New Bills era starts under Donahoe

By Rick Anderson

It marked a new beginning. The Bills owner of 41 years, Ralph C. Wilson, was turning over the keys of the franchise to Tom Donahoe. Wilson not only named Donahoe the Bills new General Manager, but also handed the Presidency of the team over to him. The Buffalo Bills ship would now be guided by Donahoe and the new GM was ready for the stormy seas that lurked ahead.

Tom Donahoe answers questions at his introduction press conference

[BUFFALO NEWS Photo/James P. McCOY]

Donahoe's predecessor, John Butler, had made a mess of the Bills salary cap. It is estimated that the Bills are between $11 - 16 million over the new salary cap. Donahoe knows that this "ain't gonna be a walk in the park" patching up the leaks that threaten to sink the ship.

The first order of business for Donahoe is to find a new head coach. Wade Phillips was fired this week when he refused to let go of special teams coach Ronnie Jones.

"The biggest priority is the coaching situation," Donahoe addressed the media in the official press conference that introduced him as the Bills new GM. "I just told the staff that there will not be immediate, drastic changes. It's business as usual, it's a great organization and they certainly don't need me to tell them how to do their job. That's one of the reasons I went to the East-West practices, to speak to Dwight [Adams], to make sure he was on board, and wanted to stay, and he assured me that he would. I talked to a couple of scouts out there, including Mr. Wilson's daughter Linda and visited with them to reassure them I'm not coming in with a big hatchet to hack up the organization. It doesn't need to be hacked up. We need to find a coach, that's a major priority, and we'll get started on that right away."

Donahoe said that he would give Bills defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell a chance to present his case for being the next head coach. The players are all hoping that Cottrell will be the one as he has established a great rapport with them in his years on the team. There are quite a few candidates outside the team, like Don Capers and Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

"I found out the last two weeks that (reporters) are master speculators, so I'll leave (coaching) speculation to you," Donahoe answered the question about who he was considering. "I can tell you this, I do intend to interview Ted Cottrell and we'll try to reach him this weekend and set something up with him the first part of next week. I don't want to get into other names, I don't think it serves a purpose … We don't have a specific timetable, Mr. Wilson and I have talked about things we think are important, the qualities we're looking for in coach. It's my job to find that person. I think this is a very attractive position which will generate a lot of interest."

Donahoe then directed the attention to the search to replace Phillips.

"The most important thing is to find the right head coach. We're looking for somebody who can come in here, someone who has great attention to detail, somebody who's a teacher, a disciplinarian, and someone who can fit in the organization. I was never one to think coaches should be put on a pedestal and that's my philosophy. It's important for them to realize that they are part of the organization and everyone in the building's very important."

Donahoe wants to get the Bills back on track so they can be in the playoffs next season.

"We want to win, that's paramount," Donahoe said. "These people are used to winning. This is a football team that should have been in the playoffs this year. And we want to get it back on track and into the playoffs next year."

The salary cap issue could force Donahoe to make some very unpopular moves. Eric Moulds contract is up and he would command a huge increase, whether it is with Buffalo or somewhere else.

"We want people to want to be here. That's No. 1. I read a comment by Eric Moulds' agent the other day which I didn't particularly like (That Moulds needs to paid like the league's top receiver). I think Eric Moulds is a great football player, but this organization is not just about Eric Moulds. . . . And we're going to do everything we can to sign him."

The most critical job Donahoe will have after getting his coaching staff intact will be to try to solve the salary cap mess that Butler left him. Butler did his best to keep the stars on this team, like Bruce Smith, Ted Washington, plus giving ridiculously high new contracts to Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson when he could have done what his Sabres counterpart, Darcy Regier does with the Sabres - defend the bottom line. Butler spent Wilson's money like a drunken sailor and now the Bills have to make drastic cuts to get back on even keel with the rest of the league.

"When you do as well as Buffalo does, you're going to have salary cap problems," Donahoe admitted. "I don't know how you get around it … We have to find a way to deal with the cap, to handle it, to make sure we don't tear our team apart. We may have to make some tough decisions this year. I'm not going to stand up and say it's going to be easy or be popular, but we cannot be over the cap. That is a rule in the National Football League, so we have to look at the avenues at our disposal to deal with the cap."

Then there is this certain quarterback controversy that split the team for the past two years. While working with ESPN, he made a comment on their Internet site about who would be his starter if he had anything to do with it.

"As a starter, Flutie's record is now 21-9, what's the decision," Donahoe asked.

Now that he was responsible for making the Bills ship float, he clarified his remark.

"That was my Internet personality," joked Donahoe, which caused the press room to erupt with laughter. "You guys say things for effect, maybe I did the same thing … Obviously, the quarterback situation is something we'll have to look at. We're fortunate. There's a lot of teams in this league that don't have one starting quarterback but we have two. The question comes down to is can we afford to have two? Salary cap is an issue in everything that you do. One thing I don't want to get into is making the salary cap an excuse for why we don't win. Everyone in the league has the same salary cap. There's no small-market teams, no big-market teams. It's a level playing field. We have to handle the cap, and we can't use it as an excuse. Once we get a coach, one of the priorities we have to discuss is the quarterback. You've got an experienced veteran in Doug, who just finds a way to win, you have a young guy in Rob who has all the talent in the world. I'd love to be able to keep them both, but I don't know if there's a way to do that in today's economics of football. We'll try to find a way to do it."

Donahoe found good and bad with the current edition of the Bills

"I like their attitude. I think they have physical toughness. The defense was No. 1 in the league two years ago and I believe fourth (actually third) this year. That's where you start. You win championships with defense, and the defense is very solid here. Offensively, obviously the new coach and myself, and Mr. Wilson have to look at the quarterback situation and figure out what the best thing is to do there. The offensive line has to get better, and the special teams were abysmal."

One of the reasons why Donahoe settled on Buffalo instead of other NFL teams that were interested in him was the location. A couple years ago he could have taken a similar position with Seattle for roughly the same amount, but wanted to remain in the Pittsburgh area. Buffalo fits that qualification as it is relatively close to his home. He also likes the great football atmosphere in Western New York.

"I love the fans. I've been up here a couple times. I love this area. It's blue-collar, it's tough, it's hard nosed, everything you want your football team to be."

Although Donahoe has yet to make one decision, signing or anything else that will shape the Bills in the New Millennium, he has the right attitude. It is one of no-nonsense and a determination to get the job done. He knows the ultimate goal of Wilson and the Bills fans.

"It's a quality organization, and I'm proud to be part of it, and I hope we can take the Buffalo Bills one step further than they've been able to go," Donahoe asserted.

Although he has a huge hole to get the Bills out of, he is the right man to accomplish that. Once that happens, the next priority will be to get the Bills into the Super Bowl again.

Copyright © 2001 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.