Report: Bills hiring Cory Harkey as assistant special teams coach
The Buffalo Bills have filled their vacant assistant special teams coach position, according to a report.
Per On3Sports, the Bills have tabbed Cory Harkey for the position. Harkey will fill the vacant spot left by Matt Smiley:
The Buffalo Bills are hiring Cory Harkey as assistant special teams coordinator, sources tell @on3sports.
Harkey, a former UCLA and Rams tight end, had been Eddie George’s tight ends coach at Tennessee State.https://t.co/k5bN5NhJoE
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 23, 2022
Earlier this month, Buffalo separated from special teams coordinator Heath Farwell. He went on to take on that same job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Smiley, formerly the team’s assistant special teams coach, was promoted.
That change came after the Bills’ collapse in the final 13 seconds against the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason. Part of that equation were questions surrounding Buffalo’s final kickoff.
Harkey played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams from 2012 to 2016. The 31-year-old was picked up by the Rams as an undrafted player out of UCLA after the 2012 NFL draft.
In his career, Harkey had 27 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns. However, his bigger contributions came via special teams.
In Harkey’s five years in the NFL, four of those saw him play in more than half of the Rams’ special teams snaps each season. In the early days of Pro Football Focus, the analytics named him an All-Pro special teamer in 2014.
Harkey landed on injured reserve in December of 2016 due to a triceps injury. He was a final roster cut at the end 2017’s training camp which was his final spell in the NFL as a player.
Since 2019, Harkey has been a college tight ends coach. His most-recent stint was at Tennessee State on Eddie George’s staff in 2021.
