Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson has been adamant for some time now that he expects major changes to take place within the organization this off-season. Those efforts were kick started yesterday, when the Bills bumped national scout Buddy Nix up a few rungs to the team’s general manager position.

The previous holder of that title, Russ Brandon, remained with the team as the new CEO, and will oversee all of the team’s operations while allowing Nix and other front office staff to handle the day-to-day football business.

Nix will be thrown into the fire right from the start, with a new head coach to hire and multiple personnel decisions to be made in the off-season, including whether to keep WR Terrell Owens around for another year or not. Nix did not rule out the Bills interim head coach Perry Fewell retaining his position permanently, but seemed to indicate that he would prefer to go in a different direction and find a coach with experience to lead the team into the new decade.

Given Nix’s longstanding friendship with Marty Schottenheimer, many have speculated that Nix would be pushing hard to get the veteran head coach into the fold, but Schottenheimer quelled those rumors late yesterday evening, saying he’s not interested in making a return to the sidelines.

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