The best coach in Bills history would consider taking the reins at age 91 if asked
Someone is willing to coach the Bills, and it's a name everyone in Buffalo is familiar with
By
John Breech
•
2 min read
If the Buffalo Bills want to think way outside the box for their next coaching hire, there's a 91-year-old out there who sounds more than willing to take the job.
This isn't just any 91-year-old, either; this 91-year-old happens to be the most successful coach in Bills history: Marv Levy.
During a radio interview in Albany, New York on Friday, Levy was asked if he'd be interested in replacing Rex Ryan, who was fired on Tuesday.
"[If] they offered, I might do it," Levy told 104.5 The Team. "It was one of those things where after 47 years of coaching I really needed to get that deep breath to step aside but after a couple of years passed I very much would have liked to come back."
Despite his past success with the Bills, which includes four straight Super Bowl appearances in the 1990s, Levy said he won't be holding his breath for a potential offer.
"I'd do it, but I'm not deluding myself to think that the offer would come," Levy said. "If the offer did come, I sure would consider it. Sure."
If the Bills decide that Levy isn't the man for the job, he's OK with that. As a matter of fact, he actually had some advice on what the Bills should look for in their next coach.
"The ability to teach to get across within the framework of his own personality," Levy said. "Secondly, a man who is going to work well with others in the organization because a total organization wins ... and third be a straight shooter. That's very important and I'll give you one more. Only bring in players of solid character. Ability without character will lose."
Levy built his team around a high-scoring offense known as the K-gun, an offense that featured Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. During his 11-plus seasons as Bills coach -- he was an interim coach in 1986 -- Levy led the Bills to eight playoff appearances, five AFC title games and four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
Levy was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001, just four years after he retired as the Bills' coach. The 91-year-old also served as Buffalo's general manager in 2006 and 2007.
Since Levy's retirement, the Bills have only made the playoffs one time, and that came in 1999 when Wade Phillips was the coach. The Bills haven't been back to the postseason since then, which is mostly notable because they have the longest active playoff drought of any team in the NFL.
If the Bills did hire Levy (they won't), he would be 26 years older than the league's current oldest coach: 65-year-old Pete Carroll.
