Doug Marrone's Departure Leaves Bills Franchise Directionless

Just three days ago, the Buffalo Bills had two reasons to celebrate. A 17-9 victory over the New England Patriots marked the Bills' first win at Gillette Stadium since it was opened in 2002 and also marked their first winning season in a decade.

Yet, just north of 72 hours after accomplishing those feats, the Bills are completely without direction for the future following two straight gut-punches with quarterback Kyle Orton retiring and now head coach Doug Marrone opting out of his contract.

The Bills made the move official in an announcement via their Twitter feed:

The statement from owner Terry Pegula is hopeful yet simultaneously despondent:

"

We will now begin the important process of conducting a thorough search for a new head coach as we continue to strive to reach our goal of returning to the playoffs and bringing a championship to Buffalo for our fans.

"

The Pegulas had better hope the purchase of the Bills franchise came with a compass. 

Not surprisingly, Bills players are more than a little upset about Marrone's decision:

They have a right to be angry. The Bills went from a team taking small steps forward to one that seems destined to take a giant step back in 2015. They have no head coach, no quarterback and no first-round pick. 

And no direction.

Sure, former starting quarterback and first-round pick EJ Manuel is still on the roster, but that's hardly any comfort to Bills fans who just heard general manager Doug Whaley tell media they could "assign blame wherever you want" for the selection of Manuel.  

Who knows if the rest of the coaching staff will stick around either. Some of them could follow Marrone to his next stop, wherever that may be. Others (namely defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz) could be up for one of the head coaching vacancies available in the league.

But not all is lost.

Year	2013	Rank	2014	Rank
Pts/gm.	24.3	20	18.1	4
Yds/gm.	333.4	10	312.2	4
Turnovers/gm	1.9	6	1.9	3
1st downs/gm	19.3	12	18.9	5
Sacks/gm	3.6	2	3.4	1

The Bills have a young, talented defense that features one of the best pass-rushing D-lines in football: defensive ends Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes (though he's a free agent), who are bookends around defensive tackles Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus. For the second straight year, the Bills have three defenders with 10 sacks or more on the season. 

They also have a talented group of skill-position players, with wide receivers Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Chris Hogan, tight end Scott Chandler and running backs Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller (if Spiller is re-signed this offseason).

In that sense, the next head coach—whoever that may be—will have some semblance of a nucleus to build around. But who knows which pieces will be seen as fits for the new system that is installed by the new head coach on both offense and defense.

Presumably, those systems will fit Whaley's chosen personnel, as he will probably have a hand in selecting the next head coach.

Who knows who that will be, but Bob Glauber of Newsday already has one idea:

There are plenty of candidates: Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, or perhaps they could even elevate Schwartz to the head coaching job.

The names will come to light in the coming days as the Bills begin their search for the next leader of the franchise.

For now, the Bills and their fans can't help but wonder whether or when their franchise will get back on a positive track again. Marrone had them headed in that direction, but in his absence, the Bills must find a new direction and hope it's the right one.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.

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