The Buffalo Bills announced Thursday that Scott Berchtold will no longer serve as the team’s senior vice president of communications.
Berchtold, who has been with the Bills for 28 years, functioned as the team’s spokesman, overseeing all media relations efforts for the organization.
The team announced Berchtold will transition into "the role of Special Assistant" as Kenmore native Derek Boyko takes over as the team's new vice president of communications.
A native of Decatur, Ill., Berchtold has 32 years of NFL experience, starting his career in Green Bay before coming to the Bills in 1989 as the manager of media relations. For the past nine seasons, Berchtold has been selected by the league to coordinate the public-relations staff at the Super Bowl.
The Bills’ have taken several black eyes in the public-relations department recently, including a widely mocked media policy that was rolled out before the 2016 season and viewed as overly restrictive. The season-ending press conference of General Manager Doug Whaley in January also was looked at as a disaster from a public-relations standpoint.
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Boyko, a Canisius College graduate, has spent the past 17 years as the Philadelphia Eagles' director of public relations.
“Derek brings a wealth of NFL experience to the Bills organization and will be a very valuable addition as the leader of our communications department,” team president Russ Brandon said in a press release. “On behalf of the Bills organization, I would like to thank Scott for his class and dignity while steering our communications efforts for close to three decades. As we welcome Derek and his successful track record to the organization, we also look forward to the continued benefit of Scott’s experience, as he will oversee a number of important projects in his new position.”
Boyko has served on the public relations staff for four Super Bowls, and helped the Eagles win the Rozelle Award from the Professional Football Writers Association of America in 2002 and 2004.