks for Buffalo, it seemed as if he was starting to get them headed in the right direction.
So now do they promote Schwartz?
Buffalo can’t afford lose him as well. Best of luck to the Bills and their fans.
Would love to know where all these New Head coaches are coming from ?
You armchair GM’S would be fired if you sticked with Manuel. Jimbo Fisher even said he was a mediocre pro QB. Too inconsistent and erratic. A big 6’5 240 lber can play strong safety.
Who just quits and NFL job? Thats’s major league odd.
Coach and qb just moved on. Ouch
And nothing of value was lost.
Bring in Frank Reich, Todd Bowles, or any number of coordinators and they’ll do better than they did with Marrone. The guy is profoundly average.
That pretty much says it all about Buffalo, the team and the city. You can’t pay a guy millions to live there and coach there.
Can’t blame him. Why would he want to live there any longer? Can’t attract free agents, can’t attract coaches, no corporate sponsors. Move to LA already! What a dump!
No mystery here: he and Whaley hate each other, and one had to go.
The opt out made it easy
Nobody circles the wagon like the Bills…I’ve been trying all season long to find out what that means.
“Who quits an NFL job?” Anyone who has spent ten minutes in Buffalo.
Who just quits and NFL job? Thats’s major league odd.
It worked for Belichek …
And Marrone walks away with $4,000,000!!
It’s not the end of the world for the Bills, but Doug… After quitting on SU, now you quit on the Bills.
doesn’t look good on one’s resume, you loser.
You and Orton deserve retirement
Kyle Orton’s retirement probably fueled this.. It’s clear Marrone doesn’t think highly of E.J Manual.
Jim Schwartz was seen being carried from his car to his house by his children.
Bills might really be moving to LA and he and Orton want no part of that.
You don’t see a young, new coach doing this often, if ever? Will be interesting to see where he is off to.
At least his wardrobe will improve …
As a Jet fan hearing the possibilities of him coaching here gets me a little excited (As long as he doesn’t bring Hackett) considering we haven’t had an offensive minded head coach in god knows how long. But at the same time I feel really bad for the Buffalo fans, I feel like it’s just wrong that the first QB and head coach to give them a winning season in 10 years are both gone for that loyal fan base that are Bills fans. It just goes to show that Polian just needs to retire and stay out of football the guy has lost the acumen he once had he is the one who touted John Idzik for the Jets two years ago and he comes in and ruins things for Bills fans coming off a high note of a season 😦
Hang in there Bills fans this Jets fan see’s a bumpy ride ahead of us.
Parcells disciple
It sounds like he wanted more money and power because he took a middle of the pack team and made them … a middle of the pack team. That certainly deserves something. Probably just what he got.
Actually, kudos to him and his agent for making this awesome contract. You can mark it down it probably won’t happen again!
Let’s see:
– Stay on for what could be an impossible relationship with new ownership, no QB, and in the same division as the Patriots (meaning you have almost zero chance to win the division and have to go the WC route)
OR
– Get paid $4M to sit on your Lay-Z-Boy and watch NFL.
I know which option I would pick.
In the NFL, you have a good QB… or you have nothing.
That the new coach will “likely get to pick a passer to build around” is hardly a positive. It means he’ll have to start from the bottom at the most crucial position.
Which means almost no chance to improve on 9-7.
Enough with the cheap shots at the city of buffalo. Yeah, it snows there in the winter. So what? I don’t live there but every time I visit I have a great time and I in no way find it to be a “dump.”
Seems like most of you trolls who trash on the place have never been there.
Rex Ryan, baby. No one knows the division better.
Quitter!!! Why the hell was this kind of contract given in the first place???
Now do we know why it might be playoff drought #16 (or however many they have since the Music City Miracle) next season???
Jimmy Schwartz, you’re IN
As a Bills fan I am as happy as a clam!! I just wish Harbaugh was still available….
Well if you want to tweak NE and Belichick bring in Mangini. He is .500 against BB and beat him 3 times without a solid QB..Embarrassed them in Cleveland with Colt McCoy at QB and had Brady confused..Last thing Bill and Tom want to see is Mangini in the AFC East..I’m telling you…
I’m sure he wanted a contract extension and when he didn’t get it he thought he better strike while the iron is hot rather than risk next season going poorly and being out of the league. I feel like he quit on the team, but I understand why he did it, business is business after all. Time to see how people in the NFL truly feel about how close the Bills are. I say Atlanta is the best job out there, then Santa Clara and the Bills.
There are only 32 of these jobs in the world. It is hard to understand someone giving one of them up on purpose. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the story.
Joetoronto you need to get a life and root for the jets! We hate you and the jets
realnflmaster says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:55 PM
Can’t blame him. Why would he want to live there any longer? Can’t attract free agents, can’t attract coaches, no corporate sponsors. Move to LA already! What a dump!
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Such an ignorant remark. If you knew anything about The Bills or Buffalo, you would know that Ralph Wilson was pretty cheap. He was unwilling to spend money on free agents and especially on coaches, where he was notoriously cheap. He also liked being the head football personality in the organization and didnt want to bring in a strong head coach that would challenge that in any way. Money attracts free agents and coaches and Ralph Wilson just wouldn’t pay the type of money it takes to get top free agents and top coaches.
Pegula has tons of money and is more than willing to spend it. Why wouldn’t players or coaches want to come here? They are a QB and/or a good offensive system away from being a scary good team. Their defense is one of the best in the league. That D made Marrone look good and will do the same for the next head coach.
Your HC and QB just walked out the door, nobody wants to be in the armpit.
Just quit baby!
Really, if you look at thatBills team, the parts Marrone ran directly were the worst parts. He had Nothing to do with that Defense. It wasn’t his defensive system. Pettine brought it with him. Schwartz took it over and made tweaks. Marrone didn’t even know what players they were putting on the field. He didnt even notice Jerry Hughes didnt play for over an entire half of a game!
Marrone however DID run the offense and o line. He called plays along with Hackett. The offense was Terrible! Almost every player on the offense seemed to regress under Marrone. That same O line under Chan Gailey was much better. Marrone took over and it got worse last year and even worse again this year. And Marrone was supposedly an “offensive line guru”. And an “offensive innovator”. Pfft… Right.
*Toronto
I think Orton retiring must have had some influence. Going into 2015 with Manuel was a horrible proposition.
Add one more name to the long list of people who have stolen money from the Bills
jpaq68 says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:41 PM
Maybe this guy isn’t as big a moron as I thought he was
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And maybe, just maybe Blake Bortles is the bust just like we thought he would be. Sucks to be a Jags fan.
At least my Dolphins still have some hope….great Offensive Coordinator (check), stable GM (check), good QB (check), decent defense (check- when not missing 4-5 players due to injuries), able to beat the Patriots in a real game when they are not sitting players in the final week like the Bills (check), mediocre Head coach (check, well c’mon we know he sucks, but at least we have one). Congrats to the 2015 Patriots ! Winners of the AFC East by default. no wonder ever NFL fan I meet hates them.
Billswillnevermove – good luck with Black Blaine Gabbert and the 51st overall pick in next years draft
billswillnevermove says:
Dec 31, 2014 8:46 PM
jpaq68 says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:41 PM
Maybe this guy isn’t as big a moron as I thought he was
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And maybe, just maybe Blake Bortles is the bust just like we thought he would be. Sucks to be a Jags fan.
1 2
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You may be right
That may be true
But Bortles wins a ring
Before Manuel ever do
No HC, QB, 1st round pick, rings, or hope.
Lots of snow and a dead town though.
Teams that need a coach, should not hire him and that will stop the buy out .
Christmas come late.
Good riddance.
Marone must have thought new owners would fire him
Maybe he knew once they hired Polian, that he wouldn’t be the coach much longer and he quit to save face.
Stop dumping on Buffalo. The town DOES have at least one thing going for it – the wings.
As for Marrone, the paisan fits the name. “Marone” indeed. His players put on a great showing in Foxboro, and the stronzo rewards them by quitting. Vaffanculo, Marrone, vaffanculo.
billswillnevermove says: Dec 31, 2014 6:34 PM
joetoronto says:
Dec 31, 2014 6:16 PM
There you go, he couldn’t wait to get out of that desolate never was town.
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Well, at least we do know he won’t be coming to Toronto anytime soon…….they don’t have an NFL team….they don’t have any sports team, including the Maple Laughs, who lose year after year, after year after year.
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The last time I checked the Raptors were in first place in the Eastern Conference. Get your facts straight before posting please. The Maple Leafs aren’t doing half bad this year either. Unlike the Buffalo Sabres.
The latest victim of Duran Coffee is Doug Marrone.