According to a Buffalo News report, Darris Kilgour will only be making decisions from behind the bench next season.
Budd Bailey reports that Kilgour has been relieved of his duties as general manager, but will remain on as head coach. The report also indicates that Derek Graham will no longer serve in a position with the team.
This is a huge decision for the Bandits to make. Kilgour has played a major role in he franchise’s impressive run since the early 2000s. His skills as a coach haven’t wavered much, but it seemed as if the burden of doing both jobs was affecting his success rate.
Kilgour stepped down from his duties as GM and coach a couple of season ago, allowing Graham to cover most of the major personnel decisions as the associate GM. However, that seemed like a decision made merely in the title and that Kilgour would certainly remain a major part of the decision making process when it came to drafting, trades and decisions with contracts.
This is a step towards giving the Bandits a clean sweep of sorts. Much like the Sabres, fans have begun to wonder if the message with the Bandits had begun to grow stale. Kilgour has been a fixture behind the bench much like Lindy Ruff. While there is little reason to remove one of the greatest coaches in NLL history, Kilgour will be under a bit more scrutiny from those above him.
As to who may fill the void in the front office is up for debate. There are plenty of strong lacrosse minds out there who would certainly compliment Kilgour’s hard-line coaching style well.
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