hondo in seattle

I tend to agree with this Rob Quinn, not the other one. To me it's all about options. The fact that Tyrod doesn't live up to the expectations of a franchise QB is irrelevant. There are a dozen or more QBs I'd rather have than Tyrod. Since none are available, I'd stick with TT until we find someone demonstrably better.

Some of this is true everywhere: * Coaches think it's the fault of the GM for not getting them enough talent to work with. * GMs think the fault lies with the coaches for not get the best out of the roster. I don't know if it's fair to give Whaley just one shot at picking a good HC but I'm guessing that's all he's got. Let's see what he does with it. This choice will probably make or break Whaley's career. I'm guessing he's working the phones like crazy, getting as much inside information on each candidate as he can. No matter who he picks, I expect Sully and at least half the posters here to criticize the decision. But maybe if we knew everything Whaley is learning, we'd make the same pick too.

I know about as much about the Bills as most fans. I'm here every day reading up. I know about as much about leadership as most fans. I've read 100+ books on leadership/management, including several on sports leadership. I manage a successful multi-million dollar company with hundreds of employees. I even sometimes give classes on leadership. (I also know as much about the military as most people). I was once an army captain who led 165 soldiers into combat. We kicked ass). And for all that, I don't know enough to judge Terry Pegula's leadership. Half the stuff we read about him and the organization is wrong. And the half that I think might be right doesn't make me believe he's a poor leader. Until I learn more, I reserve judgment.

I'm always uncomfortable with guys who have the coordinator title but maybe not the full duties. Marrone, for example, was the OC under Sean Payton but Payton was the mastermind of the offense. We learned that Marrone had not been a good student under Payton and didn't really have a good offensive mind. Richards is running a defense designed and built by Pete Carroll. Can he succeed on his own terms as architect and engineer?

I'm with you. While our offense was far from perfect, it did put up a fair number of points. You don't jettison the QB of a team that can score without an alternative plan. Romo doesn't seem like a viable alternative for a number of reasons, including his age and fragility. I've never believed the report that said the decision on Tyrod has already been made. Maybe Whaley or Pegula once said something like, "I don't think this guy will ever get it." But to actually decide to cut him without a Plan B would be insane.

I disagree with the uninformed pundits and fans who declare the Bills 'dysfunctional' and the Pegulas 'clueless.' But Scott Berchtold, Senior VP of Communications, certainly hasn't been earning his paycheck recently. The benching of TT was not well communicated. Whaley was imbalanced by questions over Rex's firing and provided inelegant answers - he should have been far better prepared. ALynn's could have been better prepared for his presser as well. I don't know what's going on behind closed doors but certainly we've been losing the PR war lately.

Yep. Plus, it's kind of like climbing Mt. Everest. The Bills haven't even make it to the first base camp after several failed attempts. It's kind of pathetic. Neither the Lions or Fins reached the summit, they at least made it to Camp 1.

I agree. I'm sure I'll get caught up a little bit in the hype of a new HC but none of the HC candidates are proven winners. And I'm sure I'll feel some modicum of excitement with our draft picks and maybe our FA signings. But it doesn't matter much what players we draft/sign if the new HC is a dud. And we won't truly know that until the season is well under way. So I'm purely in wait-and-see mode.

Yep. Weird.

I just don't care what they say in Beantown. I want to see (1) who we hire as HC, and (2) how many games he wins. Then I'll let you know how I feel about the Pegulas and the revised organizational structure.

My thoughts: * The Pegulas have something like a .500 record since buying the Bills. Mere neophytes, they're performing right about average for NFL owners. In fact, they're already outperforming several owners with much more experience. Just imagine when the Pegulas learn from their experience and get good at this! * We have no idea what's happening behind closed doors. Much of the information in the media is wrong. If we worked with the Pegulas on a day-in, day-out basis, I'm pretty sure we'd have a much different impression than we have now. It's pretentious/naive/arrogant of us to evaluate them with so little accurate information. * Many/most people who say the Pegulas are "clueless," "over their heads," and the like have no experience running multi-million dollar organizations and don't know the first thing about organizational leadership. Yet they feel competent to judge. (Not meant for the OP whose credentials I don't know). * None of us like it when people with no professional expertise and little actual knowledge criticize our ability at our professions. It's just rude. So why do we do it to Terry and Kim? * It's been two years. The Pegulas biggest mistake was that they hired the wrong head coach. While some of the posters here may have felt differently, a lot of players, coaches, and media gurus predicted success for Rex in Buffalo. In retrospect it was clearly a bad decision, but - given Rex's reputation in some circles - it was an understandable decision. It wasn't just the Pegulas who liked Rex - if we hadn't hired him, some other team would have. * The Pegulas overpaid to keep the Bills in Buffalo. They'll have to make a lot of mistakes before I feel it's okay to criticize them. For me, it's way, way premature.

Do we need a new thread for this when it's been discussed elsewhere? In great detail?

I think you're right. Didn't Whaley at one point say/hint that he was open to relinquishing some power over the roster? Ideally, I think the GM ought to be tasked with acquiring talent. That's his expertise. I think the HC should then evaluate the players he has and figure out which ones produce the most in his scheme with the players around them. I don't think the HC should have final say on draft picks or FAs though he ought to provide input. But he should have final say on the 53 man final roster, the players on the practice squad, and who dresses on Sunday. And maybe Whaley agrees with that. So Whaley loses a little power there. But he gains in power because he now chooses the HC and I'm guessing the org chart will change so that the HC works for the GM, too.

Yeah, the Pegulas originally seemed to think of this entirely as a business decision. They didn't want to aggravate Tyrod's injury. They wanted to see if EJ could perform as well in a game as he does in practice. Maybe they also wanted to give Cardale some reps. All rational reasons. But they're dealing with people here, not just products for sale. Players and coaches are emotional. TT wanted to play - even though it was a meaningless game - and Lynn wanted him to play. I'm glad the Pegulas expressed remorse. They should have discussed the situation with both TT and Lynn before making the decision. I think - with better communication - they could have still sat Tyrod but without the bad feelings.

If we have to pay him anyway, keep him. We have a new HC coming, get his opinion. We don't have anyone better - until we do TT is the starter.

If I had to pick, I'd pick Wade. He's still got a sharp defensive mind and he left the Bills with a winning record. Levy's too old. Most of the others didn't do well here. Schwartz did as a DC, but was horrible when he had the chance to be a HC somewhere else. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yikes, this is some of the craziest stuff I've ever read on TBD...

Fans: BN editors aren't exactly doing a writing star search As bad as they've been, the Bills have done a better job finding capable coaches than BN has finding capable writers. As Bills fans, we're doubly blessed.

Bill Bilichick is a defensive minded coach who's done well with QBs. Pete Carroll is another defensive minded coach who wins a lot of games. I want the Bills to hire the best HC. Then I want to see that HC hire a great OC. Then I hope they hire a great QB coach. Head Coaches typically don't spend a lot of time mentoring the QBs. They're too busy and have other people paid to do that.

It's kind of funny actually.

It'll confuse an offense that's expecting 11. And then when they're expecting 10, you line up 11 and confuse them again. Clever!

I thought it was a curious decision at the time. Owners/GMs either fire just the Head Coach or the whole staff. It's not usually the Head Coach plus one. I wondered why at the time. If the Pegulas had this information, the move makes a lot of sense.

Tyler Dunne, after only a short time in Buffalo, has more inside information on the Bills than Sully who's spending his career following the Bills.

Somewhere else I read something similar. According to an unnamed source, Rex didn't work as hard this year as in years past. He let his brother run the D. Once he realized things were screwed up, it was too late to get it under control.

So Rex did a good job getting us to 7 wins in 15 games??? As someone said, Bellichick is a great talent evaluator. He finds good players and he finds good coaches. Interesting observation. Probably some truth there.

It's better to have a player who's over-aggressive who you occasionally you have to restrain (say whoa)... Then a player who's under-aggressive who you have to encourage to go sic 'em. So far, I don't hate any of the candidates we're interviewing.