Buffalo Bills coach Wade Phillips was fired Sunday by owner Ralph Wilson, ESPN and CNNSI reported on their Web sites.
Phillips’ reluctance to fire some of his assistant coaches apparently led to his dismissal, ESPN reported. CNNSI sited an NFL source and said the team was expected to hire Tom Donahoe as director of football operations this week. Donahoe reportedly wants to hire a new coach.
A Bills spokesman said Sunday night the team had no comment.
Phillips and Wilson talked by phone over the weekend about Wilson’s desire to change some assistant coaches. With Phillips reluctant to make changes, plus his being uncomfortable entering the 2001 season as a lame-duck coach with only one year left on his contract, Wilson decided to fire him, according to ESPN.
Among the assistant coaches whose jobs are on the line, and whom Phillips wanted to keep, were offensive coordinator Joe Pendry, special-teams coach Ronnie Jones and offensive line coach Carl Mauck.
Phillips had a 29-21 record in three seasons as Bills coach, 8-8 this season. He was 0-2 in playoff games.
Buffalo finished 8-8 this season, enduring its first four-game losing streak since 1985. Longtime General Manager John Butler was fired Dec. 19 for in essence refusing Wilson’s three-year, $3 million contract extension.
Hatley going? The Bears’ personnel vice president, Mark Hatley, is expected to join the Washington Redskins after the April draft, the Washington Times reported Monday.
Hatley, who denied interest last week in a job with the Redskins, would report to Marty Schottenheimer, new Washington coach and director of football operations. Hatley and Schottenheimer worked together with the Kansas City Chiefs before Hatley left to become player personnel vice president of the Bears in 1997.
Hatley signed a three-year contract extension last January, but insiders do not expect him to stay for the duration of the contract.
Wooing Sanders: Matt Millen, who is expected to soon accept an offer to become president and general manager of the Detroit Lions, would try to persuade retired running back Barry Sanders to return, the Sunday Detroit News reported.
“Any football guy in the country would be crazy if he didn’t (contact Sanders),” Millen said. “Barry’s a great player. They only made one of him.”
Before the start of training camp in 1998, Sanders retired unexpectedly after 10 NFL seasons, all with the Lions. He had 15,269 rushing yards, the most in franchise history and No. 2 in NFL history at the time behind Walter Payton.
Intriguing matchups: A matchup of the top-ranked rushing offense and defense in the AFC title game will follow an NFC championship featuring two surprise teams Sunday.
The Baltimore Ravens play at Oakland for the AFC crown. The Raiders haven’t been this far since the 1990 season.
The NFC matchup has Minnesota, which appeared to be in a rebuilding mode when the season began, at the New York Giants, also a long shot before the season.
Getting to the Super Bowl as a wild card no longer is farfetched, but the Ravens (14-4) must do more offensively, protect their punter better and remain staunch on defense against the Raiders (13-4).
Next up is the balanced Oakland attack, which will test Baltimore’s skill against the rush with halfback Tyrone Wheatley and quarterback Rich Gannon, who is terrific at escaping pressure. The Raiders led the league in rushing and the Ravens were No. 1 against it.
“What can you say about the Baltimore Ravens’ defense?” Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. “To break an NFL record in terms of points yielded, that’s a great accomplishment.”
Expect more out of Oakland’s receivers, led by Tim Brown, and its kicking game than Tennessee managed.
“This is a new challenge for us,” said safety Rod Woodson, a veteran of AFC championship games while with Pittsburgh. “They have the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL. It seems we have three weeks of challenges.”
The Vikings earned their spot in the NFC title game thanks to their offensive strengths–playmakers Randy Moss and Cris Carter catching passes from Daunte Culpepper, plus Robert Smith running behind a rebuilt but solid blocking unit.
They received somewhat unexpected help from a maligned defense that ranked 28th overall. New Orleans did little with the ball Saturday.
“You don’t win 11 games with just an offense,” Carter said.
That defense will need to shut down New York’s running game, particularly outside threat Tiki Barber. Then the Vikings (12-5) can turn to their powerful offense, with Culpepper, basically a rookie, throwing to Moss and Carter.
Gailey staying: Chan Gailey, the offensive coordinator who revamped Miami’s attack in the wake of Dan Marino’s retirement, will remain with the team, coach Dave Wannstedt said Sunday. A two-year deal is in the works, Wannstedt said.
