hondo in seattle

These are worrisome stories, to be sure. But coaches sometimes do learn from their experiences and improve over time. I used to be almost as big a Browns fan as I am a Bills fan and remember when Belichick was there. There were stories in Brownie Land about his grumpy, dictatorial style not be conducive to winning. So much for initial impressions. If it is Childress, let's hope he's learned a little about leadership working under Reid, as well as X's and O's.

I don't how these lists can include Nagy but neglect Chilly who also has connections with McDermott, maybe better ones.

Really? You think the Pegs will allow him 3 more years without a playoff appearance? I don't. I think Whaley's mindset is win now.

Jim was a talented QB with excellent leadership abilities and a real loyalty to Buffalo. I loved watching him and his teammates play the game. But he doesn't have the sharpest football mind out there and - since his enthusiasm for Rex proved so misguided - I don't trust his ability to evaluate coaches (or players).

The prior connection between McDermott and Childress, the hiring of Castillo, and the silence on the OC position (with KC still in the playoffs) all point toward Chilly. McDermott, Frazier, Childress - that would make a pretty reputable leadership team. The one name that doesn't seem to fit the story so far is Crossman. We might be retaining him under contract just for insurance, in case McDermott can't recruit anyone better.

"There's two kinds of coaches. Them that's fired and them that's gonna get fired." ~ Bum Phillips Here's how the NFL typically works. A team is under-performing. The GM and FO can either blame themselves for not getting enough good players for the roster, or they can blame the coaches. So, of course, the coaches get fired. Pete Carroll was once fired from his position as DB coach of the Bills. He was later fired from HC positions with both the Jets and Pats. That track record of getting fired didn't stop Seattle from hiring him. Marv Levy was fired from Cal, William & Mary, and Kansas City. Bill Belichick was fired from the Browns. Good coaches are fired all the time. I'm not saying Olsen is a good coach. But he's thought highly enough in the NFL that he keeps getting OC gigs.

Acknowledged. It's harder now to cut a guy with attitude issues with the way contracts are written and their salary cap implications. Still, as a fan with limited info, it seems to me that Rex was more willing to ignore attitudinal issues than some other coaches. Rex seemed more interested in on-the-field talent. I get the impression that McDermott will work harder on culture, attitude, and mindsets than Rex did.

RIchie Lucas? Mini Max was as far back as my memory would reach. You're a walking, talking Buffalo Bills historian!

I think you're right.

Talented players are not untouchable. Bill Walsh says one of the best players on the 49ers when he took over was Ron Singleton. Singleton played left tackle and was a good one. But he had an attitude problem. So Walsh had a member of his staff clear out Singleton's locker and dump the stuff on the front steps of Singleton's home. While the team only went 6-10 that year and not having a good LT hurt, Walsh felt he sent an important message. Coaches, he says, have to be "fast, firm and fair" and have a "hard edge" sometimes. McDermott talked about building a winning culture. If he sees players not embracing that culture, he has to act.

No, you are not the only one. I think we fans are often way too judgmental. A little information is dangerous.

I'm not surprised they used a search firm. I would have been more surprised if they hadn't. This is a huge decision. They had to dedicate a lot of resources. I heard of a team (forget which one) that had hired a detective to investigate their candidates. I know some fans were concerned the team only interviewed four candidates. But they researched many more. After doing their first round of due diligence, they settled on a final four. I don't see a problem. Each of us has our own opinion about who the Bills should have hired. I was a little disappointed when Whaley talked a lot about the importance of McDermott's coaching influences and his place on a good coaching tree. Not all disciples of good coaches become good coaches. But I also realize I only know maybe 1% of what Whaley knows about the candidates out there. I'm hoping that he acquired the right information to make the right decision.

Reading all these names makes me consider what a weird career it is to be a NFL coach. In most professions, you climb the corporate ladder and get more responsibility and bigger paychecks as your career progresses. But many NFL coaches are like yo-yos going up and down: position coach then coordinator then head coach then position coach then coordinator again...

Mini Max Andersen... if you remember him, you're old.

Maybe so. Or maybe McDermott already knows what he wants to do with special teams. He may have his own ideas and system and just needs someone to carry them out. While Crossman isn't particularly adept at running his own ST show, maybe he can implement McDermott's ideas. Maybe that's the thought. McDermott did say he planned to be 'aggressively' involved in all three phases of the game.

I'm confused. Didn't Sully report that Whaley lost control of the 53 and was a diminished figure?

Even though you're a lawyer, I agree. I know some intelligent, successful people who are extremely smooth and articulate when speaking to a group. I know others who are just as successful and intelligent who are terrible in front of a group. In interviews, Terry seems like a bright enough guy to run a successful sports franchise. I'm not worried about him - or Kim. It's more about judgment and 'intentionality' than it is about intellect and speaking skills, any way.

Nonetheless, I hope he's excited about the coaching change and decides to stay. He's become a Bills institution and a leader in the locker room.

I might be offended too if uninformed people criticized my work and, more importantly, the work of my people. Then again, this happens all the time when you work in the public eye. Monday Morning Quarterbacks always have their opinions even when they don't have any credible facts. I think Terry, Kim, Russ, Doug, et al just need to ignore the media and, frankly, ignore us fans too. The only that matters is winning on the field, not in the court of public opinion.

I'm not sure about that. What good is a QB guru for an OC when you have a QB who is not a pure passer? I'd like us to get an offensive coaching staff that's good at both the passing game and running game. If you want a "QB guru," find a good QB coach for that role. What's essential is that our new OC knows how to coordinate a running game. We have the personnel to run the ball and we need to be successful at it. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ In regards to Frazier, often when the HC is the de facto coordinator, the man with the title of coordinator is more-or-less a no-name. But McDermott did something different. He brought in a prominent guy - a guy who's been a HC and DC before himself. This could be a good 1-2 punch.

It's reassuring, in a perverse way, to see the media down there is just as the negative as the media here. The new head coach's first question is about a skeleton in his (Buffalo) closet! I tend to think Marrone is what his college and pro W-L records say he is: a .500 coach. His strengths are offset by his weaknesses.

You're right and by itself it's not a reason not to bring him back. But it is icing on the cake when there are other reasons to say "no" to Chip.

Nice find. They say McDermott does a nice job adapting to the talent on the roster. It'll be interesting to see how he implements these ideas with our players.

Marc Trestman - has an unusual backstory as I recall. After graduating from law school he worked in football for a while but then left to be a stockbroker for 3 or 4 years. Then Bill Walsh asked him if he wanted to return to the NFL. Smart guy.

I've actually read Mike Smith's book. He got the Falcons to the playoffs 4 of 7 years and won nearly 60% of his games there. And he seems to understand what he did wrong toward the end and why he didn't win more. And, yeah, it is weird that some of these guys didn't receive a lot of attention. Vance Joseph and our own A Lynn were both coordinators for just a year (or less). Both were supposedly Rooney Rule guys. Both got HC gigs. Bigger names barely got sniffs. Wade is a weird one. He went 29-19 with the Bills and 34-22 with the Cowboys. And he still knows how to coach defense. Why roll the dice on a coordinator with very little experience like the Chargers and Broncos did when here's a guy you pretty much know will make your team competitive?