Bullet points of laziness for you since I'm hungover…
—I'm in a MAJOR wait and see approach with the hire. I'm not going to diss you if you like or hate it. The Bills deserve negative vibes. They deserve it like a husband getting shit from his wife 20 years after he cheated on her. This could be viewed as a healing process, but I'm not there yet. Skepticism and the Bills go hand and hand.
–I was never the guy to yell about hiring a young mind instead of a retread. If you read my coaching pieces, you'll know retreads have a successful rate in the NFL. The good for me is that Marrone turned around a terrible program into respectable one. That's huge for me. The Bills are a cesspool of garbage and need a guy who will change the culture. He has a track record in doing that with Cuse. I like reading how he made the players clean the locker room and had them switch from sweats to suits. I know it may be perceived as being corny, but the Bills just need someone who will run in there with a flamethrower and institute a "you are either with me or against me" rhetoric. In other words, embrace your assholeness and be the ultimate iron fist ruler.
—Total Russ Brandon hire. You really think Buddy would hire a college coach? At this point, you can just print figurehead on Buddy's business card at this point. I'm cool with it, although, I'm not mesmerized by the hire. Yes, we will hear a ton of media people blow the hire because it feels unique, fresh and different…and they may be right. A lot of people were sick of the retreads for obvious reasons. If Marrone fails, I'm sure we'd want retreads again.
—Funny, but if the Bills hired this guy straight from the Saints four years ago, I think everyone would like the hire a lot more. I think because Buffalo isn't exactly a great college town in terms of football (See: Attendance at UB games), there's a lack of respect towards smaller college programs. Plus, Buffalo fans love taking shits on smaller cities because bigger cities do the same to them. So, Cuse falls under the smaller region in that regard.
—As usual, the self-righteousness of telling fans they aren't real fans if they discredited the hire reached a nice boiling point this morning. Look, we should all give Marrone a shot, he's better than Whisenhunt in terms of uniqueness, but I'm never giving the Bills the benefit of the doubt as long as I live or until they make the playoffs. They deserve it. When Russ Brandon comes out and says money is not an object, fans have a right to be a little disappointed when they bring in a college coach that anyone outside of the Syracuse overrated broadcasters alumni foundation doesn't know much about.
—I wrote a ton about college coaches making the transition to the NFL. Give it a read if you haven't. I researched, motherfuckers!
—Find a QB. FIND A QB! If they don't find a franchise guy, this hire will go in the shitter. Plain and simple. Mike McCarthy and Mike Smith would probably be nothing without franchise QBs. Just saying.
—Im looking forward to see what types of coaches he brings here. Since 2001, the Bills have had 11 different coordinators; firing 8 of them in less than two years on the job. I'd like for them to find some named coach as a coordinator. Maybe Lovie Smith would take the DC job if you offered him like 3-million bucks a year. Hey, money isn't a object.. right, Russ? Just don't hire a George Edwards or Turk Schonert. Hire a guy with experience or hasn't been out of the NFL game for a decade.
Pros: Has NFL Coaching experience. Didn't call plays in the NFL, but neither did Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci, and Tom Coughlin before they got their first NFL head coaching jobs. Syracuse didn't have a above .500 record from 2002-2009. Marrone has two in the last fours season. The Orangemen made the Bills look like the Yankees before he came to Cuse. Syracuse finished in the top 40 in rushing and passing this past season. Coached under Sean Payton. Saints averaged 26.1 points a game when he was OC there.
Cons: Never called plays at the NFL level. I don't exactly think this will excite Bills fans to the point of buying tickets. Owns 4-5 record against teams ranked in the top 25 and has a 25-25 record. Don't exactly think the Big East is all that good in comparison to other college conferences.
—I'm sure him being from Syracuse probably helped in terms of marketing the team regionally.
Final word: I wanted Lovie Smith here over Marrone. I'm not trying to say that Marrone stinks, as he seems like a reasonable hire, but I just liked Lovie more. It really boils down to Smith being the safer bet. I think if he coached the Bills, they would be a 10-win team because he knows how to win with defense while having very little help from the offense. However, that's probably as far as he would go.
The Marrone hire feels like a bigger risk, but with a higher reward. It is all about the ultimate unknown at this point. A stock that will either skyrocket or crash and burn. If you are a Billiever, you are probably happy with this hire. Hell, I think you'd be happy with Whisenhunt at this point. That's just how Billievers are. The #illhangupandlisten crowd are probably hating the move because they have been so hurt by this franchise they don't remember what it was like to be optimistic.
The unknown can be exciting and scary at the same time. That's why there are mixed emotions. Whatever side you are on, we won't know if it is good hire for at least a year. So, react, positively and negatively, and just hope they get it right for a change.
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