Sisyphean Bills

"This game is so great it sells itself," said Tim Ryan.

Was he reading that off a 3x5 card that Smithers handed him? Seriously though, Ralph seemed to be contradicted on a few points. I hope it is true and Nix has authority to interview whomever he wants, but let's not forget that Brandon is still in charge as he was also promoted to CEO.

The Chargers organization deserves credit for taking the talent, Manning, regardless of the scare tactics leveled against them. They then shrewdly translated that talent, via trade, into a number of excellent players. Laying the Chargers turnaround completely at the feet of Rivers is revisionism. Norv Turner has changed the offensive philosophy of the team to rely first and foremost on the passing game only recently.

People suffer short term memory loss. Last year, the Dolphins used the wildcat and the running game to win our division. The Titans had the best record in football. The Ravens pounded the rock into the playoffs. The Falcons rode Burner Turner. The Vikings rode Adrian Peterson to the playoffs. The Giants had the #1 running game in the NFL and the Patriots #6.

Sounds good until you hear Nix say that he has had no involvement in the process. I hope he has a fairly free hand in this decision, and is not given some short pre-arranged menu by Smithers and/or the bean counters, as the decision of the next head coach and leader of this franchise will define Nix's "era" as GM.

He was the best football man in the building. Now, the question is whether he will actually be given the authority to fix the mess or whether he'll just be Smithers' point man on the ground navigating the media jungle. Some of the things he mentioned today fly in the face of what has become Bills convention. Hiring experienced coaches, especially assistant coaches. Strength and conditioning and doing what it takes to have players that can stay on the field. Developing and then rewarding players who become better. Strong leadership and direction. A cohesive vision shared by the GM and head coach. Hell, even having a hands-on GM that has held all the posts on the football side of the business is a departure. Signing a "big name" free agent (like Terrell Owens) is a loser's strategy -- zing! to the guys on either side of him there. Having a team that can control the line of scrimmage.

I think he admitted that there are problems and some things need to change. So, no, he didn't sound exactly like Jauron's "stay the course" and "it's all about the continuity" speech.

Wahoo! Go Smithers. And, Smithers, you should be able to buy lunch as the CEO of a billion dollar company.

I was clarifying what I wrote. Thanks for agreeing with me.

He hasn't been involved in the process. There's a big difference between getting down and dirty and seeing a picture in a Playboy.

Too bad we couldn't see Ralph's, Overdorf's or Smither's face when he said that.

They hired Nix and he has had no input or knowledge of the head coaching list. And, here I was hoping they were hiring him because they wanted to nab their next head coach straight out of the oven. Nix is a good guy and a straight shooter. For those that prefer smoke being blown up their posteriors, he'll be a major disappointment for sure. I like how he didn't PC around Jauron with comments on leadership, direction, and having to have an experienced staff "not saying anything about what's gone on here before, mind you."

Drawing up a list does not mean they interviewed (committed tampering) anyone outside the building.

Ask yourself, "Why do this now?" Who are the Bills beating to the punch here? Nobody. They are declaring an end to their "search" though just before any new teams decide to blow up their own front offices and start looking around and interviewing hot prospects, which includes making lists of who the hot prospects are and are not and setting the going market value for the position in 2010. From the optimistic perspective, maybe they wanted to get this done now so as to jump in with their new head coach asap.

Nix might well be the best man for the job. But, it's not like the Bills actually did due diligence to find out, is it? They gave token interviews to Guy and Modrak, who have been onboard for a decade of futility. The reality is that there was one "promote from within" candidate that wasn't around this last decade and wasn't brought in by Donahoe and he, surprise surprise, gets the GM-ship. That's Ralph's definition of "big changes" and pulling out all the stops to get it right this time. It's just too much to ask for that the Bills actually walk outside the building to look for something new.

You are trying to put words in my mouth because you don't know what you are talking about. Not that you'll be able to understand the difference, but nobody said Nix is terrible. "A thorough review and housecleaning" though doesn't start and end with interviews of 3 guys on the inside, 2 that helped crap the bed the last decade, and declaring the newest smiling face the victor by default.

Why stop there? Nix must have been behind all the picks that led to the 90's Bills teams as well.

You are the only one in this thread that even suggested anything of the sort. You're still dead wrong that Nix is "from outside the organization". It's a fact that he has been working for the Bills this year.

Nix is not from outside the organization. He works for the Bills. He was one of the people that pulled up stakes when John Butler loaded up the moving truck and drove off for San Diego. Nix has been passed over for a couple of GM jobs in the past, most recently the Falcons gig. He was AJ Smith's right-hand man but started talking about retirement after the Falcons went in another direction. The Bills hired him as a sort of scout emeritus, wanting to get his input for the draft. Now, apparently he's been given some Viagra and is full of vim and vigor and ready to re-build a shattered organization from the mud up. OK, then.

Sounds like a typical Ralph Wilson move. Did they even bring in anyone else? The season isn't over, so if this rumor is true that means they did not consider anyone else already employed in another NFL front office. The part-timer or the hermit that works from his basement 1000 miles away... choices, choices.

Last year, people were openly hoping Fairchild would fail and thereby it would prove that he was the sole reason the Bills offense couldn't get out of its own way. Well, that didn't work out so well, as CSU went to and won the New Mexico Bowl (scoring 40 points) while the Bills offense under its new hot coordinator Turk Schonert continued to suck. Was Colorado State dreadful this year? You bet your jauron. They were terrible. By the way, Pete Thomas committed to CSU, so they may be getting back up off the mat next year. That's college football. You completely missed the point. Fairchild wasn't running his offense under Jauron.

A footnote on Fairchild: His offense at CSU is considered very complex and one of the most complex in the college game. With the Buffalo Bills, "his" offense was criticized as absurdly simple.

Pretty much. The guy lost a person in excess weight since a year ago just to get out there. Pretty amazing he played for over 1/2 an NFL season at all.

Was he wearing boxers or briefs?

He was thinking it would help clear out the middle of the field to make the dump-offs easier.