Adam Schefter at ESPN is reporting that Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey has tabbed George Edwards as his defensive coordinator. The Bills have announced the hire as well.
Roughly a month ago, on January 8, Edwards was named a co-defensive coordinator at the University of Florida after a five-year stint as a linebackers coach with the Miami Dolphins. Less than four weeks later, Edwards will return to the NFL.
Edwards, 43, has coached in the NFL since 1998 with four different teams. Prior to his stay in Miami, Edwards was an assistant defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with Washington before getting promoted to defensive coordinator. He then spent a year as the linebackers coach in Cleveland before heading to Miami. Edwards got his first NFL job from none other than Chan Gailey, who hired him as his linebackers coach in 1998. Edwards spent four seasons in that post.
Prior to his NFL experience, Edwards was the defensive line coach at the University of Georgia, where he coached current Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud. In all, Edwards has 19 years of coaching experience.
Most importantly of all, Buffalo will be running a 3-4 alignment under Edwards, who confirmed the switch to BuffaloBills.com:
"Defensively, we will start from a 3-4 alignment," said Edwards. "But we will do what we feel is best for our players. We are not going to give anything away about exactly what we will do, but personnel will dictate what you can and what you can't do. As far as the initial alignment, the 3-4 is what we will start off with and we will adjust from there.