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I'm not sure if this is arrogance, naivete, or something else. None of us know as much about coaching football as a NFL coach. How many coaching clinics have you attended? How long have you spent as a position coach or coordinator? What books have you studied? So you believe that these guys who have immersed themselves in coaching for 20, 30, 40 years have only learned the same material that you have learned watching the game? That's just crazy. I used to be an army officer and what the amateurs wrote about our missions - or the talking heads said on tv - was generally comically misinformed and ignorant. That's how professional football guys feel about us sometimes. I'm sure you're an expert in something. Do rank amateurs who have never done your job know as much as you? Rex could coach circles around anyone on this site. Unfortunately, he can't coach circles around the other highly experienced coaches that he actually coaches against.

Jeff Fisher spent 22 years as a head coach. While he did reach the playoffs a few times, he never built a perennial winner and probably never would. So, I agree, continuity can be overrated. But it can be underrated too. I think it's clear in hindsight that the Browns, for example, should have been more patient with Bill Belichick as their coach. Bill Walsh went 2-14 his first year and had another dismal season his second year. Bills fans would have demanded his head. In the end, you're making an educated guess. Is this a guy who will turn things around eventually? Or are we spinning wheels?

Doug Whaley is the best person within the organization to lead the HC search. Who would you want in that role? Russ? Kim? Typically, it's the GM's responsibility and the GM usually knows more coaches than anyone else in the organization. This suggests, though, that the Pegulas are buying into the purported Whaley narrative: we have a playoff quality roster but lack a playoff quality coach. I'm not sure I agree.

On the one hand, the Pegulas are infinitely better informed and resourced than the Monday Morning Quarterbacks who rant here on TBD. They're probably spending a lot of time and money doing their due diligence. I imagine they have a number of smart football guys as official and unofficial advisers. On the other hand, they're football neophytes with an unproven track record. So the answer is that I don't trust them. But I trust the BN writers and commentators here even less.

My issue with Whaley is pure speculation. But I think he thinks this is a good roster led by a poor HC. I think (with injuries and suspensions factored in) that this is an average roster that was led by an average coach. I'm guessing Whaley overrates his work.

Yes. So while Whaley might have preferred another candidate, it seems unlikely he was vociferously opposed to Rex.

If the Bills had beaten Miami, would Rex have been fired today? Certainly not. What if the Bills had lost in OT in a defensive struggle, 13-10? It shouldn't matter, he's the HC. But if his beloved D had showed some life, I wonder if the Pegulas might have thought differently.

I kind of thought our coaching was average-ish but so was our roster. I think Whaley and Rex share equal responsibility for our mediocrity. An average GM with an average coach winning roughly half their games working together. Seems right. Apparently, the Pegulas bought into a different narrative: we have a good roster that's poorly led. The coach is to blame, not the GM. Interesting that Rob was fired, too. Wonder who's idea that was.

Offensive guru, Doug Marrone, fielded a far better D than O. Defensive guru, Rex Ryan, fields a far better O than D. Maybe we ought to let Jim Schwartz run the D and ALynn run the O.

I'm really big on continuity. I think a HC needs enough time to implement his system and philosophy, acquire the players to make that system work, and acquire the right coaches. I also believe that the Bills will fail to attract good coaches if the organization is looked upon as a coaching carousel. We want Buffalo to be viewed as a place where coaches are given all the resources they need - including time - to be successful. Then again, our defense has regressed and Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru. If I'm the Pegulas, I'd ask Rex to explain to me his plans for the future. What will he do differently to make 2017 more successful. If I'm not satisfied with his answer, I ax him.

The vitriol for TT, Rex, DW and Russ amazes me. We're a middling team, not a bad one. Our statistics are average-ish. Our W-L under Rex is average-ish. We're not the Browns. Of course, our goal is not to be better than the Browns or even just average. It's to return to the playoffs, better yet the Super Bowl. But, as I see it, we have average coaching and an average roster. So maybe both Rex and DW need to go. But Russ? I'm not sure how Russ is contributing to the mediocrity in any way since he's neither the final authority on the coaching staff nor the roster. I think the Pegulas are in a far better position to judge Russ - since they actually know what they've asked him to do! - than any of us.

I used to be an officer in the army. Articles written about our operations by Monday morning quarterbacks were always good for a laugh. Folks pretending to know what they're talking about, with little knowledge of the actual situation or mission, offering up pronouncements on how to do better - the foolish arrogance of it all! We're all expert at something. We all know what it's like when rank amateurs pretend to know better. If you think you can manage an actual NFL game better, I think maybe a little holiday cheer has clouded your judgment. Maybe you could if you had years of training and experience. But not right now. It looks easy from the outside, but it's not.

Once it got going, the offense was impressive today. We passed effectively. We ran effectively. We piled up yards and scored a lot of points. But did we see the Tyrod of the future today? Or will he regress to his inaccurate, happy-feet self once more? I won't pretend to know the answer. I get why some see signs of promise in today's performance. And I get why others are more cynical.

Here's what's impressive. Thrown unexpectedly into the job. Never an OC before. No RT worth mentioning. No franchise QB. Playing 2nd and 3rd string WRs - even street FAs (when the starters do play, they're banged up). Yet we're 7th in points and 12th in yards. Has he earned a HC position? I don't think so. Not yet. But he is off to a good start.

I once read Bill Walsh broke blocking down into 30 unique, individual skills and then developed multiple drills that 49er offensive linemen practiced relentlessly until they were mastered. Gilmore is a good cover DB but has exhibited poor tackling technique his entire career. I have to assume the Bills coaches are not good at teaching tackling techniques. Too often we have guys in the right places but not making the play because of poor tackling fundamentals.

Status quo? #12 in the NFL in yards per game. #7 in points per game. Despite lacking a NFL caliber RT. Despite no franchise QB. Despite playing 2nd and 3rd string receivers. I'm not sure what you want from a 1st year OC.

A Lynn has done a wonderful job with this offense. He was given a QB with accuracy problems. An OL with some weaknesses, And a WR corps decimated by injuries. He took all that and put up a ton of points. Yes, there were too many 3 and outs. Yes, the passing attack didn't put up enough yards. Yes, we didn't win enough games. Still, you gotta be impressed with Lynn's first year as an OC.

Clayton is a bright guy. He knows some teams pretty well: Seattle (where he lives now), Pittsburgh (where he used to live). But he's usually pretty clueless about the Bills.

Except for the occasionally true insider information, the national media guys don't know as much about the Bills as fans here do. We're a non-playoff team in a small market. We're irrelevant. I only pay attention to the national media guys when they claim to have an inside source. And even then I'm careful in what I believe.

That was how I understood Whaley's comments.

Those of us who have lived through Jim Ringo (3-20), Harvey Johnson twice (2-23), John Rauch (7-20), Kay Stephenson (10-26) and Hank Bullough (4-17) don't automatically assume a new coach will be better than Rex. Convince Cowher or Dungy to come out of retirement and I'm all for a coaching change. But, otherwise, I lean toward continuity.

So many of his interceptions seemed more luck than skill. For example, he'd be out of position but the ball would get tipped to him. I was never a huge Byrd fan - unless we're talking about Butch Byrd.

TBN's only agenda is revenue. To generate revenue, they need readers. So the safe guess is that the sports editor has decided that negativity generates clicks. And maybe he or she is right. But I hate any reporting that isn't balanced. Negativity is dreary and depressing. Pollyanna positivity is goofy and unrealistic. Can't we get a little bit of both?

What I've seen is that there's often a negative slant or assumption in the questions. And when the interviewee refuses to respond, they keep pushing pointlessly, as if intentionally trying to annoy the interviewee. But worst of all, in the end they fail to get a meaningful, insightful interview. I'm guessing that most players and coaches would agree to longer interviews if the interviews actually involved intelligent conversation about things that matter.

Agree. Lynn's background is in running the ball. He played running back. He's coached running backs. Running is pretty much all he knows. Unless he hires a passing game coordinator, I have trouble imagining Lynn developing a potent passing attack. It's just not in his DNA. On the one hand, Roman's QBs are sometimes efficient but rarely highly productive. It's not a surprise that Tyrod isn't throwing for a lot of yards per game. On the other hand, Tyrod has some obvious problems beyond scheme. It's not the fault of Roman's scheme when Tyrod bails early or misses a wide open receiver. None of us know what Lynn's scheme will look like if he's OC again next year. But, given his background, it will probably be run-heavy again.