hondo in seattle

Actually, if I'm a coach in a league with a win-now mentality I'm thinking Denver is a better option than Buffalo. They may have the best roster and went 9-7 this year. If I'm obsessing about QB, maybe I pick San Diego. Phillip Rivers may not have many years left but he's the best QB on an available team. Buffalo is not the clear-cut best option. But we're certainly not the worst either, despite the 'dumpster fire' and 'dysfunction' remarks. The real dumpster fire is San Francisco with a 2-14 type roster and a CEO/owner that the media is saying should fire himself. When players are free agents they talk about a lot of stuff but usually sign the biggest offer. Coaches aren't much different, and we have an owner willing to pay not just for a good HC - but for a good OC and DC too.

I'm in the middle on Tyrod. He's done some good things and is clearly better than some of our FA options. But he's not an elite QB. I do, btw, give him some credit for the effectiveness of the ground game this year. His presence in the backfield - and the way the plays are designed - make it harder for defenses to key on Shady or MG. Saying all that, I don't buy into advanced metrics. Virtually any metric invented to evaluate QBs does so on a per-pass-play basis. This is a flawed approach. Productivity matters. A guy who goes 15 of 20 for 150 yards with no INTS and 1 TD doesn't contribute as much as the QB who goes 30 of 40 for 300 yards with no INTs and 2 TDs. Yet most statistical systems will rate those games equivalently. Sometimes you need your QB to throw for 300+ yards. The goal is to score and win the field position battle. To do all that you need to 'matriculate' the ball down the field. TT hasn't shown a consistent ability to move the ball down the field with passes. As we all know, TT has only one 300 yard game on his resume. So I think Jim is right to a certain extent. Then again, looking at the past few years, the Bills have a .500 overall roster. Most new coaches don't get to take over winning clubs. Head coaching positions are so rare and difficult to come by that both Hue Jackson and Mike Pettine were persuaded to take the hopeless Browns job. The Bills roster is good enough to attract some good candidates though others might indeed shy away from a team with TT as QB.

This is funny. "Coughlin was thought to be a leading candidate..." By who? The media. Now the very same media is saying Coughlin is unlikely to interview. The headline should be "The media is wrong again!" Coughlin did win two Super Bowls but his average season W-L record is 8.5-7.5. His record says he's barely above average. His age says his best years are probably behind him. We're not missing out.

Lynn interviewed with San Francisco today. I thought he said he wouldn't be the first black applicant for a HC position. He understandably doesn't want to just be a Rooney Rule guy. The article states he was the first candidate of any color to interview to be Chip Kelly's replacement. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/49ers-interview-anthony-lynn-coaching-job-220038038--nfl.html;_ylt=A0LEVjHOj21Yk5gAHVQPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

Wow. I live in Seattle and talk with an ex Hawk from time to time. I don't get the same feeling you get. The people here view Buffalo as just another NFL club with maybe three main distinguishing characteristics, (1) it's cold and snowy in Buffalo, (2) the new owner is rich, (3) the Bills haven't been to the playoffs in forever - though not a horrible team lately. The fans here in Seattle, including the ex player, are not trashing the team. In fact, most see it as a positive that we fired Rex. The rest is just soap opera. By the way, things are far worse in San Francisco. There the media is asking the co-owner and CEO, Jed York, why he stopped at Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke? Why didn't he fire himself too? Hilarious.

"utter ineptitude at all levels." Hmm... the NFL is a highly competitive league. Only the very best players, coaches, and personnel evaluators in the college ranks and CFL make it to the NFL. The Bills have been .500 over the past three years. That means they are exactly average. Not good. Not bad. But in the very middle of an elite pack. I'm not sure how that can be described as "utter ineptitude." My problem is the average-ness. I want to see Buffalo wining playoff games and being average doesn't get you there. Seems like Terry & Kim feel the same way because they're looking to upgrade the guy best in a position to make that happen.

That all sounds like common sense. But Buffalo, right now, is built to run the ball. We have more talent for running than passing. We need an OC who understands the running game. A good passing game coordinator who's not as good at coordinating a running attack might struggle to score points with the players we currently have. 2013 Sporting New "Coordinator of the Year".

Beautiful

I like King. He's pretty well connected in the NFL. Typically has good sources. When he calls, players, coaches and front office people usually answer. But this was not insightful. I'm not even convinced it's entirely accurate. If I'm a DC or OC hoping to be a HC for another team, I won't spend a lot of time watching pressers. Nor do I care much what's said - it's all just PR. I will care about these things: * What does the roster look like? We have a .500 roster - better than most new HCs. * How much money will I have for my assistants? Pegula's willing to pay. * Who's my QB? TT isn't worse than most QBs on bad teams with HC openings. * How much will I be paid? Pegula will open the checkbook. * Quality of Life? Different coaches will evaluate life in Buffalo differently. * Do I like the people I'll be working with? Many haven't yet met Terry, Kim and/or Doug. But Terry and Kim seem like real nice people.

Maybe my memory is bad, but I thought once upon a time he used to do real reporting with real sources. Nowadays, he just seems to repeat what he's read on the internet or heard from an uninformed source (like a fellow media guy who likewise knows nothing and is only speculating). Yep. Not that this doesn't happen to other teams from time to time. But the timing was horrible and might have been the proverbial straw.

I'm sure you're partially right. I think the Whaley/Monos combo is more attractive to football insiders than to the Buffalo News. I don't know if I'd call Whaley's personnel team "damn good." I think they've been good in free agency. I think they've been so-so in the draft. I'm guessing that people in the NFL look at the Bills and see an average-ish roster. And that makes Whaley and his team credible personnel guys, not "damn good" ones. But I don't believe they have a bad reputation among coaches and other NFL insiders, despite the wild headlines in the media.

Our GM is black. Our OC was black. Now our HC is black. All our QBs are black. I'm not sure why you think Tyrod is being short-changed because he's black. I think you can make intelligent, rational arguments why Tyrod should be our QB going forward, and why he shouldn't. Like every QB, TT has his strengths and his weaknesses. How you weigh those against each other will vary from fan to fan, and from coach to coach. His particular profile is fairly unique. Then there's the issue of his future potential. Perfectly rational people think he's hit his ceiling. Other rational people expect him to get better yet - maybe with better coaching. At this point, whether it's fair or not, there are probably some head coach candidates who believe you cannot build a winning franchise around Tyrod's unique skill set. That's just the reality we have to face.

This was a generic, no-one-was-good-enough, statement. It's the kind of thing you say about any team that fails to meet its goals. "We all have to get better." He blames everyone - fair enough - which is pretty much the same as blaming no one. Shady, for example, did play at a playoff level. So who didn't? Which coaches didn't coach well enough? Kelly copped out and didn't say.

I agree. Certainly, a lot of new head coaches take over teams with even worse QB situations. The Bills are more or less a .500 team. A coach with a lot of confidence (and most are confident men) will believe he can transform a .500 team into a playoff team. Hell, Hue Jackson took over the Browns, as hopeless as that situation was.

Berchtold clearly should have had Whaley better prepared for his presser. Whaley violated some basic fundamentals: Know your talking points; hit your talking points clearly and decisively; don't let questions hijack your agenda. Large companies have PR professionals to make sure the messaging is always positive. Whaley's fumbling at a preplanned event did not help the franchise's reputation. What went wrong? I think the OP is probably right in saying Berchtold should be held accountable.

I'm amused by the fascination with Chad Kelly. Beside the Kelly name, he's just another college QB who occasionally flashes some talent.

I don't think coaching candidates pay too close attention to the BN whining. They know not to trust the accuracy of the sports media (no offense, JW). But Whaley's statements were odd and open to interpretation. He just should have refused to answer any questions about the past and focused entirely on a better future. And Polian's comments didn't help either. He's a respected football man. I think some coaches may listen attentively to his opinion. Right now, we're losing the PR war. While I think the "dumpster fire" and "dysfunction" remarks are way overstated, our bad PR lately could hurt our ability to lure the right HC to Buffalo.

"I have total confidence in the Pegulas." He also notes the obvvious, big name coaches are looking for a team with a QB. Tyrod is not a franchise QB. Jim is a great Bill but his credibility in management/coaching issues was damaged by his enthusiasm for Rex. No. I think the commitment to winning at OBD is huge. The skill is lacking. Jim was a great QB. I see no reason to believe he'd be a great organizational leader.

How do you explain getting to the playoffs all those consecutive years? Winning the AFC championship 4 consecutive years? Lack of discipline? I don't think that's the story. Marv really needed to hire a sports psychologist. Clearly - after the first Super Bowl loss (a game that could have gone either way) - the Super Bowl got into the heads of the players. They tried too hard. They expected something to go wrong. They were too tight... You make a good point. The inconsistency is funny.

This can't be true. Buffalo has a monopoly on dysfunction. Just ask the BN.

Even if he was right in what he said, he was wrong to say it publicly. Disloyal to raise concerns and hurt the Bills reputation in the middle of a coaching search. Disloyal to all us fans.

Unless a coaching legend comes out of retirement, I'm not going to be excited by any hire. There's no one out there who's a sure-fire winner. On the other hand, I'm not going to cut up my Bills Fan Card and leave the country regardless of who they hire. There's virtually no one out there I can label a sure-fire failure. Look at Bill Belichick. Some Pats fans were unhappy with that hire, given his performance in Cleveland. Closer to home, look at Marv Levy. I remember many fans were unexcited with that hire. He failed as a HC at both Cal and William & Mary in the college ranks. He followed that up some good years in the CFL, which doesn't count for much. Then produced a 31-42 record at KC. There was nothing in his resume that suggested he would get the Bills to the Super Bowl four years in a row and later be inducted into the HOF. Hiring coaches can be like drafting QBs - you're never sure what you're going to get.

I still don't get how A Lynn elicits such strong reactions as a coaching candidate when we all know so little about him. He hasn't been interviewed often. He's been a RB coach most of his career so it's hard to evaluate his coaching. On the one hand, his resume is awfully thin for a HC candidate so I wouldn't be surprised if no team hired him to be a Head Coach this year. On the other hand, we fans know virtually nothing about the man's character, judgment, work-ethic, organization abilities, interpersonal skills, knowledge of X's and O's, or leadership. He might be the next Vince Lombardi for all we know. The Pegulas and Whaley know him far, far better than we do. Likewise, they have access to inside information on other candidates as well. They know which coaches have drinking problems, which coaches are detested by their peers, etc. They'll evaluate all that and - rightly or wrongly - make a decision different than ours with our different data sets.

Agreed We fans are so fickle! I remember when we didn't want Mike Shanahan to be our Head Coach because he would bring his loser son with him. Now we want a qualified Head Coach like Kyle Shanahan instead of a guy who's been a RB coach virtually all his career.

I think what Whaley was saying (or attempting to say) in the presser was that he wasn't involved in the phone call or any substantive meeting with the theme of "Should we fire Rex or keep him?" I don't believe Whaley never over the course of the season said things to the Pegulas that may have undermined Rex. It would be hard to believe he hadn't. The team has been stuck at .500, +/- 1 game. So either the GM is failing to produce a winning roster or the coach is failing to coach the team to it's potential. I don't know Doug Whaley at all but it's easy to guess he think it's the latter. When he says the Bills are close, he's hinting that the roster is good enough. So that's got to be what he's been telling Terry and Kim: this roster is a good one, In other words, the coach is under-performing. Pegula probably didn't consult with Whaley before firing Rex because (1) Rex forced Terry's hand and the firing went off prematurely, and (2) he just didn't need to. Whaley wasn't Rex's boss and, in any case, Terry already knew Whaley's frustrations. Whaley probably went into the presser with some general thoughts about the coaching search. He was clearly unprepared to get lambasted with questions about Rex's firing. While trying to be truthful, he was also probably torn by thoughts that he didn't want to be blamed by the new coach for firing a coach after just 2 years, or whatever. Clearly his answers were inelegant. But I do think Terry and Doug were both telling some version of the truth. Polian suggesting Whaley's lying without inside information is too much. Why would he speculate publicly? He's clearly not a Whaley supporter - and that could be bad news in and of itself since Polian is a smart football guy. But you wonder if sour grapes are involved - maybe he wanted a position with the Bills and the Polians never offered. Polian is supposed to be friendly with the Pegulas. You don't publicly bad-mouth your friends' team when they're in the middle of a coaching search. That was disloyal to the Pegulas and, worse, disloyal to the Bills and all our fans.