Special Teams Futility
Head coach Wade Phillips was fired shortly after the season by owner Ralph Wilson. Wilson cited Phillips's refusal to fire special teams coach Ronnie Jones. (Football statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 2000 Bills had the worst special teams unit of any single-season team from 1993–2010.) Said Wilson at the time, "“Buffalo special teams’ record was among the worst in the National Football League last season. ... I felt we needed a change and that my request was reasonable … I did not want to release Wade but his refusal left me with no option.”
Said Football Outsiders of Buffalo's special teams in 2000, "Could special teams possibly be that negative? Oh, yes. They could. The 2000 Buffalo Bills had the worst special teams of any team in any season for which data. I would not be shocked if they had the worst special teams of all time, except maybe for some expansion teams in the sixties and seventies. Everything about special teams was horrible for the Bills that year, but Steve Christie was the biggest black hole among a galaxy of sucking black holes. ... Christie's average kickoff went only 55.6 yards, 7.5 yards less than the league average. And the bad kickoffs didn't just come late in the season in Buffalo's usual snow and wind. ... On the season, 18 of his kickoffs went for 50 yards or less. No other kicker had more than 10 kicks that short. ... Buffalo allowed opponents kick returns worth 22 points more than the league average ... So the average opposing drive after a Buffalo kickoff started at the 37-yard line. Wow."
Buffalo hired Tom Donahoe to become the new general manager the following season. Donahoe hired Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to be the head coach in 2001, a season in which the rebuilding team struggled to a 3–13 record.
Read more about this topic: 2000 Buffalo Bills Season
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