Bills reportedly giving every indication they've decided on next coach
The Bills' potential new coach is a name that's familiar to fans in Buffalo
By
John Breech
•
2 min read
It looks like the Bills' coaching search might be over before it actually starts.
According to the Buffalo News, the Bills have given "every indication" that they're going to give the coaching job to Anthony Lynn. Lynn, who was hired as an assistant coach by the Bills in 2015, was named the team's interim coach after Rex Ryan was fired on Tuesday.
Lynn spoke to the media on Wednesday for the first time since Ryan's firing, and said that getting the Bills job permanently isn't something that's really on his mind right now.
"As far as a permanent coaching job, I'm really not thinking that far down the road because I don't want to miss out on anything right now," Lynn said, via the Bills' official website. "I want to stay in the now and like I said, I want to get this team ready to go out and play the best we can to beat the New York Jets."
However, Lynn did add that he would take the job if it was offered.
"I want to be the guy here, make no mistake about it," Lynn said. "Yes I'm going to get this team ready to go and go out and play well."
The big thing going in Lynn's favor is that the Bills have already announced that general manager Doug Whaley will be leading the coaching search. That's good news for Lynn because Whaley's probably going to want to hire someone who's not going to threaten his power in the front office.
Whaley is currently in charge of building the team's roster, which is a power he's unlikely to be willing to give up. That limits the field of coaches the Bills can conceivably land, eliminating any who want full control of the roster (Tom Coughlin would fit in that category).
The upside of Lynn is that the Bills would get to stick with his offense, which has been running over opponents over the past two seasons. Unless they implode this week, the Bills will finish the 2016 season with the NFL's top rushing offense, which will mark the second year in a row that they've done that with Lynn's help.
Lynn was the team's running backs coach in 2015 when they finished first in the NFL, averaging 152.0 yards per game on the ground. After offensive coordinator Greg Roman was fired in Week 2 this year, Lynn was promoted to take his spot. With Lynn running the show, the ground game is on pace to average more than 170 yards per game this season.
The downside of keeping Lynn is that Whaley will still be calling the shots. For instance, Lynn admitted on Wednesday that he had no say in who would be the Bills' starting quarterback against the Jets this week.
EJ Manuel will be starting in place of Tyrod Taylor, a decision that was made without Lynn.
"I wasn't in that room when that decision was made," Lynn said, via NFL.com.
If the Bills do go with Lynn, they'll be hiring a guy who has 16 years of NFL coaching experience. Lynn's career started in Denver in 2000 when he was hired as to be a special teams assistant. The three year stop in Denver was followed by stints with the Jaguars (2003-04), Cowboys (2005-06), Browns (2007-08) and Jets (2009-14). The 48-year-old served as a running backs coach with all four of those teams.
