Charles Kenneth "Buddy" Nix (born December 6, 1939) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and executive. He was the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 2009 to 2013. Nix was a scout for the Bills from 1993 to 2000. He joined

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer *John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

and

A. J. Smith Albert J. Smith (born February 28, 1949) is a former American football player, coach, scout, and executive. He served as a part-time scout for several NFL and USFL teams before joining the Buffalo Bills in 1986, serving as a scout and executive ...

with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

from 2001 to 2008 and returned to the Bills in 2009.

Early years

Nix was born in

Carbon Hill, Alabama Carbon Hill is a city in Walker County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in February 1891. At the 2010 census the population was 2,021, down from 2,071 in 2000. History About 310 million years ago, Carbon Hill was located in a swampy area ...

, where he later attended Talladega High School and played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. Nix attended Livingston University (now the

University of West Alabama The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston F ...

) in

Livingston, Alabama Livingston is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, Alabama, United States and the home of the University of West Alabama. By an act of the state legislature, it was incorporated on January 10, 1835. At the 2010 census the population w ...

, playing fullback on its football team.

Coaching career

Nix was head coach at Eufaula High School in

Eufaula, Alabama Eufaula is the largest city in Barbour County, Alabama, Barbour County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census the city's population was 13,137. History The site along the Chattahoochee River that is now moder ...

, leading the Tigers to their first

Border Conference The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 season. ...

championship in 1966.

Chattanooga

Nix had a successful college football coaching career at the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

. He was responsible for recruiting star wide receiver

Terrell Owens Terrell Eldorado Owens (; born December 7, 1973), nicknamed T.O., is an American football wide receiver for the Knights of Degen of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. Regar ...

Administrative career

Buffalo Bills

Nix was a regional scout under

from 1993 to 2000 for the

, specializing in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

San Diego Chargers

Nix left Buffalo with Butler and

after the 2000 season. He was initially the Director of Pro Player Personnel (2000–2001), but after Butler died, Smith was promoted to general manager, and Nix to assistant general manager. Nix's job with the

was to oversee both professional and college scouting and to be one of the main decision makers in each

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. Nix was a major reason the Chargers turned around from a losing football team to a rebuilt, winning team. In 2004, three players Nix drafted were selected to the

2005 Pro Bowl The 2005 Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2004 season. The game was played February 13, 2005, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was AFC 38 – NFC 27. The most valuable player was Peyton Manning of the Colts ...

. In 2005, six players Nix drafted were selected to the

2006 Pro Bowl The 2006 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2005 season. The game was played on February 12, 2006, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. It marked the 27th consecutive time that the National Football League's all-s ...

. In 2006, eleven players Nix drafted were selected to the

2007 Pro Bowl The 2007 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2006 season. The game took place on February 10, 2007, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was held on a Saturday instead of the usual Sunday after the Super B ...

. In 2007, eight players Nix drafted were selected to the

2008 Pro Bowl The 2008 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2007 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game was televised in the United States by Fox and began shortly after 11:40am l ...

. The Chargers won four of the last five

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

titles with Nix as Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel, in charge of college scouting and instrumental to the decision making process of their NFL drafts.

Buffalo Bills

Nix was hired as a National Scout for the

on January 26, 2009. He was named General Manager of the

on December 31, 2009, after

Russ Brandon Russ Brandon (born June 1967) is an American sports executive, and current President of the XFL. Brandon is best known for his 21-year tenure in the front office of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. Career Early career Brandon ...

was promoted to CEO. He extended the contract of running back Fred Jackson before Jackson was allowed to hit free agency. He also extended quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

's contract. This cleared the way for him to work to re-sign wide receiver

Stevie Johnson Steven John Johnson Jr. (born July 22, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Johnson was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Dra ...

once he hit free agency and then work to improve his defense by adding

Mario Williams Mario Jerrel Williams (born January 31, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for North Carolina State University, and was selected first overall by the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft. A four-time ...

. On May 13, 2013 the Bills announced that Nix would step away from his role as GM and transition to special assistant.

Personal life

Nix has three children: Steve (wife: Sherry) and Stan (wife: Holli), and Stacey (husband: Alan). Nix also has six grandchildren: Hope, Ana, Tyler, Dakota, Sawyer and Tucker, and he has three step-grandchildren: Macaela, Haydn, and Jake. His wife is Diann Abernathy of

Lafayette, Alabama LaFayette ( , ) is the county seat of Chambers County, Alabama, United States, northwest of Columbus, Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 3,003. History Chambers County was formed in 1832. The newly elected county of ...

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Buddy 1939 births Living people American football fullbacks American football linebackers Auburn Tigers football coaches Buffalo Bills executives Buffalo Bills scouts Carson–Newman Eagles football coaches Chattanooga Mocs football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches San Diego Chargers executives Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches West Alabama Tigers football coaches West Alabama Tigers football players National Football League general managers High school football coaches in Alabama High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Carbon Hill, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama