Rick Buffington

Richard B. Buffington (born April 16, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. After briefly playing college football at BYU, he played for 17–19 different minor league teams in several leagues. He became a coach afterwards, beginning in 1968 with Bristol Community College. Buffington was a scout and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) in the late 1970s, and was an administrator and coach in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1982 to 1984. From 1988 to 2000, Buffington was a coach for several teams in the Arena Football League (AFL), including serving as head coach for the Albany Firebirds (1990–1993), Connecticut Coyotes, Charlotte Rage (1996), and Florida Bobcats (1998, 2000). He also coached the New Haven Ninjas (2002) and Albany Conquest (2004) in af2, the New England Surge (2007) in the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), and the Boston Blaze (2017) in the Can-Am Indoor Football League.

Early life and playing career Buffington was born on April 16, 1945, in Fall River, Massachusetts. At five years old, he was run over by a car, resulting in two broken legs. When they healed, Buffington "found that his legs were very strong, and that catapulted him to run continuously, and run every day and everywhere." "[The three teams] were all in different leagues, and all three of them didn't have insurance," he later said.

Coaching career Buffington began his coaching career in 1968, as head coach of the Bristol Community College football team in Fall River, Massachusetts. and became Holovak's assistant when the latter was named interim head coach the following season. He also did film work as a defensive assistant and was assistant linebackers coach as well as assistant defensive backs coach from to , before being fired in December 1981.

Buffington was hired by the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League (USFL) at the end of 1982, to serve as special teams and linebackers coach as well as a scout during the season. A spokesperson said he resigned to "pursue other opportunities in professional football."

Buffington was hired by Babe Parilli as defensive coordinator and head scout of the New England Steamrollers, of the newly formed Arena Football League (AFL), in . He followed Parilli to the Denver Dynamite in , staying as defensive coordinator. He coached them to a playoff berth in , where they lost 35–37 in the semifinals to the Detroit Drive. Buffington was re-signed through the season in August 1991. He brought them to the playoffs again in 1992 with a record of 5–5, but the Firebirds lost 45–48 in round one of the playoffs to the Dallas Texans. He was re-signed for the season in October 1992.

In the 1993 season, the Firebirds compiled a 5–7 record, but still managed to secure a playoff spot, where they lost 45–48 to the eventual ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm. He was fired after the season and was replaced by Mike Hohensee. Buffington finished his time at Albany with a 19–21 regular season record, and a 19–24 overall record, having lost all three playoff games in which he coached.

Buffington was among the candidates for the Tampa Bay Storm coaching job for the season. Instead, he received the head coach, director of player personnel and general manager job with the Connecticut Coyotes. He faced off against his former team, the Connecticut Coyotes, twice, and won each time (the first time by a score of 49–31, the second, 51–31). However, the Rage only won five games in the season, finishing 5–9 and out of the playoffs. and compiled a record of 3–11. He returned to coaching for a final time in 2017 with the Boston Blaze of the Can-Am Indoor Football League.

Personal life Buffington worked with comedian Jimmy Durante as part of a summer job in 1964. In 2007, he joined the New England Patriots Alumni Club. Since retiring from coaching, he has participated at speaking events, youth clinics, and charitable functions. An arena football-based video game was developed using his material by EA Sports.