Haslett Has Great Interest: Jim Haslett told ESPN that he has yet to be contacted by the Bills about their newly opened head coaching job. He said he would have great interest in the job and had lots of good things to say about the organization and the city, calling it a great place to live. Haslett was a star linebacker for the Bills in the late 70s and early 80s. He also coached at UB and his wife is from the area.

Real Reasons For Resignation: In his statement and in Ralph Wilson's comments it would appear family reasons were why Mike Mularkey resigned. As we reported on Wednesday however, that may not be the case. Sources have told ESPN that Mularkey's primary reason for leaving was professional. He didn't feel the organization was setup for winning. He also seemed to be having trouble finding quality assistant coach candidates because he was perceived to be on thin ice.

Mularkey Releases Statement: Although Mike Mularkey did not attend the press conference announcing his resignation, he did release a statement through the Bills. He thanked Ralph Wilson and Tom Donahoe for the initial opportunity to coach in Buffalo. He said he has stepped down for his own personal reasons and in the best interest of his family. He did not reach the decision lightly and said the best interests of his family outweigh the benefits of staying in his current position.

New Coach Needs To Be A Good Teacher: Marv Levy took to the podium after Wilson and joked that he knew it would be exciting when he took the job. He said they threw an all out blitz at them and they have to adjust. He was looking forward to working with Mike and thought he was a better coach then the season they had but they have to move on. Levy doesn't feel it is imperative that a coach has previous experience. The key for a new coach is someone that is a good teacher, a straight shooter, and works well with the entire organization. He said tough times like this come by and they have to regroup and go out and win the next one. Levy has said he's talked to many of the assistant coaches and he knows they want to retain several of them and he thinks they will. They will make decisions in a short amount of time. They will tell all the candidates about the assistants they want to retain and make that clear in the interview process. He does feel there are many good candidates out there. He was peppered with questions about if he wanted to coach. He said they've made the decision when he took the job that he would not coach but never said he wouldn't ever coach again.

Mularkey Officially Out: The Bills held a press conference with Ralph Wilson and Marv Levy to officially announce the resignation of Mike Mularkey as head football coach. Wilson formally informed the media of what they already knew. Mularkey told Wilson on Wednesday after an organization meeting that he was going to resign. Wilson said he was completely surprised by his statement and Mularkey was very firm about it. The former coach told him that the local detractors were troubling him. Mularkey did not say anything has changed in the last week. Wilson told him that he doesn't control the local media and fans and has never tried to. Wilson called Mularkey a good football coach who wanted to move on but he doesn't have anything in mind at this time. Wilson went on to talk about the detractors, saying he had many when he first brought the team to Buffalo. He used the press conference to talk about the many different opinions in today's technology. He knows you can't control it but you just go about and do the best you can. He hopes to win football games for the fans going forward. Wilson denied reports that they tried to change his mind because they knew he was very firm about leaving.

Levy Will Not Coach: Ralph Wilson said absolutely not when asked if Marv Levy would be the coach. He said they are going to start an extensive search for a new coach and it will be exhaustive and they hope to come up with the right man. The owner said he's excited about moving forward and that it was an abrupt setback but they will move forward. The new coach will pick his assistants with help of Levy but Wilson will not pick the coaches. Some of the assistants still on the payroll may remain and they may look at some of them for the head coaching job. He said it would be good to find a coach with previous head coaching experience but it isn't a priority. He doesn't think a coach should micro manage everything. Money will not be a factor in hiring the next coach. He said he didn't know what the coaches on the current staff or the free agents were getting because he delegated that.

Salary Forfeited? Since he is resigning and not being fired Mike Mularkey will have to forfeit some if not all his salary for the remainder of the contract. He was due to make around $1 Million a year for the next three years. The Buffalo News is reporting he won't get any of it. This may give Ralph Wilson the best of both worlds. Speculation said he kept Mularkey on because he didn't want to buy him out of three years, now he doesn't have to.