billsfan1959

Good GM and Head coaching hires are almost always lucky...like first round draft picks: They put as much research into it as they possibly can and they are still wrong more often than not.

So let me see, Flores, the guy you are suggesting to replace Frazier: Has none of those qualities the poster mentioned (Loyal, caring, patience, humble) Is currently unemployed after being fired with a losing record Didn't make the playoffs in 3 years as a head coach In the two games he played over the last two years where a win would have resulted in a playoff berth, his defenses gave up 90 points (45 point) average Against top 15 scoring offenses over the last two years, his defenses were regularly beaten like they were victims of Alvin Kamara

Good to see you finally had an opinion on this topic...

This is a point that seems to be lost on so many people when discussing minority hires. When it comes to the NFL, the vast majority of people want to look at the actual minority head coaching and managerial hires strictly in terms of percentage of minority players in the league or percentage of minorities in the general population. In fact, the actual hiring can only be evaluated within the context of the population of the applicant pool. Now, it would be really helpful if we could move past the extreme (and mostly emotionally based) baseline beliefs that racism doesn't exist or, at the opposite end, that any inequity in outcome is evidence on its face of systemic racism - and actually engage in substantive research and discussion on what constitutes "qualifed" within the various applicant pools from assistant position coaches through head coaches on into managerial and executive positions. I do not necessarily disagree with this statement; however, for me, the sample size is so small and the relevant variables so poorly understood at this point that how meaningful any conclusions might be is open to debate. Particularly when the percentage of minority head coaches has fluctuated between 6% and 23% (the latter of which might actually be fairly consistent with the applicant pool described in the article) over the last ten years or so. This is an interesting concept to me. One might argue that the control, and accountability, a prospective employer might have in shaping the applicant pool for a particular position is tied primarily to the degree of concreteness of the framework of qualifications for the position. Obviously, the more concrete that framework is, the less subjective the process is. The more vague the the framework becomes, the more subjective the process becomes - and the greater the chance for biases to creep in. The greater problem that I see in this area is a lack of tools and resources in developing a more concrete and accurate framework of qualifications. This again, for me, goes to that framework of qualifications and the actual composition of applicant pools. I am not aware of any serious research on the topic; however, a quick review of head coaches in the superbowl era seems to, on the surface, indicate there is very little correlation between being a player and being a successful head coach. It would be interesting to see some real research regarding the attributes that correlate to success in different areas of the NFL from player to player (as we see differences in racial makeup just among player positions), to position coach, to assistant coach, to coordinator, to head coach, to managerial/executive positions. Perhaps a better understanding of attributes that are quantifiable in some way could help at the entry level of potential coaches and help shape applicant pools up the promotion chain. There are so many problems with Flores' lawsuit. Just to quickly name a couple: 1. It is a class action suit, which by its very nature revolves around harm to a larger group, or class. In this instance, that harm is ostensibly about race. However, the issues cited with the Dolphins revolve entirely around specific conflicts between Flores and the front office/owner with no mention of race related issues other than a passing accusation of saying Flores was difficult to work with was somehow wrapping him up in the stigma of the "angry black man." Likewise with the Giants. Regardless of how one feels about how the entire interview and selection process played out, there is not one fact cited in the complaint that supports any contention that racism played any part in Flores not getting the head coaching job. The facts, as cited, again relate specifically to Flores and not a larger group. 2. While the complaint describes incidents of other individuals (David Culley, Jim Caldwell, Steve Wilkes, etc.) who suffered some sort of injustice, there is no evidence to support the allegation that those injustices were due to racism. It is not an inclusive list and seems to be cherry picked with little to no context. 3. To be honest, the allegation of systemic racism in the complaint primarily revolves around statistical disparities between numbers of minority players vs numbers of minority coaches. Those numbers do nothing more than show statistical disparities. They do not, on their own, shed any light on the underlying reasons for the disparities. Based on the above, it appears he is trying, in a not too subtle manner, to hijack what should be a legitimate national conversation to use as a vehicle for airing his personal grievances. As such, it seems disingenuous as a legitimate attempt to address racism in the NFL, and only serves to over simplify and trivialize the topic.

In todays NFL, the Bills' path to a championship is going through Josh Allen and the offense. Their top priority should be to give Allen the best linemen they can in front of him and the best skill players they can around him.

Good post. I will add the TE rankings from Football Outsiders (Knox ranked 8th in overall value): For those unfamiliar with the categories: DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this TE caught the ball, compared to a replacement-level TE in the same game situations and then translated into yardage. YAR is related to DYAR, but isn't adjusted based on opponent DVOA, or Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. This number represents value, per play, over an average TE in the same game situations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player's performance. VOA is related to DVOA, but isn't adjusted based on opponent The simple version: DYAR means a tight end with more total value. DVOA means a tight end with more value per play. Effective Yards (EYds) translate DVOA into a yards per attempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, players with more Effective Yards than standard yards played better than standard stats would otherwise indicate Catch Rate represents the percentage of passes to this receiver completed. Of the top ten listed in the FO chart above, Knox had the 2nd fewest targets and receptions, but had the 2nd highest TD%. I believe Knox was moving into the top tier of TEs in the league this year. I think he is one of the more physically gifted tight ends who was, arguabl much more raw coming out of college. I think he is going to really evolve into a top 5 TE this year.

To be honest, there wasn't one claim made in the complaint alleging racism on the part of the Ross or the Dolphins. The only thing that even remotely addresses it is the following: "From that point forward, Mr. Flores was ostracized and ultimately he was fired. He was subsequently defamed throughout the media and the League as he was labeled by the Dolphins brass as someone who was difficult to work with. This is reflective of an all too familiar “angry black man” stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes." It is also interesting that most of the talk after Flores was fired, regarding conflict within the organization, revolved around his poor relationship and conflicts with Chris Grier, who is black. There were numerous reports that Flores went to Ross to try to erode Grier's decision making powers. The more I read and hear about Flores leads me to believe he is not the man of "strong morals and convictions" he and his legal team are trying to portray. He rose through the ranks and achieved all he wanted to achieve in becoming a head coach - and held that position for 3 years - and, by his own behavior, demonstrated he would have willingly accepted the head coaching job with the Giants and never said a word about the issues that violated his "strong morals and convictions." I have no doubt he was pissed about not getting the Giant's job and the way he perceives the process transpired. There just is no evidence in the complaint that anything that happened to him was the result of racism. His actions appear, to me, to be more personally vindictive than anything to achieve a "greater good."

Maybe Belichick called and said Pederson would be a better hire...?

It's been much longer for me since I left the Buffalo area. I was on a quest to find a decent pizza and decent wings in the Raleigh area for a awhile and finally gave up. I am resigned to average at best pizza and when I want wings I make my own. They finally opened a Wegmans near me and, I confess, I have picked up some wings there in a pinch... I was down in the Wilmington, NC, area for a number of years and this little NY style pizza place opened (can't remember the name) and the same thing happened. They had come down from Rochester, the pizza was really good, and I would stop by for a slice at luch a couple of times a week. Apparently the people in the area just preferred s****y pizza as it didn't do well enough to remain open. My wife and I saw a Tony's Pizza over off Glenwood Ave while we were trying to find another place. Is that the one you are talking about? I think that was Moonlight Pizza on Morgan?

Don't misunderstand my stance. I am not opposed to legislation or organizational rules. What I was saying is that they rarely are the catalyst for change in belief systems or social change, but more often a result of social forces. Brown v Board of Education is actually a good example of what I mean. There was already changing belief systems in a large percentage of the population, resulting in a strong social movement against segregation (leading to open encouragement and attempts by black parents to enroll their children in all white schools) before lawsuit was ever filed and originally ruled on in District Court. If there had been no shift in belief systems there wouldn't have been support for what was taking place all over the south prior to the lawsuits, there wouldn't have been enough support in the judiciary and government bodies to support the movement with legal rulings and subsequent legislation, and the polls wouldn't have reflected 60%+ approval of the ruling. At some point they worked hand in hand; however, the swelling of a social movement and support for the movement came before any legal rulings and legislation. As I said, I am not opposed to legislation in the area of racism. There certainly is a history of legislation beneficial to civil rights and the fight against racism. There is also a history of well meaning legislation that has had disastrous effects primarily for the very people the legislation was intended to help.

Agree - Cully, to me, has a real grievance about his treatment. IMO, Flores has done himself no favors by his own behavior. He appears to be a man that, contrary to this "pillar of principle" he is projecting himself to be, didn't seem to have a problem with anything, or at least to the point where he felt compelled to speak up, until he didn't get another head coaching job. The fact that his own behavior would lead a reasonable person to conclude that, had he obtained the Head Coaching position with the Giants, he wouldn't have never said a word about anything - in turn, could lead a reasonable person to question if his actions now are more self-serving and vindictive than about any "greater good." I might feel differently if, after reading through the complaint, I found anything to substantiate that he, as the complainant, actually suffered harm as a direct result of racism. There is a litany of statistics, innuendo, speculation, and even a history of the league and the black race. However, it is stunningly void of any facts that would, from a legal perspective, substantiate his claims. This is not a commentary about whether or not racism exists in the NFL. That is a separate issue for me. For me, this is a question of whether Flores, who obtained an assitant coaching position at the age of 23, was continually promoted up the ranks, and achieved the highest coaching position in the NFL, Head Coach, which he held for 3 years, was a victim of racism. He certainly didn't provide anything in the complaint other than he was part of two "sham" interviews. I can believe everything he said about Ross and I can believe the Giants interview was a "sham." It still provides no evidence that he was a victim of racism. Maybe there is more beyond the 4 corners of the complaint. We will see.

I am not opposed to the Rooney Rule for this very reason. It simply requires that teams include minority candidates in their processes for hiring head coaches and and those in management positions. I would like to think that, more often than not, in today's NFL, minority candidates are going to get legitimate consideration for such positions and the Rooney Rule is needed far less than when it was first enacted. However, there are going to be times when the candidates being seriously considered as the best fit (philosophically and otherwise) are not minorities. There is nothing wrong or nefarious in most instances like that. While many look at the Rooney Rule in these instances as creating "sham" interviews, I look at it as giving young minority coaches valuable interview experience and exposure.

You're a novice. I once sheared all the knobs off my RCA black and white console TV with my foot after a Bills loss. There were no remotes. I had to turn the channel with pliers until I could afford a new TV. And I walked 5 miles to school and back, uphill both ways....

Shekels? So who are you saying is behind the conspiracy?

Rules and legislation in important social issues are rarely the catalyst for change, but rather the culmination of, or enacted in concert with, social forces. Typically, those social forces are gradual, often growing over several generations or more, because, whether we like it or not, it often takes generations to change belief systems. Trying to legislate social changes quickly, while done with the best intentions, often causes more social and psychological harm than good. I'm not arguing against them. I'm just saying any measures put in place from organizational rules to legislation should be thought through very carefully. Sometimes it is a good thing and sometimes it is not. I would argue that Byron Leftwich holding the position he holds now has far less to do with the Rooney Rule (which I am not entirely against) than with gradual changes in belief structures within our society.

And it also shouldn't end well for Jackson if he did in fact take money to lose, anyone in the FO who took money for losing, and Haslam for paying them to lose. Every one of them should be permanently banned from professional sports

All true; however, in all fairness to the coaching staff, the OL was a game of musical chairs all season long. their top 5 linemen played together only 5 times all season - and that included the playoffs. I'm not making excuses, just pointing out that it is something that needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating the Oline play and coaching.

After a couple of years of setting NFL offensive records and winning a SB or two with Allen, Dorsey will be off to a HC job somewhere and Brady can be the next OC to benefit from Allen's journey to greatness...

Flores appeared on CBS in an interview https://www.cbsnews.com/video/former-dolphins-head-coach-brian-flores-on-his-lawsuit-alleging-race-discrimination-at-nfl/#x A quote in regard to Ross offering him $100,000 per loss in 2019: “I didn’t grow up with a lot and this game changed my life. So to attack the integrity of the game, that’s what I felt was happening in that instance, and I wouldn’t stand for it,” Flores said. “I think it hurt my standing within the organization and ultimately was the reason I was let go.” Again, what Flores is alleging may or may not be true. However, I have a problem with Flores putting forth this image of himself as some sort of guardian of the "integrity of the game" when he failed to bring any of this to the attention of the NFL at the time or when he got fired. He only did so when he didn't get the Giants' head coaching job. The logical assumption here is that he probably wouldn't have said anything at all had he gotten the job. I also have to ask if he thinks his standing up to Ross over this issue ultimately led to his firing, why did they wait over two years to fire him? I certainly don't have all the facts and, as I said, the allegations may be true; however; on the surface it seeems as if Flores didn't have as much of a problem with the "attack the integrity of the game" as he portrays, until he didn't get what he wanted.

I have no idea if the claims Flores made are true. They may be. I am a little skeptical and I would like to hear his answers to a couple of questions: 1. You claim Ross offered you bribes to lose games on purpose and asked you to violate tampering rules. You also claimed you had enough backbone to stand up to him and refuse to comply. Those things happened 3 years ago. If you had the strength to stand up to Ross and flatly refuse, why did you not feel strongly enough to come forward then, or when you got fired - rather than now, when you did not get the job you wanted. 2. You have been employed by the NFL for 18 years. You have been promoted through the coaching ranks throughout those 18 years up through the coaching ranks. You eventually obtained the top coaching position, head coach, which you held for 3 years. Did you believe the NFL was a systemically racist organization during that entire time? If so, why did you not speak out in any way during your coaching career, or even when you got fired - rather than doing so only now after not getting the job you wanted. He may have some very good answers to those questions, I don't know. I would like to hear them.

Link?

I hardly think they promoted Dorsey simply because Allen was an advocate. If you know anything about McDermott and Beane, you have to know they have been anticiapating this for the last two years and, I'm sure, evaluated all their options and made the decision they felt was best for the team.

1. When you have set offensive franchise records two years in a row and have been near the top of the league in offensive yards and scoring, the "status quo" in offensive philosophy seems kinda like the way to go. 2. Keeping continuity in offensive philosophy does not mean in any way that it can't also be even better