San Jose Bills Fan

Job performance aside, I REALLY like Buddy and wish him nothing but the best. He seems like a really good person with good character.

This is interesting. Is this something that could happen before training camp?

Credibility? Do you question a person's credibility when they've bluffed you out of a pot during a poker game? Do you question Bill Belichick's credibility? Do you understand that the NFL is a high-stakes competition played out every day? What exactly are you whining about?

:thumbsup:

I'm an electrician.

Brandon was specifically asked by JW if it's gonna be Whaley to which Brandon replied: "Well we have a plan John and we're gonna execute that plan…. but as you just mentioned eloquently today is about Buddy and when I'm ready to address the other situation at some point we'll be sitting out here again together and we'll go through that process but um, I'm not gonna do that today or anytime in the very near future."

Buddy just said that if he "were to quit cold turkey, that the next event might not be a good one" so he's thankful the organization is letting him continue to work. In my business the average death follows retirement by 3 years.

Agreed.

What is to be lost? It's odd that the announcements are not part and parcel. That said, if I'm wagering I'm saying Whaley is the man. Based on the first two minutes of the presser, it sounds to me like it was Buddy's decision.

Yes, but I think the thread has basically turned into a "The State of the Tight Ends" conversation now that most everyone (including the Bills coaching staff) sees no point in Kaufman changing positions.

I agree with CB. Besides the fact that business (actually competition) occurs virtually every day in an NFL front office (free agency, contract negotiations) there is also the small possibility of uncertainty on Nix's part. Anyways, the tail shouldn't wag the dog. To me the Mario Williams signing was no more than some sort of bizarre kidnapping/bribery. He was abducted and wouldn't be given his freedom until he agreed to accept ridiculous sums of money. Again relying on feel, it doesn't seem like the same species as the coaching search. I differentiate between the draft and the non-draft moves. The draft feels similar to the previous ones in that it seems like Nix was willing to work with his head coach in drafting players. I will say the trade down seemed uncharacteristic. But the non-draft stuff feels completely different to me. The coaching hire, this year's free agency compared to last year's, that sort of stuff. JMO. I don't know how much Ralph stepping aside has affected things just as I don't know how the ascendency of Russ Brandon affected things.

Cordy played very well out of the gates but he suffered a high ankle sprain in week 4 vs the Patriots. He didn't return until week 8 against the Texans and the injury affected his play the rest of the season. Also there were a lot of injuries on the O-line last year with a lot of juggling of positions around him. I expect Cordy to become an elite tackle.

Would you prefer "Hebes?" Seriously, I didn't vote in the poll because I recuse myself from things that don't concern me. I have opinions on abortion but I keep them to myself because I'm not a woman. Same with the Redskins thing. I have my opinion but ultimately I don't care. Let me say though that I'm not one of those alarmists who believe something like this is "an assault on free speech." Exaggerate much? I also think that there must be polls somewhere of only native Americans on this subject and that would be interesting. I also don't think Snyder should be forced to do anything but it certainly would make me feel much better about him as a person if he changed the team name. Finally, let me add that Daniel Snyder is a real a!@#$. I won't bother digging up all the supporting "evidence." It's all readily available so don't ask to be spoon fed.

Well if you need something to be concerned about, that is your prerogative. I would suggest you review some of the comments from coaches who had white board sessions with him and also the fact that of all the QBs on the Senior Bowl South Team, EJ was the one who picked up the Detroit Lions offense and executed it. Speaking of the Senior Bowl how awesome is it that his teammates voted him a team captain before the game?

Be aware that there are also highlights of EJ "selling out" head-first to get into the end zone.

I understand the point you're making about circumstances beyond the team's control but that whole week in Glendale the Bills spent interviewing head coaching candidates was a very different process than the clandestine and ineffectual actions the team took leading up to the Gailey hiring. By all accounts Kelly and Marrone were the most coveted HCing candidates and the Bills were very aggressive and proactive in pursuing them. They also interviewed numerous other candidates who were interested in coaching the Bills. There's no question Lovie or Whiz would have leapt at the opportunity to become Bills Head Coach. Same with Ray Horton.

I agree with your post except I would say that confidentiality as a policy is always to a team's benefit. The "competitive advantage" might not be clear to outsiders and it might in fact be negligible. On the other hand there would be zero benefit to telling the whole world that your GM is a lame duck.

The team looks bad to you? Do you see any reason for optimism?

I don't remember the Bills disclosing a detailed timeline for public consumption. As far as being surprised based on the other thread (Promo's) I would say more people were predicting this to happen. I was not one of them, I thought he'd stay the year but there seems to be less surprise and more "just as I thought." I get the sample size argument but we only have a few years of data here and we were talking about the "feel" of events. I think PFT said something about a press conference this afternoon although I haven't seen anything from the Bills. No, I'd prefer the present organization although Billsvet points out correctly that the 2008 regime is a known failure while the 2013 team is an unknown quantity.

As you point out I don't know that the draft as a whole was dramatically different but certainly the head coaching search, the hiring of Pettine and the first round trade down seemed very different from the past.

Also trading down in the first round was a marked departure.

I don't know if the stats are that much more meaningful than the measurables. Nelson played in a 4-wideout spread at Florida. Not sure what Kaufman played in but without more information I wouldn't assume Kaufman is the better player. I certainly hope he is though.

I don't see how keeping him in an honorary/adjunct role could possibly be viewed as a negative. It's a positive in every way possible. It speaks to how an organization treats a longtime, valued employee. It allows Buddy to revert back to his core competency which is scouting. Only negative people could spin this negatively.

As far as Buddy's performance? It all boils down to Head Coach and quarterback. Everything else is window dressing and minutiae. Every team in the NFL has roster holes and weaknesses. Those weaknesses are obscured when the coaching and quarterback are good. The team Buddy assembled is as talented as most of the teams in the league. But Buddy will be defined by the facts that he hired Chan Gailey and then backed Gailey on Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Agreed. I like Buddy and wanted to view some of the recent events as "an old dog learning new tricks." In retrospect I ignored the strong feelings and clues that others in the organization were the ones making major decisions.