Sisyphean Bills

Sorry that you took it that I was "throwing him to the wolves". I think they'll evaluate everybody and they may even try to salvage one of these QBs and that may include Brohm. That doesn't change the fact that Brohm was a system QB in college and is more suited to a WCO. Gailey isn't a WCO guy and I highly doubt he's going to want to become one. He'll get a QB to fit his offense at some point. That's not dumping on your guy. That's just the facts when a new regime wheels into town...

Maybe not immediately, but I don't see Gailey and Nix thinking they want to run a variant of the dink and dunk West Coast offense in Orchard Park. So, yeah, the 3 dinking and dunking amigos aren't the future.

If this scouting breakdown doesn't spark a bit of WTF, nothing probably would. http://www.nfl.com/draft/2009/profiles/aar...layers-analysis Ran a 4.9 at the combine? "Parys Haralson" -- nice journeyman player but for a top pick? "Doom and gloom"? "Often fail"? Most of what is said here is still true. He has no strength, runs upright, can't dip and run, can't get off blocks, runs straight up the field every time, has no moves...

Marshawn Lynch will have to learn to run ... the reaper is on the loose.

I thought this was going to be a joke thread... Aaron Maybin is so small ... he makes a stickman look like Hercules.

Smithers.

Devil's advocate here: It is a good thing to have a HC/GM combination that can work together, has the same vision, and will work together -- you know teamwork -- than hire a "big name" coach that could not work with the GM or hire a newbie HC that is basically a puppet of the dictator. The Buffalo Bills have a massive image problem, with the NFL in general, the media, and even with their own fans. It wouldn't hurt if their front office bought a clue on that major problem and tried to correct it. Smithers is supposed to be the slick willy salesman, why isn't he mugging for the cameras and front and center for the press?

How many years has Alex coached Gailey's system? Next question.

Sort of a vicious circle, though, isn't it? One side tries not to divulge any information because it might be used against them. So the other side, doing his job, can't get any clarification and gets frustrated and negative. So the first side gets more insular and hides deeper in their spider hole. So there is even less information fueling more frustration, and observers take sides blaming the other side for the situation.

Any number of reasons could fit, not just "he sucks". My point was merely that an argument drawn from an absence of information is pointless.

Pretty much. The fallacy of arguing from a negative premise is ubiquitous here. Gailey hadn't been hired as an NFL HC in a decade, hence he will never get another gig and sucks. I've never seen my neighbor mow his lawn; therefore, he must have astroturf, right? Nope. He has a service that comes and takes care of his yard because he travels frequently.

Not surprising. He simply doesn't have the sort of personality and reputation that Wilson would want coaching his team. He isn't the relatively low key ego like a Marv, Wade, Dick, or Chan.

Given Schottenheimer's celebrity status, it makes no sense at all that Wilson would be kept completely in the dark. The final decision may have been kicked back to Nix, but who goes against the desires of their boss 18 days into a new job?

Ya think?

This could be the way it went down, of course. But, that doesn't say much about the lines of communication. BTW, Buddy initially said he would narrow the field of candidates down and take "2 or 3, no more than 3" to Ralph and discuss. He took 1 candidate to Ralph and they hired him. They have every vested reason to paint the search in a positive light (anything less would be idiotic). Since he's not telling, no one knows if the self-proclaimed 15 calls Nix was getting a day were from qualified people or not. He was on the job search roughly 18 days. If he got 15 calls a day, that is 270 coaches asking for interviews. That comes to roughly 8.5 coaches per NFL team. There aren't that many qualified candidates on each team's staff, to put it bluntly. Even if you say half of them were from the college ranks (or wherever), that is still about 4 calls per team, which would still be more than are highly qualified.

NGU, thanks for your information. I, and other fans, appreciate it. It's still not that clear cut to me. Having served in management in various jobs personally, I know that big decisions are a consensus forming process with the big boss. Hiring who will probably be Mr. Wilson's last HC and last chance is a big decision (to say the least) and Buddy is going to do what Mr. Wilson is comfortable with regardless of whether it is nominally "Buddy's decision" or not and regardless of his personal druthers. Now, Buddy may have never even talked to Ralph about Marty's interest for whatever reason or they (plural) decided not to pursue the matter. Whatever the case it is quite strange as Mr. Nix did pursue (and eventually hired) coaches directly or indirectly from the Marty Schottenheimer coaching tree: Cowher, Brian Schottenheimer, and Chan Gailey (via Cowher). One last point, if this was 100% Buddy's decision, given the negative backlash of that information, I have to question his suitability for the job he now holds. To not even run one of the most respected names in the coaching profession by the boss would be really mind boggling and an action someone could be fired for in many businesses.

Are you saying that Nix never took Schottenheimer's name up to the boss, Russ Wilson? If that is what happened then it is 100% Buddy's decision. On the other hand, if Nix took Schottenheimer's name up to the boss and some reservations and concerns were raised with a summary of "well, it's your call" then that is another matter. Somebody on a new job a matter of weeks is pretty unlikely to immediately cross swords with the new boss on a big decision.

Marty doesn't win? In what alternate universe? His playoff record isn't extraordinary? What have the Chiefs done since he left? I seem to recall the Chargers choking a playoff game not too long ago... And, it's not like he had a roster with a half dozen or more Hall-of-Famers like a certain coach with the initials Marv Levy. He's not perfect. But what coach is perfect? None of them. And if there was a coach that never made a mistake, he isn't going to be coming to coach the Buffalo Bills. The Bills get guys like Dick Jauron and Chan Gailey. The Bills weren't getting Parcells. So, outside of Parcells, MS is an established, respected coach who has proven he can take a floundering franchise by the short-hairs and turn it around in the right direction. It's simply amazing that people wouldn't want that after a decade of flailing around and wheel spinning. Why wouldn't you want the Bills to get turned around? Are there new levels of rock bottom to explore? I get hoping that Gailey can do something, but it's not mutually exclusive. Tearing down Shottenheimer because he never won it all but "only" lead his team to the playoffs consistently, doesn't really make Gailey any better or any worse.

I thought he sort of stumbled and stepped in it there. He was saying something about the "top two guys" and then backtracked with a "well, on the football side" sort of qualifier. In other words, they aren't the top two guys and the football side is subordinate to the real powers of the organization.

Exactly. Thanks for the link. Anybody that suggests Marty would work for Al Davis doesn't know what they are talking about. For me, Shottenheimer to Buffalo would have been a clear indication that Ralph was stepping back and going to give it one last honest try. Marty doesn't take the job without full control, which explains the "uncomfortable" part. He would be a total culture change and demand things be done his way and turn the franchise on its head. He's done it time and time again everywhere he has been. That is the sort of vision that this team desperately needs. Not a vision of "Gee, we need some luck, let's rub this rabbit's foot some more. Hey, is that a lucky penny?!" Marty is like Parcells. He may not send a team straight to the Super Bowl, but he can sure bring back respectability, which is something this franchise doesn't have. Raider-ish, indeed. This just shows that Ralph and his cronies are about maintaining their power structure. Fielding a competitive NFL franchise is a secondary concern and whether it happens or not is turned over to nothing but dumb luck. Same as it ever was.

There is no chance. None.

There is no way in hell that Marty would coach the Raiders.

Well, they could have done it. Whether it is completely illogical not being considered.

If one is content with the current culture which has produced the only team besides the Detroit Lions to not see the playoffs the past 10 years, then he should be happy with an owner making minimal changes to that culture.

Knowing his approach, Marty would only take this job on the condition that he had iron control over the organization and he would want the owner to sit back and let him run things his way. It is not surprising at all that Ralph would balk at that. Some of the cronies he has developed for years and who he trusts to do things his way would be on a very short leash or possibly shown the door. After the Donahoe experiment, Ralph isn't going to step away and he's not going to let someone else call the shots. Hence, he would never be comfortable with Marty running his team. Hence, Marty's son flipping the Bills a bird and Marty's brother taking a job a couple days ago. What a flusterduck.