BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – First, Ken Whisenhunt, now Ray Horton. The Buffalo Bills’ coaching search stayed in Arizona for at least one more day.
Without providing any details of the interview, the Bills confirmed on their website late Wednesday that they had interviewed Horton, the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator.
Horton has already interviewed twice with the Cardinals to fill their head-coaching vacancy after the team fired Whisenhunt on Monday. And Horton also interviewed with the Cleveland Browns.
Earlier in the day, Horton informed reporters at the Cardinals’ facility that he was scheduled to meet with the Bills.
“I’m excited about the opportunity here, and the fantastic interview I had with Cleveland last night, and am going to try to knock Buffalo’s socks off,” Horton said.
For the Bills, it was their second interview since newly promoted team president Russ Brandon and his front-office brain trust arrived in Arizona on Tuesday. The Bills’ website reported the team had interviewed Whisenhunt.
The Bills are in the midst of their fifth coaching search since 2001 after Chan Gailey was fired on Monday following three consecutive losing seasons.
Horton and Whisenhunt not only coached with the Cardinals, but they also previously coached in Pittsburgh.
That makes them both quite familiar with Bills assistant general manager Doug Whaley, who is a member of the team’s search committee. Whaley, who is being groomed as GM Buddy Nix’s successor, spent nine seasons working as a Steelers scout before joining the Bills three years ago. He is a Pittsburgh native, as well, and played his college ball at Pitt.
Whaley, on Tuesday, spoke highly of both Whisenhunt and Horton.
“We go way back. We’ve won some Super Bowls together, so I have high regard for their coaching acumen,” he said. “I don’t think it will make a decision on if they’re going to be our coach, but I can shed some insight on how they performed when I was with them and as persons.”
Though it’s unclear how many more candidates they have lined up, the Bills aren’t done conducting their search out west.
A person familiar with Mike McCoy’s schedule said the Broncos’ offensive coordinator is set to interview with the Bills in Denver this weekend. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not revealed their list of candidates.
As the AFC’s top seed, the Broncos have this weekend off before opening the playoffs the following week. They’ve allotted time for teams interested in McCoy to interview him in Denver this weekend.
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