Special Teams Changes Are A Step In the Right Direction For Predictable Bills
Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Despite receiving a vote of confidence last week from Sean McDermott, Matthew Smiley was given his pink slip out of Buffalo. Enter Chris Tabor from the Carolina Panthers.
The Buffalo Bills have fired Special Teams coordinator Matthew Smiley, per @TomPelissero
Smiley has been with the organization since 2017 and became the special team's coordinator in 2022. pic.twitter.com/uf9QZSH9TK
— SportsBruiserz (@SportsBruiserz) February 9, 2025
Buffalo’s special teams struggled from the get-go in 2024, as they allowed the NFL’s first kickoff return touchdown of 2024 when DeeJay Dallas made a house call in Week 1.
DeeJay Dallas TO THE HOUSE!!!!
— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) September 8, 2024
Smiley rose to his position via an in-house promotion several years ago, and has overseen some major collapses on special teams in the last calendar year. The full list of mishaps is staggering: Dallas’ return TD, Tyler Bass’ missed field goal in the 2023 Divisional Round, an ill-advised fake punt attempt by Damar Hamlin in that very same quarter, having fake punts converted by both the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos this season, and giving up a blocked punt touchdown against the Rams. On top of all of that, Nikko Remigio gave Kansas City an easy touchdown before halftime with a 41-yard punt return in the AFC Championship Game.
Add Tyler Bass’ consistency issues and the drastic regression of the unit as a whole on top of that mess, axing Smiley and quickly scooping up one of the NFL’s most respected special teams coaches was a no-brainer.
Chris Tabor is 53 years old with over 30 years of coaching experience, 16 at the NFL level. I like this hire.#BillsMafia https://t.co/HzUuOMQ3uw
— Kevin Siracuse (@kevin_siracuse) February 11, 2025
The change is a step in the right direction in the Bills moving on from their, at times, predictable ways. Smiley was a coach who had only four years of NFL experience prior to joining the Bills’ organization, all as an Assistant Special Teams Coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Smiley never seemed to have his team prepared for anything other than the status quo, even in the wake of Sean McDermott warning him otherwise, to no avail.
Tabor, on the other hand, has thirteen seasons of experience as Special Teams Coordinator, and a well-regarded one at that, with the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and Panthers. Just a season ago, he was voted the second-best special teams coordinator in a survey conducted by the NFLPA.
When he was hired in Carolina back in 2022, the Charlotte Observer described him as an intense coach on the field: “Tabor is calm and soft-spoken at the news conference podium, but he’s often the loudest coach at Panthers practice, and even at times runs with the kicking team during kickoff return ‘walk-throughs’ to ensure the operation is working smoothly.”
These qualities even necessitated Carolina to make Tabor their interim head coach after the firing of head coach (and former Bills’ QB!) Frank Reich midway through the 2023 season. Though his tenure only resulted in a 1-5 record, it was with a desolate team that was in the very beginning stages of their rebuild. Having the ultra-experienced Tabor should give McDermott one less thing to worry about, giving the coach greater ability to focus his in-game decisions, which have been too vanilla at times himself.
“I’m very familiar with Coach Tabor,” said Packers Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia. “He’s been known throughout the league for a long time as a coach that players love to play for, his units play extremely hard right now… They’re explosive in the kick return game. And, you know, they’ve covered some kicks this year that they’re a physical, fast bunch… They really enjoy playing for him.”
In a sport where special teams are consistently the deciding factor, Tabor’s wealth of experience and impeccable resume will prove invaluable for Buffalo, where he will get to be at the helm of a perennial contender for the first time in his career. Tabor, who spent 2022 and 2023 seasons coaching fake punt connoisseur Johnny Hekker before taking 2024 off from coaching, is more than prepared for anything thrown at him.
“Explosive” is also a very intriguing trait to bring to the table. The Bills have a lot of explosiveness in Josh Allen and James Cook, but precious little elsewhere on the roster, at least as of now. And on special teams, as we’ve detailed, all the explosive plays have gone the other way. If Tabor, who has coached legends like Devin Hester and Josh Cribbs, can offer more than a fresh start and instead inject some adrenaline into the special teams, it can only help give the Bills an X-factor outside of Allen.
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