BillnutinHouston

Yea but it also helps when you can make a play. Unfortunately, Whitner made too few of them. I agree with the OP's overall point. Fire in the belly, unrelenting determination, is a hallmark of winners. Is Bellichick a firebrand?

OP: We outsiders don't know for sure that he's been given a pass, only that he's not fired yet. What we do know is that Russ was unequivocal in his insistence that the overall roster has improved under Buddy.

It is interesting that both the Pettine and Crossman hires reflect cases where the incumbent teams wanted to keep the coach, but they opted out and instead jumped ship on their own to Marrone' staff. Hard to know if there were common reasons for this, or if each had different reasons.

Thanks for the chuckle.

injuries. Torell Troup would be on his 3rd pro bowl trip were it not for his back problems.

He doesn't know anguish like we know anguish.

^^ This.

If we could get him at a reasonable price, I'd be in. I'm no expert but I haven't noticed the slide that others are talking about. I'd love Welker on this team, but not at the expense of a bigger receiver. Incidentally, it is possible to get Welker AND get bigger. The two are not mutually exclusive, but there's only so many high draft picks and cap money to spend.

How deceiving that day was.

The problem is, how do you KNOW your guy will still be there? Buddy's already been burned by taking the approach of sticking to his board when others put a higher value than he did on certain QB's. They can't worry about criticisms of "reaching", they just need to go out and get their guy - UNLESS they go big in free agency with either an Alex Smith or Joe Flacco (unlikely he'lll be available).

Agree with much of what you said above, although I don't know what you're basing your speculation about Kelly's interest on? Not to rain on your parade but there's similar talk in the pinned threads.

Excellent hire that inspires confidence in the whole situation. Clearly, Russ is neither cheap nor slow.

Not saying I'm sold on Nassib by any means, but when I watch his play vs. #9 Louisville and Missouri (hostile crowd), I see accuracy, decisiveness, toughness, pretty good vision, good touch on the ball and more than adequate mobility. In 2012, had 21 TDs and 7 INTs. Good size at 6'3", 227. We'll see how he does in the Senior Bowl.

OUCH

In what capacity Timbo?

Marrone did say that, too lazy now to find a link. Buddy has used the same phrase when talking about getting up close and personal with potential draftees.

I won't even ask why that's important to you.

Kelly, where did you see/read these bits? I'd like to learn more.

Interesting question. The Bills app contains a story with extensive quotes from Gruden about Marrone, all glowing. Gruden used to coach vs. Marrone 2x/yr. when the Bucs played the Saints while Marrone was in N.O.

Well at least we have one open minded poster here.

I agree.

Luke Russert, Luke Russert's Mom 16 -0 (Sorry, Senator)

The beauty of this deal is, it was a team effort. While it's reasonable to conclude that Brandon was ultimately responsible for the hire considering his connections to SU and Marrone's interest in analytics, it's also clear that Buddy's work over the last three years on the roster made it possible to land Marrone. As Schefter's video points out, Marrone's extensive film study on the Bills, Browns, Eagles and Chargers resulted in him concluding that the Bills had the most talent on their roster, making Buffalo a desireable landing spot for him. Clearly, Marrone's landing here was a product of both Brandon and Nix.

Well said.

I connect the dots as follows: Bills interviewed Lovie already + Marrone tied to Lovie at Tenn. + Lovie runs a 4-3 = Bills going hard after Lovie as DC.