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Tom Donahoe acknowledged that he made a mistake when he hired Gregg Williams three years ago as the Buffalo Bills' head coach. Now, he's staking his future on Mike Mularkey.
On Wednesday, Donahoe named Mularkey the 13th coach in team history. Donahoe, the team's president and general manager, will officially introduce Mularkey at a news conference scheduled for late Thursday afternoon.
Terms of the deal had not yet been released, and both Donahoe and Mularkey were unavailable for comment until the news conference.
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After announcing that Williams, 17-31 in his three years with Buffalo, wasn't
going to be rehired as the Bills' head coach following a disappointing 6-10
season, Donahoe acknowledged that he needed to do a better job in his coaching
search this time around. Tickets
Because of the admission, speculation grew that Donahoe would tap someone who had previous head coaching experience, something Williams didn't possess at the time of his hire. But after interviewing seven candidates -- including former Bears coach Dick Jauron and former Giants coach Jim Fassel -- Donahoe chose Mularkey, who has been an assistant for 10 years, the last three as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator.
``I'm excited about getting a head coach,'' running back Travis Henry said. ``I'm looking forward to getting the Buffalo Bills back to where they were before, and that's champions.''
Henry was the lone bright spot in an offense that plummeted from being one of the best in 2002 to being one of the league's worst this season.
While Henry rushed for 1,356 yards and 10 touchdowns, Drew Bledsoe's air attack sputtered, finishing with the fifth-worst ranking in the league.
Mularkey's main objective will be fixing the ineffective offense, something he has proven he can do.
After the 2000 season, Mularkey took over for Kevin Gilbride as the Steelers' offensive coordinator, and had the offense ranked in the top five in each of the next two years.
Gilbride, ironically, is the Bills' offensive coordinator and took a lot of heat for his playcalling.
Mularkey rescued struggling quarterback Kordell Stewart in 2001, when he threw 14 touchdown passes and led the Steelers to the AFC championship. He also rejuvenated journeyman quarterback Tommy Maddox's career the following year, when he tossed a career-high 20 touchdown passes as the Steelers advanced to the AFC divisional playoffs.
Buffalo, meanwhile, hasn't qualified for the postseason in four years.
``It's a good thing for both the running game and passing game,'' Henry said of Mularkey's hiring.