The Bills appear to be in the market for a new special teams coordinator
The Buffalo Bills and special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley have parted ways, according to multiple reports. Tom Pelissero was on it first.
The #Bills parted ways with special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley, per sources. pic.twitter.com/6tLuuh19Wz
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 9, 2025
Smiley, 46, has been on the Bills’ staff for the duration of head coach Sean McDermott’s tenure. He was hired as an assistant special teams coach by McDermott prior to the 2017 season, a position he held throughout the 2021 season. Buffalo’s special teams coordinator over part of that span was Heath Farwell (2019-2021), who departed the staff following that season to take the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Smiley was promoted in February of 2022 to special teams coordinator upon Farwell’s departure.
Famed columnist Rick Gosselin, whose special teams rankings have long been the gold standard in the league, gave the Bills’ special teams unit favorable marks in Smiley’s first season as coordinator. Buffalo finished fifth in his rankings for the 2022 season. In the last two years, however, those finishes have plummeted. Gosselin had the Bills at No. 28 overall following the 2023 season, and Bill Huber—the man who has taken over for the since-retired Gosselin—ranked Buffalo No. 27 in special teams this season.
Prior to his tenure with the Bills, Smiley had been the Jaguars’ assistant special teams coach from 2013-2016. The only other time he was a team’s head special teams coordinator was in 2006, when he was the special teams coordinator for Dartmouth.
If Buffalo chooses to promote from within, they could promote assistant special teams coach Cory Harkey. The 34-year-old was a tight end with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012-2016. This will be the fourth time that McDermott will search for a new special teams coordinator, as he’s employed Danny Crossman (2017-2018), Farwell, and Smiley in the position.