Dan

I would say that there's nothing wrong with that. Unless.... You publicly stated your problems and trashed the board on your way out the door. Take it back to the Bills... Schwartz just quit because he and Rex don't see eye to eye. But, he didn't trash any one, create a negative situation, he just said I'd like to move on. And no one thinks he behaved poorly. Because, he didn't. He was professional to the end.

Precisely. As everyone should know.... You can never trust what is formally presented to the public in a news conference. No person or organization ever wants to air their laundry and real opinions about an issue. That's why any firm's facebook page and blog crap is always run by a PR person. They're not spouting lies, necessarily. Just spinning it and stating things in a way that are legally, politically, and marketing wise going to advance everyone in a positive light. That's why Russ will never say what he really feels about Marrone, for example. It's just not smart to do it. I don't read those 4 words as internally disagree, externally lie about it. I see it more as... Internally we disagree and debate. But, then whomever has the final say, makes a call, and the final decision gets made. At that point, get on board and externally support it, because that's where we're going and it does no one any good to show public dissent. What it sounds like to me is someone, formerly with the Bills' organization, was a bit immature and thought it should all be his way and didn't have a problem with people knowing he disagreed. And that attitude causes problems throughout the organization. Essentially, its never good to let the kids see mom and dad fight.

My two cents... I find JWs articles to be the most fact-filled, accurate, and unbiased. If his name is on it... You know its a good read. In fact, I've fallen into a habit of ignoring most other articles and just reading his stuff.

The players might just suck... Or their performance may have been the result of poor coaching/scheming/fish for dinner. I don't really know, and I would suggest Whaley can't be certain either. So, do you stand firm and risk losing another season hoping last year's draft grades were right? If I'm running the show I bring in 2-3 new guys either through FA or draft and let the cream rise to the top. ...same with the TE position.

Seriously... Turn the tv off.

The game sucks... Turn it off.

Fixed it to account for grammar and historical accuracy. You can thank me later.

Yet, once again, he led the Bills in rushing yards and total yards (i think). It actually kind of amazing that for all of Fred's slowness, lack of talent, and age... All he does is out produce every back on the team. I would never count Fred Jackson out. And I hope he's on our team for as long as he wants to be.

EJ is currently on the roster and in many ways has shown just as much good and bad as many of the other young QBs (i.e. the Ryan Mallets). Why wouldn't our GM ask potential HC candidates about EJ and try to hire someone that could work with and develop him? Would you prefer we cut EJ and trade draft picks for someone elses young, unproven QB ask HC candidates how they like that guy? How does that really help? I know a lot of people don't like EJ and think he's the worst QB ever, but who out there is a sure thing to be better? And by who is out there... I mean who is actually available. Not pie in the sky guys like RGIII that are currently under contract and are not in any way likely to be traded. If our coaching staff was as bad as its looking like they were, isn't it a possibility that EJ was a product of poor coaching and poor play design? So, maybe there is hope? Maybe its worth seeing if new HC candidates thought they could work with him?

Personally, I'm torn on Reich being our HC. On one hand, if he ever becomes a good HC and leads a team to the playoffs, I would love for it to be the Bills. It would be an awesome story and feeling. However, of all the candidates currently being considered, he seems to have the least amount of experience. And is therefore, the biggest question mark. With that all said, I'll say the same thing I said about marronie... His success or failure as a HC will boil down to who he hires as his assistant coaches. If he plans to run the offense, then he's not the guy for the job.

I honestly don't know what you just said!

I was hoping to face his inept offense twice a year for the next 2-3 years.

Nope. We gotta wait for teams to be eliminated to talk with any of their guys now. This weekend we could talk to guys that were on the bye, if given permission of course.

Ya know what really sucks.... Knowing that next year when we finally make the playoffs, we're going to lose because of some BS reffing like this. All so the NFL can promote some ratings blockbuster the following week.

If they landed in Denver for just a short time, couldn't it be something as simple as Gase postponed because a different team's interview was running long. So, they refueled and moved on.

Lunch

Re: 2 I agree, Brandon shoulders a lot of the blame for bringing Marrone in and putting the fun in the dysfunction that it looks like our team was the past year plus. However, the opt out clause is not his alone. First of all, the guy drawing up contracts shares, at least, equal fault. Secondly, these types of clauses are common given the circumstances during Marrone's hire. I wouldn't be surprised if Chan had a similar clause. At the time, there was zero assurance of our future, either in terms of owner or team location. So, they probably had to give whomever they hired some assurance that they wouldn't be screwed if ownership changed. 5. I keep seeing people regretting the loss of our #1 pick this year, because we need a QB desperately. While, I would love to have our pick back AND I think there's a valid argument we could have had a similar WR (Beckham) and this year's pick, the idea that it would help us get a QB doesn't follow. Unless someone can state who this great QB is that we would pick with our first round pick this year. Always good to see you posting, Bill.

Maybe he wants a new Team President/CEO, essentially replacing/demoting Brandon. I imagine TPegs is a busy guy and doesn't want or think he can be in charge of all the goings on with the team. But he doesn't think or want Brandon or Whaley to run the whole show. So, he was hoping to bring in someone with experience, e.g. Polian, to run his $1.4billion dollar investment. He could still do that. If the new guy determines that Brandon or Whaley or Overdorf or anyone needs to be replaced, they would be. But, Marrone quitting changed the plan a little. TPegs knows, as well as anyone, you can't wait too long without running a significant risk of loosing the best HC candidates. So TPegs is filling the role until he has time to bring in someone he trusts to run it all. Just a thought.

That pretty much sums it up. Well said.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say... TPeg verbally told Marrone that he was open for extending him and any staff that stayed. However. He wanted to hire a "consultant" and make the final decisions on staff at that point with input from his consultant. Essentially, we like what you've accomplished and we want to ensure longterm stability for all staff we retain. But this isn't the time to discuss it.

And then if Marrone states: I want to keep my OC and OL coach, and I want a $2mill/yr raise for those 3 years. And you say, let's not discuss raises yet. Now the reports are that you didn't want to negotiate yet.

I imagine they're going to contact and interview just about every potential candidate out there. Now... If you believe the rumors about Whaley not listening to his HC, how do you think that plays out with Shan-I-want-my-Han-in-everything?

And I think that sounds entirely reasonable and plausible. Whaley has always seemed like someone with a level head that listened to the people arund him. It makes this whole power struggle and idea that Whaley needs to listen to his HC even more baffling. Unless I conclude that Marrone was a complete egomaniac and insisted every player be his, even the ones he knew little of and every assistant remain, even if they were coaching historically inept systems. What's puzzling as well... When did Polian and Marrrone become BFFs?

I agree with that and it got me thinking that this whole notion that Marrone wasn't given what he needed is crap. Now, sure, maybe Marrone wanted player A and Whaley wanted B, so they selected B. That might piss Marrone off. But, both players are guards. Unless Whaley is a complete control freak (which nothing about him has ever projected as such), he was working with Marrone to bring in the players he wanted/needed. I just can't see Marrone saying I need a better RT as a priority; and Whaley then drafted everyone but a tackle until the 7th round. I think the problem was in the details. Marrone wanted guard A, Whaley got him guard B. But, Whaley has the scouting department to back him up and split the tie. Or in the case of FAs, he's talking to the agents and such and knows who he can actually get versus getting wishlist guys (kinda like posters here befuddled at why we haven't signed Rodgers yet). And Marrone was too stubborn to see why he didn't always get his guy. In the end, it's becoming more and more.. obvious.. Marrone and Whaley spent the last year in a power struggle. Marrone wanted a Chip Kelly type deal, and likely benched players this season to prove his point. If so, I'm really glad he's gone. He's not yet shown himself to be a great coach, let alone talent evaluator and team builder. And if Polian really wanted to stand pat with Marrone, his assistants and Orton; then bring in AJ Smith over Whaley... well, I'm really glad he's decided to stay with ESPN. Nothing about that team structure sounds good.

The line ..was.. a disaster this season, but I contend that it was more to do with bad coaching than bad players. It was Marrone who bucked traditonal wisdom and said continuity on the line doesn't matter, and then proceded to jumble everyone not named Glenn or Wood in various positions well into the regular season. High draft picks got little time, Pears moved to a position he had never played before, Henderson prepped the entire offseason for one spot only to switch to the opposite side, Urbik was benched for no reason... those were all coaching decisions. And when they played poorly? It was like a self fulfilling prophecy of proof that we needed better players. Between the pop warner blocking schemes and play design and line shuffling, its no wonder our run game suffered all season, culminating with a 13 yard performance. To achieve ineptitude like that, it takes a full effort by everyone... players and coaches. Whaley has addressed the line and I fully expect he will again this off season. But, to lay all the offensive ineptitude at his feet for player acquisition is overlooking the huge dysfunction that was our coaching staff.