Wilson could be ready to rip apart Bills

From combined dispatches

Firing coach Dick Jauron was merely the start of a major overhaul Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson is prepared to conduct this offseason in order to make his team a contender again.

Outlining his plans in a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Wilson said he’s open to going after a high-profile coach, is willing to hire a general manager with a football background and warned that no position on his team is safe.

“I tell you, we have a lot of work to do,” Wilson said from his home in suburban Detroit. “We’ve got to revamp and take a look at the whole operation, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

A thorough evaluation of the entire organization will begin at the end of the season, he said.

“We’re going to sit down and see where we stand, and I hate to use the term, but then we’re going to go forward,” Wilson said in his first extensive interview since Jauron was fired Tuesday and replaced by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who will finish the season as interim coach.

The Bills (3-6), who play at Jacksonville on Sunday, have been going backward for much of this decade and are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a 10th straight year.

That’s not how Wilson was expecting to celebrate the franchise’s 50th season and a year in which he and former star defensive end Bruce Smith were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Wilson’s intention to revamp his front office could lead to the team’s first major restructuring since 2006, when he fired team president Tom Donahoe. Wilson then reclaimed the president’s title, appointed Russ Brandon, the team’s marketing chief, as chief operating officer, and brought in Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy to serve as general manager.

VIKINGS: Minnesota signed coach Brad Childress to a contract extension.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But ESPN.com reported the extension would keep Childress in Minnesota through the 2013 season.

Childress was hired in 2006 by owner Zygi Wilf and is in the fourth year of a five-year, $10 million deal. The Vikings have improved each year under his watch. They went 6-10 in 2006, 8-8 in 2007 and 10-6 with an NFC North title last season.

GIANTS: After missing the first nine games of the season with a severe hamstring strain, cornerback Aaron Ross is poised to make his 2009 debut Sunday against Atlanta.

Ross continued to practice at full speed Thursday, his third practice since returning to action. While the coaching staff has not made any determination about Ross’ playing status or whether he will be in the starting lineup, Ross just wants to be playing again.

OBAMA: President Obama will appear with NFL players Drew Brees, Troy Polamalu and DeMarcus Ware in a public service announcement that will air during the league’s Thanksgiving games.

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