By Tim Graham
INDIANAPOLIS -- Buffalo Bills General Manager Buddy Nix disputed a claim made by former tight end Pete Metzelaars that the team didn't call him back after inquiring about the offensive-line position under new head coach Doug Marrone.
Nix said he asked Marrone to call each coach individually, and that Marrone followed through with that request.
Nix, speaking at the NFL scouting combine in Lucas Oil Stadium today, said he told Marrone, "At least give them the courtesy of talking to them about [it], and if you've got somebody in mind, and you're not interested in them, tell them. ... And you talk to all of them."
"He talked to all of them," Nix said. "He did what I asked him to do, and that's the way it is."
Metzelaars' statement was paraphrased in a Press Coverage blog Wednesday, but here is the full quote from an interview with me last week:
"I even called about the offensive line job there because I got told [Marrone] was bringing his guy in to coach the tight ends. So I called back about the offensive line job and unfortunately I never got a call back."
Metzelaars coached the Indianapolis Colts' offensive line before joining the Bills as tight ends coach last year.
He also expressed disappointment that his history with the team didn't count with the Bills.
"It's part of the business," said Metzelaars, a tight end on the Bills' four Super Bowl teams. "You know what's going to happen. With Marrone coming in there, he's got all these guys he's worked with and they helped him get to that position. There's loyalty. You understand that.
"I was hoping that with my history with the Bills, someone in the organization would say 'We want to keep this guy around.' But it didn't happen, and that goes with the territory in the coaching world."
tagged
2013 NFL scouting combine | Buddy Nix | Doug Marrone | Pete Metzelaars
