BillBoard

This is the fifth time the Bills have fired a coach in the middle of the season. None of the previous changes created much of a turnaround.

In 1986, Marv Levy went 2-5 after replacing Hank Bullough. Levy was the only mid-season replacement coach to win his first game, scoring a 16-12 win over Pittsburgh. The players that year were ecstatic to be rid of Bullough and clearly played harder for Levy the rest of the way. That was a rare midseason change, however, in that it was a case where the team made the permanent hire of the man it wanted. Then-GM Bill Polian had his mind set on bringing Levy on board all along.

The year before, Bullough took over for Kay Stephenson and went 2-10. In 1976, Jim Ringo took over for Lou Saban and went 0-9. In 1968, Harvey Johnson took over for Joe Collier and went 1-10-1.

---Mark Gaughan