Bills Fire Coach After Divisional Round Loss

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Despite entering the year with massive expectations, things panned out the way they usually do for the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo will go another year without that coveted Super Bowl victory as the 63-year drought continues.

On the heels of this stinging loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo's front office is opting for a significant change to the coaching staff. The team fired safeties coach Jim Salgado on Thursday.

Salgao has been a mainstay on head coach Sean McDermott's staff since 2017, when he took the Bills' lead job. He operated as the nickels coach in 2020 and 2021 before a promotion to safeties coach this past season.

Buffalo's defense, particularly the secondary, took a massive step back in 2022. While injuries to Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and then Damar Hamlin played a major role, the Bills secondary went from allowing the fewest passing yards in 2021 to ranking just No. 15 this year.

Led by defensive coordinator Lezlie Frazier, Buffalo is known for their unique ability to utilize the safety position in a variety of formats. This philosophy is more difficult to pull off when starters Hyde and Poyer are not on the field, but Frazier relies on the safeties to defend every type of scheme (whether that's man coverage, deep zones, or pulling them up to defend the run).

It will be interesting to see if Salgado is the lone scape goat for Buffalo's disappointing finish. Frazier's name has also circulated as on the hot-seat after another early playoff exit.

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