Buffalo Bills fill two defensive coaching vacancies with internal moves

The Buffalo Bills had openings at linebackers coach and defensive line coach when Eric Washington was traded to the Chicago Bears and Bobby Babich was promoted to defensive coordinator. The group declared on Friday that those openings had been filled internally.

Buffalo said that in 2024, Marcus West would become the defensive line coach and Al Holcomb would become the team’s linebackers coach.

The 53-year-old Holcomb became a senior defensive assistant for the Bills in 2023. Prior to that, he was employed by Sean McDermott with the Carolina Panthers from 2013 until 2016. Holcomb was Carolina’s linebackers coach at the time. Holcomb not only coached linebackers at Carolina but also served as the linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2019. Throughout his career, Holcomb has also held the position of defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and Panthers (interim).

Since 2022, West, 40, has been the Bills’ assistant defensive line coach. After working as Charlotte’s co-defensive coordinator and associate head coach, he signed on with the Bills. West played football professionally for a brief time before deciding to become a coach. He played in the CFL for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2007) and NFL Europe for the Amsterdam Admirals (2007) after being added to the Indianapolis Colts’ offseason roster in 2006.