hondo in seattle

Yep

I'll give LaCan some credit. He was the first national guy to say the Bills were going to fire Rex. Then again, even a broken clock is right twice a day. And he's wrong too often for me to take him seriously.

Lynn as HC and de facto OC? Wade as DC and Assistant HC? That might work. The Pegulas could spend enough to make it happen. I doubt if Wade has any grudges against the city and Ralph is gone.

Some old Rex favorites from the Jets - Scott, Revis - have defended Rex since his firing. But very few Bills players have spoken up in support of Rex. There's a rumor out there that Rex didn't work as hard this year as in years past. Maybe a bit burnt out. Maybe the rumor is true and the players sensed it.

Rex's job isn't to be the smartest guy on the field with the best scheme. It's to win. He didn't do his job - not enough of the time. Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru yet his defense under-performed. His fault. Maybe Marcel's criticisms are off target but Rex still failed to deliver. Nonetheless, I think Bart Scott's defense of Rex was pointed and funny. It's gotta warm Rex's heart to have former players like Revis and Scott come to his defense.

His 3-9 season in Denver doesn't give you any pause? I get, it was a long time ago. He's matured as a coach since then. But I also get that all coordinators who work for Belichick tend to look good. Belichick makes sure of that. Everyone thought Charlie Weis was a genius when he worked for Belichick. But Charlie's since gone on to establish himself as a mediocre HC at the college level with a career .500 record. How do you know Josh isn't another Charlie?

Think of the collective intelligence needed to accomplish something that random chance says should only happen once in thousands of attempts! There's a remarkable level of skill involved in this that I think we under appreciate.

None of us know Lynn very well. He's spent his career executing other people's schemes so it's hard to judge his body of work. Yet people have strong opinions that he should - or shouldn't - be the next HC. Knowing so little about the guy it was great to get Casserly's take since Casserly once evaluated him as a HC candidate. It's reassuring to discover Casserly has a positive view of the man. I get what you're saying 26CB, but as a fan I do have doubts. Even veteran coaches sometimes fail to put together effective coaching staffs. Currently 47% of franchises are below .500. Obviously, Lynn will find generally competent guys. But will he find coaches who will get us into the playoffs? We can make wild ass guesses but no one knows. He has no track record in assembling coaches.

I think NFL professionals are intelligent enough to ignore what the media says and trust their own sources of information.

Personally, for me it's all about self loathing. I don't deserve to be a fan of a winning organization. So I picked the most god-forsaken football team I could find. Actually, I grew up in Cheektowaga. I was a fan since I was 10 just because all the kids I grew up with were all Bills fans. My fandom actually increased when I left WNY - maybe because it was a way to stay connected with my hometown. I've lived in/near a lot of cities with better teams but have never considered jumping ship. It's really not possible. It's not in my DNA to be disloyal. As I type this, I'm wearing a blue sweatshirt with red and white lettering saying "Just One Before I Die." My Seattle friends don't get it but any Bills fan would understand & empathize immediately.

I listened to the whole interview. Glad to hear Marv is doing well. Blame him all you want for the lost Super Bowls, he's given me more good Bills memories than any other coach in my lifetime.

Now that's true. I don't know what Reggie is like in the locker room but I do know Fred inspires his fellow players. I could see Fred going into coaching.

Sounds right to me. Still pretty depressing though.

Sully is off target as usual. Lynn is the new HC. Of course, he did a presser. Of course, he wasn't entirely smooth and natural in front of all those cameras. I imagine Brandon or someone asked if he felt up to a presser. Lynn is no coward and probably said he did. In any case, Lynn is a grown man and a professional. This is the kind of stuff that just goes with the territory. You do a presser. Life goes on.

And no other skill/quality comes close.

Reports are Rex told Terry on Tuesday, "If you're going to fire me, fire me now." If true, that explains the Tuesday firing, not the QB issue.

I'll say it again. The Bills are a .500 team. How do we win half our games? Either Rex is good and Whaley is bad - or Rex is bad and Whaley is good. Or - maybe - neither is particular good or bad. They're both just average. Too many say both Rex and Whaley suck. That flies in the face of reason. If they both suck as bad as their detractors say, we would be 2-13 right now. I'm not opposed to firing Whaley too (I tend to believe both are average and average doesn't get you to the Super Bowl). I just think the debate needs to make sense. It's just not rational to say both Rex and Whaley suck. Agreed!

As a Bills fan, you hold Whaley partially responsible for The Drought. That's not how the rest of the NFL sees him. There are only 32 HC jobs. Something like 8 of them are open each year. And few of those 8 will offer a roster as talented as the Bills. While coaches get all the blame, often the terminated head coach had little to work with. This roster is at least average. In other words, Whaley has not been an abysmal failure at acquiring talent. A new coach will have a chance - if he coaches well - to reach the playoffs his first year. Most coaches think they coach well. To sweeten the pot, the Bills have one of the wealthiest owners. Not only will the new HC command a healthy salary, he'll have enough money to hire the coordinators and position coaches he wants. You don't get that everywhere. I'm not saying DW is a good GM. I do think, though, that many/most coaches looking for a HC opportunity would consider the Bills.

If the roster is a good one - a playoff caliber one - but the coach couldn't coach them into the playoffs - you fire the coach. If the roster is poor, but the HC coached them up to roughly .500 - you fire the GM. We're winning about half our games. If Rex sucks, Whaley doesn't. If Whaley sucks, Rex doesn't. If Whaley is so horrible - and failed to put together a good roster - why are we firing Rex?

There are worse scenarios that going into 2017 with TT, EJ and Cardale. Though I don't actually think they'll all be on the roster.

No. Rex was fired because he's supposed to be a defensive guru and the defense was regressing. His entire body of work got him fired. The timing vis-a-vis TT is irrelevant.

Would he? That of course is the question. If his open market price is lower than the contract, the Bills might risk a game of chicken. Otherwise, we have zero leverage. I'm not opposed to looking at options but right now Tyrod is reasonably priced and better than the FAs likely available.

Agree with both statements.

I think this thread is funny. We're all experts on Terry's, Russ's and Whaley's faults even though most of us have never met them, let alone worked with them. The unbridled arrogance of fans is awe inspiring!

Man, I've been impressed by Lynn. Never an OC before. Promoted after the season began so wasn't able to develop or install his own playbook. Didn't have a franchise QB. Didn't have a real RT. Playing either the walking wounded or street FAs at the wideouts. And still got the Bills into the Top 10 in scoring. 589 total yards, 30 first downs, 31 points... most OCs wish they called a game this poorly.