Orchard Park, NY – New Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone added three more assistants to his staff on Thursday in Ike Hilliard (Wide Receivers), John Anselmo (Special Teams Assistant) and Hal Luther (Assistant Strength and Conditioning). Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will serve as the team's quarterbacks coach.
Ike Hilliard (Wide Receivers): Hilliard will enter his third year as an NFL coach and first as wide receivers coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2013. Hilliard, a former 12-year NFL wideout, spent the 2012 season as the wide receivers coach of the Washington Redskins after serving as the assistant wide receivers coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2011. Hilliard's 2012 receiving corps in Washington was the only in the NFL to feature four different wide receivers to each post 500 receiving yards. Hilliard, the seventh-overall draft selection in the 1997 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, played 12 years in the NFL. He spent eight years with New York (1997-2004) and four with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005-08). In 161 games played (106 starts), Hilliard registered 546 receptions for 6,397 yards and 35 touchdowns.
John Anselmo (Special Teams Assistant):Prior to joining the Bills' coaching staff, Anselmo spent four years under head coach Doug Marrone at Syracuse. From 2009-10, he was the program's secondary coach before being elevated to assistant head coach and linebackers coach for the 2011-2012 seasons. Anselmo had two head coaching stints at Nassau Community College that spanned 18 years (1987-94 and 1999-2008). His career record of 152-27 (.804) was the best among active junior college coaches. In his 18 years as the school's head coach, he led the program to 12 Junior College Bowl appearances.* *In between his head coaching position at Nassau Community College, Anselmo was the Georgia Tech secondary coach from 1995-98. Anselmo began his coaching career in 1977 at Nassau Community College as the school's defensive coordinator before being elevated to head coach in 1987.
Hal Luther (Assistant Strength and Conditioning):Luther comes to the Buffalo Bills after spending the previous 13 years at Syracuse University, including 2007-12 as the director of strength and conditioning. He began his Syracuse tenure in 2000 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Luther served as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse from 1996-97 before joining North Carolina State for three years (1998-2000).
