Two down, five to go.
Doug Marrone became the second coach scooped up by an NFL team Monday, hired by the Buffalo Bills. The move leaves five teams still searching for replacements for coaches who were fired a week ago _ the day after the regular season ended.
Andy Reid, let go by the Philadelphia Eagles after 14 seasons, was the first to find a new job when he signed a five-year contract to coach the Kansas City Chiefs over the weekend.
Still looking for coaches are the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers.
Marrone arrives in Buffalo after three seasons as the coach at Syracuse. The 48-year-old New Yorker takes over for Chan Gailey, who was fired after three losing seasons. Marrone helped restore the Orange to bowl status, but has a tougher job with the Bills _ ending a 13-year postseason drought.
Reid’s task is formidable as well. The Chiefs fired Romeo Crennel after one 2-14 season, but Kansas City has five Pro Bowl players and owns the No. 1 pick in the April draft.
Reid guided the Eagles to the playoffs nine times, to the NFC title game five times and to the Super Bowl once.
“The Chiefs have always had a passionate fan base and I’m looking forward to Sundays at Arrowhead Stadium,” Reid said Monday at a news conference in Kansas City. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for next season, and we are going to get started immediately.”
As for the other coaching searches:
_ The Cardinals have interviewed their defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. Other candidates include Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
_ The Bears are looking at close to 10 candidates. Among them are McCoy, Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman, offensive coordinators Rick Dennison (Texans), Bruce Arians (Colts), Mike Sullivan (Bucs), Tom Clements (Packers), and Darrell Bevell (Seahawks).
_ The Browns have “rebooted” their search now that Chip Kelly is staying at Oregon. Candidates include Horton, fired Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, Arians and Trestman.
_ The Eagles were looking at Kelly, too, but now that he’s out of the mix, top candidates include McCoy, Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, and Arians. Other possibilities include Gruden, Falcons defensive coordinators Mike Nolan, 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo.
_ The Chargers likely won’t hire a coach until they settle on a general manager, although Arians is considered a coaching contender. GM candidates include Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye and Colts vice president of football operations Tom Telesco.
Other teams looking for general managers are the Cardinals, Panthers, Browns, Jaguars, Chiefs and Jets.
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