What a team and what a time of year. Usually, in addition to getting ready to greet the new year, Bills fans are in damage assessment mode: what player/coach/GM/president/owner is at fault for this year’s failure and do we get them out?
This year, it’s a strange time. There are multiple factors leading to the decline of the team over the 2016 season and because of that – the nuclear option has been suggested. Our staff chatted about the options previously – but this time I wanted to be a bit more specific – namely with regards to coach and GM. Their responses are below.
I’d like to also take the time before the year is out to thank these folks for their work this year. Without them this blog would just be Joe and I arguing over which Game of Thrones character accurately depicts Bills personnel. Joe’s Little/Russ/Etc-Finger cannot be topped.
If Whaley is retained, who would you want as coach and why?
Michael Necci (@manecci) – If you keep Whaley you mine as well keep Rex. It makes no sense for this franchise create another scapegoat coach. They did that with Marrone and they can’t afford to do it with Rex.What coach in their right mind would want to come here and coach for this dysfunctional franchise who has a 2 -3 year window on coaches?
The longest tenured coach during this 17 year drought is Dick Jauron who lasted 3.5 years before getting fired in the middle of the 2009 season. If you keep Whaley, you need to keep Rex. If Whaley – Brandon start to push Pegula to replace Rex, I would really hope that Pegula flips it back on them and says, “You wanna take a look at what little you all accomplished here in a longer span?”
Mike McKenzie (@mack10zie) – How can you answer anyone but Jim Harbaugh. Seeing how that’s not happening (he will want coach and GM titles, as well as a QB), some names that come to mind would be Josh McDaniels, Darrel Bevell, Jim Bob Cooter, and that type of guy. Regardless of pay, Buffalo is not a great job right now due to the continual dysfunction of the front office. the pressure of the playoff drought, and the lack of a true QB. I know the statistics say we have a good offense, but this is a case of stats being misleading to me.
Buffalo can only lay one type of O, and if they fall behind, do not have the necessary tools to come back. I would spend some money and hire a good D Coordinator also. The only DC I would consider is Schwartz, especially after seeing what he has done with Detroit. I went offense though because until we solve the QB issue, nothing else matters.
Joe (@BuffaloWins) – Tom Coughlin. This isn’t just about how Coughlin has 2 rings, won basically everywhere, comes from the Parcells tree, and beat Bill Belichick twice in a Super Bowl. This is about someone who will “HOPEFULLY” change the culture at One Bills drive and not allow dipshits like Brandonfinger and the Ralph Wilson lifers to influence the team. He’s not going to take shit from anyone.
And unlike Marrone who was kind of a dictator but didn’t exactly have a resume to match that sort of power, Coughlin can just flash his rings and say “Get bent! I know how to win and you don’t” and then throw #Brandonfinger through a window and onto an acid laced bed of nails. If not Coughlin, give me a Bevell as HC and Gus Bradley as DC. Make Buffalo the Seattle of the East by taking guys with SB rings and not those with ringing commercial endorsements. And yes, they need safeties/ILBs so save that editing note, Rich.
[Editor’s note – I too think they’ll need those things, but that is the part of the Ryan experiment that burns my grits the most. – Rich]
Chris O. (@2itb_buffalo) – In my opinion, the ace up Whaley’s sleeve is the narrative you can craft regarding his tenure with the Bills. Tim Graham did a good job of highlighting this as you can really only pin the decision to trade up for Watkins on Whaley. Even then, Russ Brandon was sitting at the head of the war room while Whaley was working that trade, so for all we know Brandon was pressuring him to move up as well. Point being, Whaley’s tenure has been muddled enough with overlaps that he hasn’t really had full control of the team, which could be used to give him a free pass.
Mike Migliore (@mmigliore) – If Whaley is retained, I see no reason to sack Rex Ryan at this point. Like I’ve said before, I’d only fire Rex as part of a complete overhaul of the organization that includes the dismissal of Whaley, Brandon, Overdorf, etc. Otherwise, I think Rex should get a third season with his team. The Bills can’t keep shuffling coaches in and out every two years. What self-respecting coach would take this job knowing that two years is all the time they’ll get?
Evan (@evancdent) – I’m not going to pretend I have an exhaustive knowledge of all the potential coaching candidates, but I will say I’m not into anyone off the Belichick tree – Josh McDaniels just seems like a huge prick – nor am I interested in Joe’s wish for Tom Coughlin. I think if they hire an offensive guy, he better get a great defensive coordinator.
If it’s a defensive guy, maybe you try to keep Anthony Lynn around, as he’s managed to make a pretty good offense despite the quarterback’s passing shortcomings. If they hire a special teams guy, a la John Harbaugh? Keep Lynn and get a good defensive coordinator. Anyway, I guess I’ll go with Lions’ offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, because even if he’s awful, at least we get to say “Coach Cooter.” It’s the little things in life that get us through.
[Coach Jim Bob is something I never thought I needed til this moment – Rich]
If Whaley is fired with Rex, how would you want to see the office/coach structure run by the newbies? And who would you want in those spots?
Michael Necci – They need hire one guy who is President/General Manager of Football Operations. This two headed tandem of Russ and Doug has proven time and time again that it just doesn’t work. The new President/GM would report to the Pegula’s and the new Head Coach would report to the Pres/GM. That’s what I like to call structure. The one name that keeps popping up in my head for the new Pres/GM is Scott Pioli. He is currently the Asst GM with Atlanta Falcons.
Take a look how that team is built, he has worked with the Jets, Patriots and yes he had rough go of it with the Chiefs, but his track record with the Patriots and Falcons speak for itself. Let Pioli come in re-build the front office and hire the coach. The Bills have way too many leaks. May it be Russ, Whaley, and even Rex’s people talk too much, that’s how was with the Jets when he was there. That needs to stop, and I think once you have just one person in charge of football ops with a trusted coach, those leaks would be less and less.
Mike McKenzie – I don’t necessarily care the structure, I just want one person in charge. If you were to convince a Harbaugh type guy to come and wanted to give him personnel control, that’s fine. If you want to o a more traditional route and have a GM, and coach report to him, that’s fine too, but there needs to be one voice that gets final say. I would also not want Russ to have any say over football matters. Some GM names to consider would be Caserio from the Pats (especially if you go McDaniels), DeCosta from Baltimore, and Fitterer from Seattle. Think teams who routinely draft well.
Joe – You need to have a power structure. Coach reports to GM or GM reports to coach. There needs to be an alpha-male with football experience there. Having both GM/Coach report to the owners didnt work because there was a lot of backstabbing involved it would seem. Neither Whaley/Rex considered themselves to be working for each other, but working for Pegula only. If they go traditional route like Polian/Marv where GM runs the show and coach reports to GM, that’s fine and I’m with that. If they bring in a coach who would want the Belichick treatment of being the final say guy and having the GM work for him, that’s fine AS LONG AS THE COACH deserves it (IE: Tom Coughlin). Josh McDaniels or Frank Reich shouldn’t deserve that sort of power. In terms of what I prefer, it is tough and really depends who the candidates are involved.
I would give ONLY Coughlin that sort of carte blanche. So, based on supply and demand, it would seem I’d prefer GM being the main guy (Hire the assistant GM/Pro Personnel guy/Head of draft from either Giants/Hawks/Steelers/Ravens or basically any team that didnt suck over last decade) and then have GM hire the coach.
Let’s not have it be some sort of fantasy football draft by the owner/Brandonfinger like they did with Marrone/Whaley and Whaley/Rex. Work chemistry is something that has to be just as valued as finding a QB, safety, #2 WR, RT and so on.
Chris O. – They need to gas the entire thing. I firmly believe Russ Brandon holds enough sway at One Bills Drive that his continued employment would just keep poisoning the well. Assuming they do it right and can all three, I’d want to see them completely dump the idea of having a president running the football or business side. Having a president in place insinuates some form of total control over the organization that I think the Bills should rid themselves of.
Let the GM control the personnel side of things and allow Kim Pegula to continue her oversight of the business operations through the various department heads. Maybe you need some sort of VP of Business Ops or whatever to keep all of those people in line, but no more Russ Brandons, that’s all I need. As for candidates, I couldn’t begin to give you a list of names. I’m not regularly scouring personnel departments around the league finding the next hot candidate so I’d be stumped if you’d ask me to pick someone. Get someone who will keep drafting QBs until you find the right one. That’s pretty much all I need.
Mike Migliore – I just want the coach and GM on the same page. I’m sick out hearing about rifts between the HC and GM and growing factions in the organization with blame being passed around. Enough already. If you’re cleaning house, hire a young GM who plans on being here a while and wants to build the thing from the ground up. Let him pick a coach that shares his vision.
Nick Caserio and Eric DeCosta are the best general managers in waiting out there every year, and every year they turn down interview requests. It appears those two will never leave New England or Baltimore. The same appears to be true for Eliot Wolf and Will McClay in Green Bay and Dallas respectively. The candidates I would target are Chris Ballard, Trent Kirchner, Omar Khan, Chris Grier, Terry McDonough, and Joey Clickscales.
The coaching candidates I like are younger, offensive-minded guys. I like Kyle Shanahan, Jim Bob Cooter (!!!!!), Sean McVay, Harold Goodwin, Pete Carmichael Jr., and Darrell Bevell. I don’t want to change the defense again, but the credentials of Sean McDermott, Vance Joseph, and Kris Richard are hard to ignore.
Evan – It’d be nice to get a coach and GM who are aligned philosophically so that there’s very little head-butting when it comes to roster decisions, which may have been an issue with Rex and Whaley. (With all the leaks out of One Bills Drive, who can ever know for sure?)
In terms of structure, the coach collaborates with the GM, who reports to the owner, and there’s no kind of end-around with the coach and the owner. Let’s, for once, have a united front with the coach and GM. If Russ Brandon is still around, his marketing department is moved to a satellite office (I wouldn’t mind if it was actually in space) and gets no say in any football decision.
In terms of specific GM names, I will once again cop to not having a great knowledge of potential GMs, but it’d be nice to have someone with a scouting background from a team that has drafted well over the past decade.
Does 9-7 save Rex’s job? Does 8-8?
Michael Necci – I think 9-7/8-8 may save everyone’s job. Terry Pegula has been awfully quiet this season. I can’t even remember the last time he was in front of a microphone addressing any of his teams issues or current status. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if on January 2nd/3rd he releases a statement and says nobody is fired, everyone is coming back.
The Pegula’s biggest fault is their loyalty. Loyalty is fine and good in friendships and marriages, but once you’re over loyal in business, the people who you’re loyal too will greedy and comfortable, and in the NFL or in any business that isn’t good. And right now Brandon and Whaley are just a little too comfortable in the biggest results based business in America.
Mike McKenzie – This is a tough question to answer. I don;t think the Bills roster is great. I think they are about a 8-8 team. So if Rex coaches them to 8-8, he basically did what I expected. The flip side is he is supposed to be a defensive guy, and the D has been awful. Additionally, if everything you read is true, his relationship with Whaley isn’t good.
I think he is likely gone without a playoff berth, but man, 9-7 isn’t going to pass the smell test. I don’t love Rex, but it’s not like this team underachieved. The problem is they were built for this season. If you don’t fire everyone, I guess I don’t really see the point. Perhaps it sells from a media and fan relations stand point. It says, look, we are trying to improve. However, Rex is only a part of the issue. If you only fire him, I’m not sure it solves much.
Joe – Tough question. But I think he’s done with a 9-7 record. The Rex firing goes beyond their win/loss record. If Whaley/Brandon liked Rex or vice verse, I think they would be pimping out the injury narrative and how much better they are in the last 2 seasons than their previous years. It would be bullshit, but let’s be honest, they have done this before with having John Murphy or parts of WGR spin it.
They haven’t done any of that in terms of making Rex look good. Hell, when paid Bills WGR programming went from cutting off callers who wanted Rex fired 2 weeks ago to now having it sound like a Y2K countdown to his firing, that’s all you need to know in terms of the hot water he’s in. Of course, if you call and demand Brandonfinger/Whaley fired, you get cut off. This isn’t by accident, folks. I think Doug Whaley not being asked about Rex on WGR last week or having the Bills just allow him to speak on how things are fine, tells everything.
The only way Rex saves his job is
A) Finish 9-7.
B) If the players pull the Rudy scene where they demand that Rex plays for them and they talk to the Pegulas about how great Rex is and how they shouldn’t fire him. Sure, I’ve seen players say how much they loved Jauron/Chan during the end of their lines, but it feels like it isn’t just empty cliches this time around since one of Rex’s qualities is how must players love him.
Additionally, keep in mind the owners did talk to the players about Roman during his firing and they talk way more to the players than Ralph Wilson talked to them from Detroit. It could end up being management wants Rex gone while players go to bat for their coach.
Bottom line: It resembles the subplots of who should rule Westeros in Game of Thrones. Way too many factions and backstabbing which tells me they all deserve to pay the iron price (DEATH).
Chris O. – I don’t think either of those records do the trick. The defense has been poor enough that you could conceivably fire him for that alone. Rex has really under-performed expectations on the side of the ball that is supposed to be his expertise. The offense has been both good and bad at the same time, so it’s not as if the Bills are some sort of juggernaut just missing one final piece to the puzzle.
Mike Migliore – Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and with all the reports about Rex coming out from national writers, it almost seems like a foregone conclusion that Rex is gone. Unless the team miraculously makes the playoffs, I think Rex is out whether they go 9-7, 8-8, or 7-9.
Evan – The whole thing is kind of reminding me of the Les Miles situation at LSU last year – the rumors are swirling, it seems like a foregone conclusion, but the players are rallying behind the coach, and he manages to hold onto his job. I think 9-7 does save his job, as the team will value “continuity,” reward the fact that he finished over .500 with a flawed roster (yes, I know they’ve had a very easy schedule and only beaten bad teams), and give Rex one more shot – even if he’s one the hottest of hot seats to begin next season, just like Les was. For some reason, 8-8 makes me think he’ll be gone – with two winnable games coming up, he has no margin for error.
Where do you fall on these? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter and help us all just get through these last few games, man.
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