The fact that Buffalo is currently the only available head coaching gig in the league probably has a great deal to do with it. The Bills currently have the luxury of taking their time to pursue whoever they'd like because they have no competition. Rumor has it that the Raiders will be firing Tom Cable sooner rather than later, but Oakland and working for Al Davis might be one of the only jobs less desirable than Buffalo at this point. With the quick transitions of Mike Shanahan in Washington and Pete Carroll in Seattle, the Bills no longer have to deal with those spots looking like a better choice than theirs. Thus far, only 2 candidates are known to have had actual interviews for the position, those being former interim head coach Perry Fewell along with current Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Fewell was pretty clearly not going to get the job, but it was still beneficial to both the organization as well as the man himself to interview for it just the same. Frazier on the other hand seems to be the front-runner so far. That could very well be due to a lack of competition however.

It seems as though multiple possible candidates have actually declined to be interviewed for the job. This is almost a mind boggling situation really. How bad must the Bills organization look in the eyes of others around the league if assistants aren't even willing to interview for a head coaching vacancy? The latest addition to this list is Russ Grimm. The offensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals reportedly will not accept an invitation extended by the Bills, though it is unclear if it's simply because it's Buffalo offering or if he has decided he isn't ready to take on the role of head coach quite yet. Either way, it looks bad for Buffalo. The Bills have also contacted the Jets about interviewing their offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. With the Jets still involved in the playoffs, finding a good time for an interview with him would be tricky. Again, this is one benefit of the Bills having no direct competition at the moment.

I would be remiss if I didn't of course mention the big fish in this competition however. It's far from a secret that both the Bills, and more obviously, Buffalo fans, are extremely interested and coaxing Bill Cowher out of retirement. Cowher had a long and successful campaign at the helm of the Steelers and has been out of the coaching game for the past 3 seasons. He currently can be found manning a spot on the CBS NFL studio show and has remained rather tight lipped on the situation. It has been reported that the Bills made contact with Cowher to discuss their interest in bringing him to Buffalo, but the level of reciprocation has been very unclear. Rumors have ranged from Cowher having a second "secret" meeting with the Bills in Orchard Park to several noted NFL media types saying Cowher absolutely will not be the next coach of the Bills. It is clear that Cowher has the upper hand in this situation as he has a comfortable job and there is no immediate need for him to return to the sidelines, the demand for his services will remain for at least a few more years. The interesting part in all of this is the silence from the actual parties involved. Buffalo has said little more than that they made contact with him, and owner Ralph Wilson went so far as to say that he had no idea what's Cowher's interest level really was. For his part, Cowher isn't speaking either. He has thus far declined to comment on his intentions not only for Buffalo, but for a return to coaching in general. Wouldn't he just come out and say so if he had no desire to coach in Buffalo? Well, perhaps not. The possibility remains that he is simply trying to leverage himself into the best possible position for any other offers that might come along. Once again, with only one available choice on the market, there is no need from his point of view to rush to a decision.

Clearly Bills fans are incredibly anxious for a result at this point. A decade mired in mediocrity and little visible hope of a return to the glory of four straight Super Bowls in sight have left fans incredibly discouraged, and rightfully so. The question that needs to be asked however, is does it really matter who the choice is at this point? It could easily be argued that with the current state of the Bills, failure is the most obvious outcome. There are some fans out there that are still willing to give the next hot commodity coordinator a chance to prove himself at the next level and hope for the best. There are far more that seem willing to settle for nothing less than a man with real experience and a proven track record. With names like Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey in the Bills' recent past, who can really blame them? At the end of the day though, owning Super Bowl championships are simply an indicator of past performance and not a guarantee of future success.

It matters for another reason though. For several years now, there has been an ever growing consensus that owner Ralph Wilson has been unwilling to spend the money necessary to turn the franchise around. Now, there are of course counters to that argument like the fact that Daniel Snyder spends money like he's playing Monopoly in Washington and has nothing to show for it, or the fact that Ralph has at times seemed willing to spend cash in the free agency market and the team has just failed miserably with their decisions. However, with Bills fans in their darkest hour in a very long time, if Wilson were to spend the large amount of money necessary to land somebody the caliber of Bill Cowher, it would at least be a sign of good faith towards the fan base. At least they might believe he is really trying this time.

Without delving too deep into the subject, suffice it to say that the Bills could gain a lot with their fans by putting on the full court press. The secrecy and lack of discussion emanating from One Bills Drive is doing absolutely nothing to quell the ever growing sentiment amongst Bills fans that Mr. Wilson just doesn't truly care about the team or its fans. While they may not land the man they and the fans are after, the least they could do is prove they're trying. In the end, a large portion of the fan base will still be upset with any result short of landing the "big one", but winning back a few would be better than losing them all.