By Tim Graham
There's no mourning period when it comes to coaching
vacancies.
Mere hours after the Buffalo Bills fired Chan Gailey, the vacancy was said to be coveted by Lovie Smith, himself fired by the Chicago Bears this morning.
NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported tonight Smith is most interested in pursuing Bills and Arizona Cardinals openings.
Before that report, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah predicted Smith -- almost in a mock draft spirit -- forecasted the coaches who would fill the NFL's seven Black Sunday vacancies. Jeremiah guessed Smith would be Buffalo's next coach.
Jeremiah wrote:
"The Bills spent all that money on defense during the offseason, but the unit proved highly disappointing, ranking 22nd in total defense and 26th in scoring D. Smith can get the most out of those pricey defensive pieces. Ideally, you'd pair Smith with a strong offensive coordinator to get more consistency on that side of the ball as well."
If the Bills have mutual interest, then they could close the deal with Smith sooner than other candidates. The NFL requires clubs to interview at least one minority candidate under the Rooney Rule. The Bills would need to interview only one person if they wanted to hire Smith.
