1986 Buffalo Bills

1986 Buffalo Bills season
Head Coach	Hank Bullough (2-7) Marv Levy (2-5)
Home Field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	4-12
Place	4th in AFC East
Playoff Finish	Did Not Qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1985	1987

The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the 27th season for the club and its 17th in the National Football League (NFL).

Although the Bills were only 2–6 at the midway point of the season, their games were much more competitive than in years past. (Only two of their losses in the first eight games were by more than a touchdown.) Still, after a 6-point Week Nine loss to Tampa Bay, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy from outside the organization, an unusual mid-season tactic. (Levy had been out of coaching since being the head man with the USFL's Chicago Blitz in 1984.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh in Week Ten, and one more game against Kansas City in Week Thirteen, finishing with a 2–5 record in his first half-season as head coach.

Offseason

At the end of the 1985 season, the Bills' future was in serious jeopardy; two consecutive seasons in which the team had finished 2–14 had driven attendance at Rich Stadium to less than 30,000 fans per game. 1985 first overall draft pick Bruce Smith, while he had a respectable rookie season, underperformed compared to expectations and was admittedly not putting his whole heart into the game of football. Quarterback Jim Kelly, whom the team had drafted in the first round of the 1983 draft as their franchise quarterback of the future, still refused to play in Buffalo and was prepared to play the 1986 season as a member of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League; the Generals' soon-to-be-displaced quarterback, Doug Flutie, who would become a Bill much later in his career, also rejected the team's overtures and stayed in the USFL. These rejections forced the Bills to sign Art Schlichter, a notorious compulsive gambler who had flamed out with the Indianapolis Colts, as their backup plan; Schlichter was to compete with Frank Reich, whom the Bills drafted the previous year, for the starting position.

Buffalo's fortunes underwent a drastic improvement before the season. On July 29, 1986, the USFL received only a nominal judgment in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, leaving the league without much-needed capital and forcing the end of its operations. With no other options, Kelly then signed with the Bills amid much fanfare, and Schlichter was released. The signing (along with those of fellow USFL refugees Ray Bentley and Kent Hull) doubled the team's home attendance.

NFL draft

• Main article: 1986 NFL draft

University of Iowa running back Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons. Vanderbilt's Will Wolford played offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1992. Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a special teams star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283. Tight end Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns.

1986 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	16	Ronnie Harmon *	RB	Iowa
1	20	Will Wolford *	OT	Vanderbilt
3	77	Leonard Burton	C	South Carolina
5	111	Carl Byrum	RB	Mississippi Valley State
7	168	Bob Williams	TE	Penn State
7	178	Mark Pike	LB	Georgia Tech
7	180	Butch Rolle	TE	Michigan State
8	202	Tony Furjanic	LB	Notre Dame
9	222	Reggie Bynum	WR	Oregon State
10	251	Guy Tefatiller	DT	Illinois
11	278	Tony Garbarczyk	DT	Wake Forest
11	282	Billy Witt	DE	North Alabama
12	313	Brian McClure	QB	Bowling Green
12	331	Derek Christian	LB	West Virginia
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel=

Staff/Coaches

1986 Buffalo Bills roster

Front Office' President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Vice President of Football Operations – Hank Bullough Director of Player Personnel – Norm Pollom Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Bob Ferguson Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Jim Valek Coaching Staff Head Coach – Hank Bullough Intetrim Head Coach - Marv Levy Offensive coches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Bob Leahy Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Joe Daniels Tight Ends – Joe Faragalli Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Herb Paterra Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Outside Linebackers – Ardell Wiegandt Defensive Backfield – Dick Moseley 'Special Teams Special Teams – Elijah Pitts Strength & Conitioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Roster

1986 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks 12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich Running Backs 28 Greg Bell 35 Carl Byrum FB 33 Ronnie Harmon 42 Ricky Moore 40 Robb Riddick 49 Bruce King 34 Gary Wilkins RB/TE Wide Receivers 80 Jerry Butler 83 Andre Reed 89 Steve Tasker 82 Eric Richardson 85 Chris Burkett 86 Jimmy Teal 89 Walter Broughton Tight Ends 88 Pete Metzelaars 87 Butch Rolle 84 Don Kern		Offensive Linemen 51 Jim Ritcher G 53 Will Grant C 62 Mark Traynowicz T 65 Tim Vogler G 70 Joe Devlin T 63 Justin Cross T 67 Kent HullC 71 Dale Hellestrae C 73 Will Wolford T 72 Ken Jones T Defensive Linemen 78 Bruce Smith DE 74 Don Smith DT 95 Sean McNanie DE 76 Fred Smerlas DT 79 Dean Prater DE 68 Jerry Boyarsky NT 68 Mark Catano NT 75 Mike Hamby DE		Linebackers 58 George Cumby ILB 53 Tony Fujanic MLB 90 Steve Maidlow 54 Eugene Marve ILB 56 Darryl Talley OLB 57 Lucius Sanford OLB 99 Hal Garner 50 Ray Bentley ILB Defensive Backs 45 Dwight Drane 22 Steve Freeman FS 25 Rod Hill DB 26 Charles Romes CB 28 Ron Pitts CB		Defensive Backs (cont'd) 29 Mario Clark CB 23 Jim Perryman 29 Derrick Burroughs CB 36 Rodney Bellinger DB 43 Martin Bayless 23 Kevin Williams FS 48 Lawrence Johnson DB Special Teams 11 Scott Norwood K 4 John Kidd P
* Note: Rookies in italics * IR-On Injured reserve

External inks

• 1986 Biuffalo Bills season article at Wikipedia