This off-season, the UB football coaching staff underwent a few changes. The Bulls lost their defensive backfield coach but picked up a great replacement with the hiring of longtime pro and college coach Miles Aldridge.
Even with the addition of Aldridge, however, the move that will most likely prove to have the biggest impact on the program is the loss of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Lazor left Buffalo this February for a job in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. He joined head coach Dan Reeves' staff as Offensive Quality Control coach, a position most fans are not too familiar with.
"I'll basically be assisting the offensive coordinator," said Lazor. "I'll be handling the defensive analysis of the teams we're about to play. I'll be in charge of the self-scout, which is the study of our own offensive tendencies and seeing what we do well. I'll also be working with the technology we have for coaching. I'll try to make sure there is a good flow of information."
Lazor, who was the country's youngest offensive coordinator while at Buffalo, will be assisting offensive coordinator Pete Mangurian, who he worked with during his time at his alma mater, Cornell. After spending six years at Cornell and two here in Buffalo, Lazor is just now learning about coaching in the pros.
"I haven't been here very long and I haven't practiced here yet," said Lazor. "But, the football aspect of it is a lot like the football in college. There's the same number of guys on the field and the schemes are generally the same. I think the thing that will take me some time to learn about is free agency and those types of things. There are a lot of terms like franchise tag and transition tag that you don't deal with in college."
In Atlanta, Lazor enters a nice situation for someone looking to break in to the pro ranks. The Falcons already have one of the league's most explosive players in QB Michael Vick. This off-season they traded for a high caliber target for Vick: former Bills wide receiver Peerless Price. Although that could be one of the league's most lethal combinations, Lazor knows that they are not invincible.
"Even when you have explosive players like we have and hope to keep having, you have to be careful," said Lazor. "You still have to be careful because the people you play spend all their time studying you. The better you are the more time they will spend studying you. Even when you have players like we have you will develop tendencies, and no matter how good you are, if they know what you're going to do they'll stop it."
Lazor came to UB as head coach Jim Hofher's original offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach two years ago. He helped the Bulls put together some strong recruiting classes that the team believes will help turn the program around. And, although Hofher and the rest of the staff didn't want to see Lazor go, they believe that the move will benefit both parties.
"Bill came here as an original member of our staff," said Hofher. "He is an excellent coach and he was very well liked by the rest of the staff. We wish him luck with what he is doing. Right now I think that we're doing the right things to fill the void he left."
The Bulls are hoping long time Appalachian State Offensive Coordinator Rob Best, who they introduced as the new quarterbacks coach, can help replace Lazor.
Best comes from an Appalachian State program that has achieved the success UB hopes to one day attain.
In his fourteen seasons as offensive coordinator at Division I-AA powerhouse Appalachian State, his teams failed to finish with a winning record only once. ASU's overall record while Best was running the offense was 115-55.
Over the past 14 years the Mountaineers have won three Southern Conference titles, finished ranked in the top ten nationally on eight occasions, and made ten NCAA playoff appearances - including a current streak of five straight years (1998-2002). Best also coached ten All-Americans and 22 First Team All-Conference players.
"I feel very comfortable with Rob (Best)," said Hofher. "He's a longtime coordinator and has an excellent understanding of the game."
Although Best has the resume for the job, Hofher said he didn't want to place the burden of calling the plays on Best right away. Hofher said he wanted Best to get comfortable and get to know the players first.
"I didn't think hiring a new offensive coordinator from outside the program was a good idea. We have coaches here that know the players and know what we're trying to do. So, for this year at least, I may be calling the plays or maybe I will have someone else on the staff doing so."
The Bulls, who started spring practices Friday, finished second to last in total offense and dead last in rushing offense last season.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
