Buffalo Bills

Ken Dorsey Could be a Really Solid Option as Bills Offensive Coordinator

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:21 p.m. ET

Fansided, Josh Wilson/FanSided via BuffaLowDown

The Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator position needs to be filled soon, and Ken Dorsey’s familiarity with Sean McDermott, among other things, makes him a good candidate.

The Buffalo Bills crossed off a big thing on their to-do list earlier this week by hiring Sean McDermott to their vacant head coaching position. Right away, McDermott and the Bills also announced the first addition to his staff — Leslie Frazier as the defensive coordinator.

Since McDermott is a former defensive coordinator, and has spent his entire career as an NFL staff member on the defensive side of the ball, the defensive coordinator question was not the big one after McDermott’s hire — it’s the offensive coordinator that’s the big task for the Bills.

It’s pretty important that the Bills get the offensive coordinator position right on the first try. A faulty move in the hire could result in a setback of a few years on the offensive side of the ball, where the Bills have notoriously had their struggles for the last several years.

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Ken Dorsey, currently a quarterback coach for the Carolina Panthers, could be a really solid option for the position.

First mentioned by Buffalo Rumblings, Dorsey is a fairly young coach that could fit in well with the dynamic of the culture McDermott is trying to build in Orchard Park. Dorsey attended the University of Miami and was a quarterback himself, having decent success while attending school. He led Miami to the national championship game, only to fall to Ohio State when he was under center.

After a career that didn’t pan out as Dorsey would have hoped as an NFL player, he was hired as a scout as a scout by the Carolina Panthers in 2011, and then later promoted to be a quarterback coach.

While Dorsey is quite young, he has a lot of quality experience working with good quarterbacks like Cam Newton. While Newton is a great athlete that could make just about any coach look good, having him — a player that led his team to a Super Bowl visit under his watch — on his resume is impressive to say the least.

Additionally, McDermott’s familiarity with Dorsey — as he did work on the same team as him — could be a welcome addition to the Bills locker room. Dorsey has been a name tossed around for offensive coordinator positions not only in the NFL, but also in college. The Tennessee Volunteers fan site Tenn Truth suggested that Dorsey would be a possible offensive coordinator hire for the team.

The biggest thing the Bills need to do this offseason as far as player personnel goes is figure out who will be their man under center. Dorsey is quarterback minded, and will be able to make whatever decision the team makes there work for the offense.

While hiring Dorsey to the offensive coordinator position would be looked at as a risky move for a few reasons — Dorsey is young, unproven as a coordinator, and all around a general risk — the risk could result in a high reward. Dorsey’s experience working with high-level talent — quarterbacks, especially — could lead to an offense that works well for the Bills. As a player who isn’t too far removed from the game, he could relate well to the players, and as long as he doesn’t let that get in the way of being an effective play caller and authoritative position, he could fill in nicely as OC in Buffalo.