Coach Tuesday

Does anyone here have any confidence that McDermott knows what he is doing? Can someone please articulate the plan?

I am shocked they are looking at Moore - his teammates have hated him wherever he’s been.

Whoa my thread killed Mead

Well this got some action...

Theyre following the wrong path by constantly letting themselves get talked into things instead of studying the business like it’s their dissertation before making these decisions and/or turning over the management of both teams to experienced and qualified strategic executives.

I don’t pretend to believe that NFL and NHL owners inherently know how to navigate the complex industries they operate in. Some get it innately because they’re extremely savvy businesspeople. The good ones learn it eventually but usually after some trial and error. The best ones know how to ask the right questions of the right people at the right times. The Pegulas strike me as insulated novices who tend to follow their “guts” more often than not. Rex and McD have very little in common EXCEPT that I can see both of them oozing confidence during the interview process. Both men could steelily stare the Pegulas in the eyes and say, confidently and with a clenched jaw or a fist on the table for effect, “Don’t worry, I got this. I can turn this around.” And then Kim turns to Terry on the way out of the interview and says, “I don’t know, something about him just really reassured me. It feels like he’s the one who can fix this thing.” Billion dollar businesses shouldn’t work that way.

They were dysfunctional franchises that had begun accumulating talent, perhaps despite themselves. That talent has been largely dismantled under the reigns of Murray and now McBeane a/k/a Pol Pot.

This is a great post and it provides useful context. My concern is that they've endorsed a strategy for the Bills, at least, that seems unnecessarily to set this team back 3-5 years when it was on the cusp of contending. But I hear you that if the team had started as slowly as many of us expected, much of the anger would be nonexistent. Good take.

Yes, that's the solution Doc. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

I really liked Manziel and I still believe that if he had committed himself to football he'd be a successful NFL QB. Mayfield is The One as far as I'm concerned. If you want a savior for this franchise, he's your guy. Putting aside his attitude (which I like), his throws on the move remind me of Aaron Rogers.

"The world" doesn't owe Buffalo fans anything. But they've been forking over their hard-earned dollars to billionaires for years and can't even demand a competent product in return? I have more pride than you do - I'm not "grateful" to anyone except my Creator. I'm certainly not grateful to billionaires.

This thread was basically a bat signal for you, PTR. Your view on this is well-known: us lowly peasants of Buffalo Town are lucky to be blessed by the royalty and grace that the Pegulas have chosen to bestow upon us, and questioning their competence is akin to taking The Lord's Name in vain. Needless to say, I disagree.

With the Sabres, I'd probably agree. With the Bills, McD sped up the evaluation process by his disastrous decision to start Peterman last week. There was so much information provided in that move. Similarly, the Watkins/Dareus trades and the resulting impact on the roster (and the panic moves to plug the self-imposed leaks) told us a lot about Beane. We're getting to the point where we can evaluate these guys and it's not looking good, at all. I don't need 3-5 years of this.

You're half right. The problem here and the problem in America is that the internet gives trolls the ability to broadcast their deranged thoughts to the rest of the species.

Zay will be lucky to ever get to Woods’s level. That’s a fact.

He should be banned. He has taken the trolling to a new level. The guy comes across as evil.

You are the worst poster in this community and it’s not even close.

Except that Chip at least was trying to anticipate trends. His offense was rudimentary in design but modern in execution and speed. Whereas the Bills’ strategy on both offense and defense can best be described as “hiding under the blanket so bad things won’t happen.”

Sorry but this is a weak take.

I suspect there are two games coming up on his schedule that will get him back on track... BB LOVES beating up the Bills with their own discarded sneaker.

I suspect McD is the type of coach who is quick to run his players out for not getting in line, but extraordinarily stubborn about refusing to hold coaches accountable. Plus he’s a young first time coach who probably feels like he owes lots of favors to his staff for choosing to follow him and support him. And he picked his own GM! Think Beane is gonna pressure McD to make changes? Don’t expect anything different folks, it ain’t happening unless the Pegulas wake up.

This is a solid post. Don’t let his youthful age fool you - McD’s vision is beyond old-fashioned; it’s downright outmoded.

Thank you - for future thread-creators, it helps if you actually explain what the heck you are talking about and don’t assume that the rest of us can divine it...

They are wonderful people. They have no business running sports franchises - they have absolutely no idea what they’re doing.

Let me start by saying that I really like the Pegulas as people - they seem like good citizens and possess integrity and beneficence. And yes, we as fans owe them gratitude for keeping both the Bills and Sabres afloat and in Buffalo. All of that said, they are horrible owners. They are well-intentioned and want to win, but clearly have no idea how to do it. They have empowered the wrong people at the wrong times. They have proven to be susceptible to good interviews at the expense of more sophisticated due diligence. They have employed bizarre organizational structures that have undermined the few quality hires they have made. They have supported borderline insane team building strategies that have resulted in a near-impossible run of sustained failure. There does not seem to be any end to this trend on the horizon and I’m really struggling to understand what the plan is for turning the Bills and Sabres into winning franchises. Certainly, pairing first-time GMs with first-time coaches has failed miserably for both teams and, in the case of the Bills, the decision to expel elite talent, rather than maximizing and supporting the talent on hand with quality coaching and added depth, has bombed in spectacular fashion. In a word, they have destroyed two sports franchises. I’m wondering if it’s time for Kim and Terry to look for sale partners for one or both teams. Perhaps they could sell a majority stake and become passive minority owners (although the leagues may have some restrictions on this) or perhaps they should just sell outright. I’d imagine at this point their investments have appreciated nicely. Perhaps it is time for them to reap some of those gains and turn the businesses over to individuals or entities that know what they’re doing. I know some of you will respond to let me know how ungrateful I am. That’s fine, you’re entitled to your opinions. My opinion is that the fans here deserve more than just “we kept the franchises in Buffalo” - rather, the fans, who give their hard-earned dollars to billionaires, deserve competence. We’re not getting competence.