Bills fire special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley
The decision to fire Smiley comes a little more than a week after head coach Sean McDermott had initially said he planned to keep his special teams coordinator.
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The Buffalo Bills made some news on Super Bowl Sunday.
The team fired special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley, a league source confirmed to The Buffalo News. NFL Network was first to report the move.
Matthew Smiley Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
The decision to fire Smiley comes a little more than a week after coach Sean McDermott had initially said he planned to keep his special teams coordinator on the coaching staff for the 2025 season.
“Matthew has done a nice job,” McDermott said during his end-of-season news conference. “Listen, I know there are plays that have come up and I know he doesn’t feel great about them, nor do I. Those are learning pieces for a coach in his position.”
The Bills ranked in the bottom five of the league in special teams DVOA during the regular season, finishing No. 28, according to FTN Fantasy. In 2023, the Bills finished No. 28 in Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings, which are accepted as the league standard. Gosselin’s 2024 rankings have not yet been published, but it’s been a problem area for the past two seasons.
The Bills had noteworthy, concerning breakdowns on special teams on a fairly routine basis during the 2024 season.
In Week 14 against the Rams, Sam Martin had a punt blocked that was returned for a touchdown. At the end of the game, the Bills had just nine players on the field for the Rams’ final punt – an inexcusable error.
In Week 16, the Patriots were able to execute a fake punt during their first meeting with the Bills.
“Should have never been in punt return,” McDermott said after the game. “We got to do a better job there and making sure we get the right grouping on the field, right there for that situation.”
In the wild-card round of the playoffs, the Broncos successfully executed a fake punt, while in the AFC championship game loss to the Chiefs, Kansas City’s Nikko Remigio had a 41-yard punt return that helped set up a touchdown.
“We’re big as a team, but special teams specifically, on fundamentals,” long snapper Reid Ferguson said the day after the season ended. “Just making sure everybody is doing their 1/11th and taking care of their business, making sure they’re sharp on game day. They get paid, too. Sometimes good players make good plays. I feel like we had some good plays along the season as well. The bad ones obviously get magnified, but a lot of the good ones are out there as well.”
Ferguson, who is the Bills’ longest-tenured player, was then asked if he thought Smiley was the right person to continue in the job.
“We certainly think so,” he said.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass, who had some struggles during the regular season, finished 32nd out of 39 kickers in making 92.2% of his extra points. He was 26th out of 39 in field goal make percentage at 82.8%. He also expressed confidence in Smiley after the season ended.
“He’s unbelievable. Love playing for him. Obviously without him, I don’t know if I’d be where I’m at,” Bass said the day after the loss to the Chiefs. “He’s helped me out a ton. Everyone goes through adversities. I mean, it doesn’t matter who you are. He handled that (expletive) the right way. That’s just who he is as a person.”
McDermott said the team’s injuries, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, impacted the special teams, because players who usually play there were promoted to roles on defense.
“Special teams coaches feel the cumulative effect because the special teams players get slid up into defensive roles and then they are left with what’s left in terms of, ‘How can I formulate a group to go out there and play effectively?’ All that being said, I’m confident that coach Smiley is going to learn from those situations and plays that came up this year,” McDermott said.
Smiley had been with with the Bills since McDermott took over in 2017, serving as an assistant special teams coach from 2017-21 before being promoted to special teams coordinator ahead of the 2022 season following the departure of Heath Farwell.
Cory Harkey remains on staff as the Bills assistant special teams coach, but McDermott now has an important job to fill.
