Maguire's Beer

I'm not totally sold on the idea that Cowher would be able to adapt to the new NFL. Lots of folks on this thread have debated that point, and there's not much to add. But what's indisputable is that Cowher brings a lot of positive attributes, unique among the candidates, to the table. First among them is the kind of star power that allows you your pick among assistants. As an example - folks are rightly concerned that Schwartz would chafe at working for a Gase or a Reich. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have any problem working for Cowher. And that's a massive advantage. I'm not at all sure that he'll ever coach again. But I do think that he'd consider this job, working with Whaley and with Terry-sized money, if he was ever thinking about coming back.

I really can't decide whether I'd rather A) see Marrone strike out and end up jobless in 2015, or B) see him take the Jets job, fail miserably, and get run out of town in 2 years on the Kotite-Coslet Express to UConn or Temple.

Things I've learned in the past two days: 1) Jimmy Sexton absolutely OWNS a number of influential reporters. I mean, he can feed them anything he wants knowing they'll run with it. 2) The Pegulas, OTOH, do not have a well-oiled press machine. They should work on that. 3) Doug Whaley may not be going anywhere, but he doesn't appear to exactly have the complete confidence of the owners, either. 4) Bill Polian is an old guy looking for an easy check. Nothing wrong with that - he's earned a sinecure. It's just not what the Pegulas need right now. 5) Given (3) above, it's a little disconcerting that the Bills are interviewing HC candidates. Who's doing the interviewing? Are the Pegulas trusting Whaley more than it appears? If so, that's fine - I have no problem with Whaley - but it seems flighty to be planning to subordinate him to Polian on Tuesday, only to have him heading an HC search on Saturday. 6) It would be extremely useful to hear directly from SOMEONE in authority at this point, to clarify who's making decisions on the HC search. Be it Terry/Kim, Brandon, or Whaley, someone needs to publicly clear the air so as to dispel the notion that OBD is the tire fire that Sexton and Marrone would like folks to believe it is. 7) Doug Marrone is a colossal sh*tstain, and there is no one I more want to see fail in football at any level.

I'm on board with the idea of a college coach, and particularly like offensive innovators like Malzahn and Briles, but you get the feeling that no college coach could make the jump to the NFL better than Meyer. He's a lot like Harbaugh, in his single-minded commitment to winning, and he's usually identified good coordinators (with the possible exception of Addazio). If OSU loses to Oregon, there's no way he's leaving Columbus. But if OSU wins the championship, I wonder if he wouldn't consider testing himself in the pro game ... for the right price.

I actually believe that the work Russ Brandon did over the past decade contributed in no small part to the situation we have now, where the Bills will remain in Buffalo for decades to come. I further believe that he is woefully underappreciated by most Bills fans. That said - if he takes Doug Marrone to Oakland I will laugh till I pass out.

Russ Brandon has done a brilliant job of selling a terrible team for well over a decade, and is one of the integral reasons that there will even be a BUFFALO Bills five years from now. He's not a football operations expert; he's not a personnel expert; he's not a coaching expert. He's a sports business expert who helped us retain our team, and even if he were useless now - which he decidedly isn't - he'd deserve a sinecure for life for past service. The number of people who want Brandon's head is at once puzzling and totally expected. Puzzling, because he's good at what the Pegulas pay him to do. Expected, because we quite naturally demand blood after another year of failure on the field.

I cannot imagine Sean Payton working for Doug Marrone. It would be like Prince playing guitar in Justin Bieber's "band."

These are generally good points - both the optimistic and pessimistic sets - and I don't find that much to challenge. But I strenuously disagree with the notion that we can't attract the head coach we need to win. That was likely the case under Ralph, who didn't necessarily have the greatest reputation as a boss in his younger day, was perceived as not wanting to spend on coaching, and who didn't present the most stable situation over the past few years. Pegula is another story. He's got no real reputation in the league, and there's no reason to believe he won't pay for what he wants.

I'm a 38 year old man, and about 5 minutes after hearing the news and my initial jubilation, I broke down and cried. This is a day, man.

While I believe that - for a host of reasons - the Perry Projects site will end up as the new home of the Bills, I have to say that the idea of placing an indoor stadium on the Concrete Central peninsula and incorporating the elevator into the design would be pretty badass.

Erie County has the juice here. They have a full third of the slots on the Stadium Committee, they have the lease, and they appear to be working hand-in-hand with the state on the project. And lest we forget, it's the population center of WNY. That's not to say that things can't change, but as it stands, Erie County is the prohibitive favorite. So where's the most likely spot in Erie County? While good arguments can be made for Amherst near UB, OP, and even the Outer Harbor, I'd bet on the Perry Projects. Why? 1) The Municipal Housing Authority wants out of the development, which has something like 50 percent occupancy. IOW, the land will be easily procured, and it's a large enough plot. 2) There's already substantial development on three sides of the site - the Inner Harbor/Canalside to the east, Larkin District to the west, and Riverbend to the south. And serious developers have been buying up land in the Old First Ward neighborhood immediately south of the Projects. 3) Great infrastructure - adjacent to the 190, and extending Metrorail down Perry (or South Park) wouldn't be that hard. Plus the bar infrastructure is already there. Could be wrong, but I like the idea.

Maybe so, maybe not. We'll either lose the team, or we'll keep it and likely have more long-term stability than we have over the past decade or so.

I guess this means that Ralph wins the tontine and takes possession of the original AFL franchise fees - given that it was invested in gold by Lamar Hunt, that must be worth around $6 million today. Not a bad haul.

I agree that it's possible to blow the Senior Bowl way out of proportion. That said, it's one last chance for us to see basic mechanics and decision-making, and both have been wanting for most of the quarterbacks.

He's probably the best short-term option.

I was, actually. I've always thought he would be worth a flyer in the third, and it looked like he had a little extra mustard on his throws today. But the others have done nothing to make their cases - particularly Nassib.

Tajh Boyd is gonna kick himself for not coming out early. He would've jumped to the second round - if not the first - with this sketchy group of seniors.

+1

Hey now

Agreed. If you buy the ticket, you take the ride.

+1 The bowls aren't meaningless, but they're just a fraction of the story. I have some concerns about Glennon, but they're based on a 6 or 7 times I saw him this year, not a single game. The idea that Bray and Wilson are acceptable solely because they didn't play in bowls (and thus risk looking bad) is amusing.

Hmmm.

More interviews=more money. That makes a lot more sense than the Bills' angle.

That's the disturbing part. Is Russ just acting like he's interested in a progressive innovator before hiring an old-schooler like Whiz? That's pretty cynical.

"Doug Whaley was named Assistant General Manager/Director of Pro Personnel of the Buffalo Bills on February 10, 2010. Whaley oversees the team’s Pro Personnel department and assists General Manager Buddy Nix in all football-related administrative duties and in the college talent evaluation process." - Whaley's official bio. I'm not sure it's fair to say that Whaley is responsible for college scouting or the drafts.