Tag: matt smiley

Tyler Bass promises Bills he will ‘keep grinding’ after extension

Even after his extension, Tyler Bass is still just thankful the #Bills took a shot on a small-school kid:

Tyler Bass has come a long, long way.

Summed up, Bass went from a small-school walk-on athlete to the kicker that makes the fourth-most per season in the NFL. That’s what Bass is following his four-year, $21 million extension he signed with the Buffalo Bills.

Following the news, Bass wanted to assure Buffalo of one thing: His walk-on mindset isn’t going anywhere.

“For me, I was a walk-on in college, and that mentality of what I did to earn that, I’m never going to forget that. I’m still going to grind,” he said via video conference. “I think I’m going to grind even more now. It’s just a little bit relieving, you know, you have a little bit of security. But at the end of the day, you still got to work. That’s what got me here, that’s what I’m going keep doing as best I can.”

And that’s likely the exact reason the Bills felt comfortable handing that new deal to him.

Buffalo’s front office has long touted Bass and his journey. He attended Georgia Southern, not exactly a NFL powerhouse school, and was a sixth-round pick of the Bills in 2020.

Last offseason, special teams coordinator Matt Smiley explained how that work Bass has done gives Buffalo’s coaching staff all the confidence in the world in him.

“He came in from a smaller school, was a drafted specialist. He has worked his butt off to keep things in perspective, keep with a routine, keep stacking good days. That’s the most rewarding thing of coaching,” Smiley said.

Perhaps inadvertently, Bass did pull the curtain back a on the way he’s wired: He just landed a large extension for a kicker. Does he want to repay the Bills for the contract?

Well, yes, but that’s not what he referenced.

Bass is still moving forward thinking back to the team that drafted a small-school kid.

“They drafted me and they were a team to take a chance on the kid from Georgia Southern. For me, that meant a lot to me.” he said. “Not only that, I love the culture here. I love the people here. The relationships I have here I’m gonna have for the rest of my life. I know it’s challenging, but I’m excited for the challenge.”

The 26-year-old has made 83 of his 97 career field goal attempts (85.6%) and 156 of his 160 point-after attempts in his career.

In 2022, Bass was 27 of 31 on field goals and made game-winning kicks against the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions.

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Despite coach change, Bills special teams ranked among NFL’s best in 2022

Despite coach change, #Bills special teams ranked among NFL’s best in 2022:

The Buffalo Bills made a controversial coaching change last offseason when the team moved on from Heath Farwell and promoted Matt Smiley to their special teams coordinator role.

While the Bills had a promising special teams rating the prior two years under Farwell, that only continued under Smiley in 2022.

Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings are a comprehensive and well-respected breakdown of that aspect of the NFL game. In Gosselin’s ratings, the league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 categories and assigned points according to their standing. One point is awarded to the best team and 32 points for the worst. Like in golf, the lower the score the better.

In 2022, Gosselin totaled Buffalo at 286 points. That landed the Bills at the fifth-overall spot in his rankings.

This year’s top-five were:

  • 5. Bills: 286
  • 4. Panthers: 277.5
  • 3. Ravens: 272
  • 2. Seahawks: 269.5
  • 1. Texans: 255

In the two years prior, Buffalo still fared well under Farwell. The Bills had back-to-back finishes at No. 8.

Farwell was hired by the Bills in 2019. He was let go after the 2021 playoffs when Buffalo had a weird final kickoff by Tyler Bass which eventually led to the “13 seconds” affair against the Kansas City Chiefs.

In February 2022, Farwell took the Jacksonville Jaguars’ special teams coordinator job. The Jags finished 11th in Gosselin’s rankings (322.5).

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Report: Broncos ‘looked into’ Bills’ special teams coach Matt Smiley

Report: #Broncos ‘looked into’ in #Bills’ special teams coach Matt Smiley:

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and special teams coordinator Heath Farwell went their separate ways this offseason.

That came after the Bills’ final 13 seconds against the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason. Included in there was a gaff, of sorts, when kicker Tyler Bass booted a touchback instead of forcing a return to kill time off the clock.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott made it sound like it was a mutual decision. He said from the combine he was “happy” for Farwell, who now holds the same title with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

There was probably a little more to that story, as there may have been in terms of who was promoted.

Matt Smiley went on to be named to Buffalo’s special teams coordinator. Prior to that he was the team’s assistant special teams coach.

According to The Athletic, the Bills might have done so because they had competition for Smiley’s services. Per their report, the Denver Broncos “looked into” Smiley.

The report does not specifically state what for, or regarding what opening. The Broncos hired Nate Hackett as their head coach this offseason and he was filling out his staff and evidently Smiley’s name came up in some capacity.

Hackett was previously Buffalo’s offensive coordinator, however, he knows Smiley from Jacksonville. The two worked together with the Jaguars in 2015 and 2016.

Regardless, promoting Smiley is probably a good idea. While something clearly went wrong against the Chiefs, Buffalo has had good special teams production in recent seasons.

In Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings, Buffalo has fared well. The last two years saw the Bills rank as the eighth-best special teams unit in the NFL.

Maybe a change was needed… but no reason to go crazy. But the Broncos might’ve also played a bit of a role here, too.

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