Buffalo Bills' new offense still being kept under wraps

Buffalo Bills quarterback Kevin Kolb met with reporters for an introductory press conference on Monday afternoon. If, like me, you were hoping for a bit more insight into the type of offense that Kolb signed on to be a part of under coaches Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett, you, like me, are now fairly disappointed.

In every phase of the game, the Bills have been tight-lipped this off-season about what they plan to do schematically in Marrone's first season as the head coach in Buffalo. Kolb was asked about the offense he'll have an opportunity to run this fall, and chose his words carefully when describing the attack.

"75 to 80 percent of it is all retained information from previous places and coaches I've been with," Kolb said (via WGR 550). "Obviously Coach Hackett, he has a West Coast background with his dad, and so there's some carryover in that regard."

That's confirmation No. 1, and it confirms a long-held assumption: Hackett's offense will be based on West Coast principles. That's not surprising, considering not just Hackett's background, but also Marrone's. When speaking about the retention, Kolb is referring to his four years as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, where now-departed head coach Andy Reid also ran an offense based off of West Coast principles.

Kolb, who referred to the offense as "ever-evolving," had a lot of nice things to say about Hackett, as well.

"I think he's a sharp mind," Kolb said. "The thing that I like, that I've noticed that's different from other places, is he's not totally engrained into doing what he was taught to do. He's always got his eyes open to new ideas, new thoughts - and if you can be proactive in that regard, then you're going to stay ahead of the game."

Kolb also used the word "tempo" during his press conference, lending credence to the thought process that, as he did at Syracuse, Hackett will fold no-huddle elements - popularly referred to as "K-Gun" elements by reporters thanks to Hackett's experience working under Alex Van Pelt - into game plans to keep defenses off balance.

And that's it. That's what we learned about Buffalo's offense today, and it's all stuff that we'd assumed about Hackett's philosophy anyway: West Coast principles, an eye toward the future and another hint at a tempo wrinkle popularized as the return of the K-Gun. Mum's the word at One Bills Drive this off-season; perhaps that's not a bad thing. At least we know that Kolb is looking forward to working within Hackett's attack.

"Some stuff we're going to do offensively is unique," Kolb said, "and it's going to be fun."