Sisyphean Bills

Super Bowl coaches: Mike Tomlin: hired from Vikings. Vikings were 6-10 and not in the playoffs. Tom Coughlin: hired off the street. Had been HC of Jax. Jax has never appeared in a Super Bowl. Tony Dungy: hired off the street. Fired from Tampa. Tampa had never been to a Super Bowl. Bill Cowher: hired from Kansas City. Kansas City made playoffs and was eliminated by the Bills. Bill Belichick: hired from Jets. Jets were 8-8 and not in the playoffs. John Gruden: traded by the Raiders and was their head coach. Raiders were in the playoffs, but this is obviously a highly unusual case. Brian Billick: hired from Vikings. Vikings made it to the championship game. Dick Vermeil: hired out of broadcasting. Mike Shanahan: hired off the street. Fired by Oakland. Barry Switzer: hired from Wal-Mart. Jimmy Johnson: hired out of college ranks. So, none of these guys came directly from a team in a Super Bowl and only one from a team in a championship game.

What about hiring his replacement? Maybe having him clear out his office so the new guy has a place to hang his coat is overrated. Free agency is just around the corner. (I'm thinking he stays, btw.)

Jose, I'm not arguing with you on agreeing with Tim's piece. I'm agreeing with Tim as well. I understand your point and logic about the adjusted schedules and that it's not too late. On the other hand, I was playing devil's advocate and trying to explain that any "lessons learned" from last year's data don't seem terribly relevant. See the fisherman post. The situations are starkly contrasting. My "beef" is more with the comments that Tim is just a "Chicken Little". I don't see comments on the Bills coaching search as "Chicken Little" but more as a bald (and painful to fans) blow by blow enumeration of the known facts of the search. It's not Tim's job to speculate that the Bills have been meeting with coaching candidates in an alternate dimension using new technology to keep secrets. He has to stick to what is known, not wishful fantasy. Now, do I think that the Bills "have time"? Sure. The Bills can wait as long as they want as they are the only opening going. In theory they have the pick of the litter, although 2 other teams have already swooped in quickly to snatch their own big fish. Hope springs eternal. Maybe if they wait long enough, the best head coach will, in fact, be a coach on one of the Super Bowl teams. Maybe if they show patience, that best candidate will feel he has no choice but to leave his current team and come to Buffalo. Frankly, I don't see the logic there nor does it seem to hold up when the Bills have already asked for permission to speak with assistants on teams in the playoffs. All I'm saying is that it would be far more convincing that the Bills are "close" to filling the post if they actually had a few coaches flying in for an interview. There hasn't been a single one. Unlike the GM search, one would hope they don't have to hire the first guy that says, "Well, I guess so. OK." It's not complex espionage. The smoke means there is a fire. The Bills are having obvious trouble identifying candidates that are interested in being their next head coach. /end

Yes. I know. And, it is patently obvious from the time lines that I gave. All of which underscores my point. There is no parallel between last year and this year. But, if it gives people a warm fuzzy ... ok, then. But, if we just wait until February then whatever assistant on whichever team wins the Super Bowl will be falling all over himself to become our next head coach.

Are you saying the reason the Bills can't get anyone to come to Buffalo for an interview is because Shanahan was being paid to sit home and Carroll was dominating the college football scene the past decade? Historically inaccurate revisionism.

So, last year there was an army of guys on the pier casting their lines and trying to reel in the big one. It was a freaking tournament, a competition between some of the best anglers around, all trying to outdo each other. Plenty of fish and plenty of fisherman. Change the scene. Now we have one guy sitting on an old cardboard box with his rusted worm can. He's been there since yesterday at the end of the pier casting his line; he got a "jump" on everybody. He hasn't caught anything and he hasn't gotten more than a nibble. A couple of young teenagers rode their bikes up, cast a line, immediately hooked a big fish for dinner, and took off hours ago. The seagulls are circling the old fisherman and using his head as a poo target. No cause for alarm. The fishing scenes are identical.

He'd be perfect.

How many teams are changing coaches this year? Today is 1/14/10. Buffalo: Jauron fired 11/17/09, have only interviewed 1 potential replacement Washington: Zorn fired 1/4/10. Shanahan hired 1/6/10. Seattle: Mora fired 1/9/10, Carroll hired 1/12/10. Oakland: ??? Drawing parallels to a year when there were 11 head coaching changes seems suspect.

That may be true. But, it could be argued that it is a bit of a circular argument. Assuming Ralph had a clear succession plan and the future of the franchise wasn't just "what do I care, I'll be dead" (in other words imaging that all things were equal -- and they aren't, which is why your point is sadly true), then a true house cleaning could actually bring in very good people that would in turn bring in other good people because they'd realize they are really only as good as the people they surround themselves with. Cleveland has shown that a town in the rust belt can attract "big names". They've hired a number of "big names" recently (not just Holmgren). Pittsburgh has shown it is possible to maintain an elite team in the area and collect talent at all levels.

Agreed. It sucks that people have opinions and post them here. Do you guys think this is a message board or something?

Fair enough. Yes and no. I'm not a mind reader and don't claim to know all the reasons. Was it a reaction to billboard sized messages from fans? That's likely a factor, I agree. That doesn't explain the timing of the decision however, which is the crucial point of the entire question. Fans wanted Jauron gone for quite some time, so if it was simply to appease the fans, he'd have been fired far earlier. Other factors that could have been in play: 1) advice/blame from members of the executive crew that Jauron was the main culprit behind the team's failures (objectively, he had no chance with bad situations at OC, QB, and OL, which were not entirely his doing, I bet); 2) the mood of the locker room that the situation was hopeless; and 3) the defeated mood of Jauron himself. The notion of appeasement of the masses appeals to fans hope that they are full participants in the decision making processes, but it far more likely a minor concern. The fans already demonstrated their fickleness fully when T.O. was brought in and season ticket sales skyrocketed even though appeals for Jauron's head were laughed at and ignored. There is always another rabbit in the hat.

Fortunately, Herm said he has no interest in returning to coaching at this time. (said so yesterday)

It is entirely the point. It was a bad business decision to extend him prematurely and, according to reports, on his own and against the advice of others. It was another bad business decision to keep a coach that was unpopular with fans, had presided over an epic meltdown and free fall, and who was part of the decision team that had further reduced the competitive product on the field. It was a third bad business decision to lay the blame at the feet of the coach when people know the coach wasn't the only issue. Your statement that it would have been "a bad business deal" to try and correct problems and put a better product on the field is nonsensical. Actually, the right business approach isn't knee-jerking all over the map to deflect blame, but to deliver a good product to the customer.

So, if Ralph passes next month, the new head coach can outdo Lane Kiffin?

Sunk cost. Ralph is still paying Jauron. Thus that argument has no legs. The fans and media were clamoring for Perry Fewell? This is the first I've heard of it. Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic isn't exactly what I'd call "listening". By the way, the billboard had three names on it.

Why didn't he listen to his own inner circle, the fans, and the Buffalo media the previous off-season? Edit: Jauron is still on his payroll now.

Thanks. Another point is that Ralph kept Jauron on despite the 08 collapse and despite his inner circle recommending that they go in another direction. In other words, he made a commitment to Jauron for 09. "Dick and I will go out together." Little more than halfway through the season, Ralph points the finger at Jauron and fires him. Consider also that Wilson demands loyalty from those that work for him to the degree that he has had obvious reservations about going outside of his own small bubble for any executive management hires. It doesn't seem like that loyalty and trust is bidirectional through the structure, does it?

It's really pretty simple. Ever heard the expression, "cutting your nose off to spite your face"? The Bills weren't going to make the playoffs this year and it was fairly well understood that this was Jauron's make or break year. Was Jauron going to survive another 7-9 or worse season? Probably not. So, the question is, once again, "Why fire Jauron in mid-season?" Even the Detroit Lions, as inept a franchise as exists in the NFL, gave Rod Marinelli a full season to make chicken salad out of the chicken **** he had. It's clear now that the Bills had no succession plan when they fired Jauron, very much unlike the last time they fired a coach mid-season in order to bring in Marv Levy. (The denialist might argue that the succession plan they had fell through, but that also says something about how the organization is run that they would make a bold move and have their safety net yanked out from beneath them.) By firing Jauron mid-season, the Bills were publicly pointing the finger of blame at the coach. No one else. While I am no fan of Jauron (ask anybody on this board), he is clearly not the only problem with this organization. Other people around the NFL know the situation and know Dick Jauron. For instance, the front office structure was not Dick Jauron's doing and so on. So, they fire Jauron in mid-season; there is no succession plan, and they are still trying to figure that part out; and, they promote the acting Matt Millen in the room to CEO. The big shake-up is to promote a guy from scout emeritus to GM. From your comments, you apparently see this all as very sound judgment and decision making that has identified the root problem, addressed it, and will send this organization on an upwards trajectory. Unfortunately, each passing interview request that is turned down further diminishes the denialist's optimistic slant to which you seem to subscribe. Others in the NFL have not been fooled. The problems with this team are not simply a question of getting better coaching. They know it. Even the rats know when to leave a sinking ship.

Some (most) Bills fans would like to see the bar raised. Unfortunately, it takes two to tango. The leadership and decision making of the team's executive staff in recent years has been so suspect and shoddy that it is becoming obvious to anyone not in deep denial that this is Oakland East. The setting of the bar is seemingly irrelevant in a situation where there is no one willing to even show up, let alone attempt to jump over it.

Coaches don't have a lot of job security, but the Buffalo job can't be viewed as much more than a stop-gap.

Slim, meet Pickings.

With Oakland, Jon Gruden was an enormous factor in their last rise to prominence. He basically abandoned "Raider Ball" and re-created the Raiders from the ground up into another West Coast team. Rich Gannon was a great fit in that offense and they brought in various pieces to pull it all together. It wasn't completely satisfactory to the old codger that Gruden didn't fully appreciate the Raider legacy and follow the script, which led to Gruden and Allen getting shown the door and an eventual return to "Raider Ball" as was ultimately realized with horrible decisions such as Art Shell's return, an out-of-shape, disinterested rocket launcher QB for your vertical game, and so on. In fact, there are some parallels to draw there to the early-90's Bills...

Pennington can stay healthy behind our line? Seriously? The line can't even stay healthy.

Word gets around in the NFL coaching community. There is no doubt in my mind that potential candidates have talked to Wade, Gregg, Mularkey, Jauron, etc. and know what the inner circle is all about. Why was Jauron fired mid-season? Why did Mularkey quit? Why did Gregg coach out his contract and walk away? Why was Wade fired? Coaches talk. They know. Like the Raiders, the coaching fraternity understands the situation.

Are you Russ Brandon's lover? It's unbelievable that the person closest to Ralph, the new CEO of Ralph's biggest toy, has no input, no knowledge, no opinion -- indeed is literally nothing but a mouthpiece in a stuffed suit -- about anything remotely football related. It is known that he was handling the Jason Peters situation. I heard it from his own lips.