Offensive coordinator Fairchild could be leaving Buffalo
Just when the Bills start closing in on their first playoff spot since 1999, a key member of the coaching staff could be on the way out. Offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild is has accepted the head coaching job at Colorado State University according to the Buffalo News.
I thought I would be excited to hear this news at any point in the season, though I expected Fairchild to get fired.
Despite an upgraded offensive line and a stud running back, Buffalo’s offense is ranked 28th in yards per game (283.6) and 26th in points per game (17.1). Last year under Fairchild Buffalo was 30th in yards per game (266.9) and 23rd in points per game (18.8).
However, it looks as though the offense is coming together after a four touchdown game from Trent Edwards against Miami, along with two rushers going over 100 yards.
Buffalo is 7-6 and a win this Sunday against Cleveland would be vital in taking a lead for the final wild card spot. Losing the signal caller now would not be beneficial.
The Buffalo News report says Fairchild will finish out the season.
Even if he does finish the season, then there are concerns about continuity going into next year. Edwards appears to be getting the offense, it would not be good to have him learn a new one over the off-season.
Candidates for a promotion likely would include quarterbacks coach Turk Schonert or offensive assistant Alex Van Pelt. Neither has been an NFL coordinator.
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7 Responses to “Offensive coordinator Fairchild could be leaving Buffalo”
December 12th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Best news I’ve heard all day.
I think we scored 4 touchdowns against Miami in spite of Fairchild being the OC. We’ll need similar offensive numbers this week to contend with Cleveland, or else it’s another year added to the playoff-less drought.
Who else is (or will be) available during the off-season that the Bills should be targeting for their new OC? I’m sure Marv and co. have a list already.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
It’d be nice if we got a higher-priced guy, like a former head coach to serve at OC. Scott Linehan looks like he could be jobless.
Over the past several years we’ve gotten guys with little to no experience to save money.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Edwards having to learn a new system is not worthy of mentioning, JP had a lot of unstability and we see what happened there, however I honestly believe this is the best thing for us, I’m glad and hope fairchild doesn’t finish the season. AVP running the play calls would be great and I think he would do well with edwards too.
Chermo I’m w/ you Edwards did well inspite of fairchild. A couple of times edwards threw to a covered guy over an open guy b/c he was doing as told, however there were moments when you could see him making his own decision to throw to the open guy, sometimes he overthrew and sometimes he nailed it. All I ask is that he continues to begin to trust his instincts and know that the coaching staff will support him. Other players like that too.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Ken,
I don’t really see a scenario in which your example could be true. A coach cannot talk to a qb through the headset after the play clock reaches 10 seconds. How could Edwards be told what to do as the play develops? There is no way that a coach would tell him ahead of time to throw to a receiver even if he was blanketed. In this same vein, Edwards’ progressions are not a result of his “making his own decision”, but instead his reading the progressions and making the decision he is supposed to make.
Fairchild was awful until this week. I (along with countless bills fans) was waiting for Jackson to get carries for weeks, and was very happy to see him and Marshawn share carries, especially when they were both on the field at the same time.
Fairchild’s unwilligness to open up the playbook for JP and Trent was pathetic, and I am very happy to see him move forward. I would probably go back to my alma mater to coach (if that was my profession), and can’t hold that against him.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Jim, By no means did i mean Edwards was being told to throw to so & so while the play is progress. However they do practice throughout the week and they do have gameplanning sessions where edwards and coach are clear on what should be done and what should be looked for on each play. It was clear as day on some plays that edwards did deviate a little bit from the play and showed some moxie in doing his what he saw fit.
Fairchild leaving is great news period, I could care less why, I just wished he would have left now so we could see if AVP is our guy next year or not.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
ESPN’s John Clayton has said that Turk Schonert would be a great OC. Shonert’s been a QB coach off and on in the league since 1992. He did a good job with J.P. this year and has done wonders with Edwards this year.
It makes sense for him to get the promotion.
AVP doesn’t have the experience in my opinion. He was the Quarterbacks coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy and is currently the offensive quality control coach. According to the team web site that means he:
“In his current position, Van Pelt is responsible of breaking down film of the opponent, working on the development of week’s game-plan and updating the playbook.”
Sounds like he’s getting good experience though, perhaps he’ll be a good QB coach.
However look at Dallas’ Jason Garrett, he’s a first-year OC. He was just the QB coach in MIami in 2005 and 2006.
December 14th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Dan,
My whole deal with this is that if there is an in house candidate with the potential to excel in the position, Jauron and Levy will recognize it. If they choose AVP or Turk I will jump on board and assume that the choice was made because OBD was convinced they would be successful. AVP has been around the NFL for a long time and while I do not know if he would make a good OC, I do not think we will have to worry about experience if he is chosen by Marv/Jauron.
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