Saint Doug

You're right. I think there's more to this story than people are accepting. The fact that Pettine snatches up a guy he supposedly fired means he likely had nothing to do with the firing. Did it come from above? Perhaps, but it obviously didn't come from Pettine. Therefore, there was likely some meddling going on with the Pettine's defense, ironically the strongest unit on the Bills. Could've Pettine felt resentful a coach he didn't see eye-to-eye with, especially one that should've been shuffling the deck on the offensive and ST side? Next we see Pettine leaving for the Browns of all teams? This is the Bills, I wouldn't be surprised if they made Pettine feel I welcomed and unappreciated.

I'm pretty sure that was Jauron's philosophy.

An "attacking" defense? When haven't we heard this from a newly hired DC?

No. Yes. Yes. Cheers, Dave Wannstedt

I agree. If Kiiper gives us another C for this coming draft, we're definitely doomed.

Easy. He's under contract. Sure, I guess he could quit and jump to Cleveland, but I'm sure the NFL would have something to say about that (in the form of compensation coming our way).

I really don't know why the Bills are trying to emulate the Detroit coaching staff. Really, how counterintuitive is this?

I really don't know how drafting the leading candidate for ROY translates into a B? I guess you can't win, but I suspect the drafting of Manuel figures into that grade.

Could you just imagine an interview with Ralph?.,,

But the Bills hiring Marrone was one team going in one direction and the Pettine hiring having that team going in the opposite direction. I'll let you figure out what directions those may be. After thinking about the Briowns situation some more, it may not as toxic as some people think. No one thought hiring Chud was a great move and the Browns found that out a year later, but at least they found out and didn't flounder with a bad coach for 3-4 years, which seems to be the norm for bad teams in the NFL. The Browns saw a weakness (Chud) and corrected it right away by hiring Pettine to better their team, even at the expense of looking stupid. Can't say the Bills would do a similar move.

None of them were as good as Wade. Gregg Williams is a close 2nd though.

True, but I think he's probably the most qualified on the staff to replace Pettine. Him or Weaver.

Well, considering he was likely the Bills best DC since Wade...places the Bills in a very tough situation. The only upside that could come from this situation is if the Bills called Wade back.

Under zero circumstances should the Bills let him go from his contract. Promote him to DC.

Exactly, the bright side in all this is that Pettine will likely be available in 1-2 years when we have our own head coach vacancy. If I were Russ though, I would mail Pettine a 5 million dollar check in exchange for him withdrawing his name this year only.

This. And I can almost guarantee you, with another solid season under his watch and other teams creating coaching vacancies next year, Pettine will not only be a great candidate, he will get to choose the team he goes to next year. He would be naive (and perhaps a little stupid, since he's pretty much the only candidate who hasn't recognized the toxicity of the Browns situation) to think he won't have a better situation next year.

Man, I know Buffalo has similar problems, but that video had me laughing.

You may not be giving it, but I just don't understand the love for Henderson. He's been a DC before and has crashed and burned. Not exactly an inspiring choice, but I suppose this is what we should expect. I guess we should be focusing on Marrone's past buddies too. I would vote for Wade. A proven DC. Yes, he seems to be a very good secondary coach. Fwiw, Stephon didn't exactly light it up though.

Too bad he's willing to change teams and play for yet another DC though.

In defense of the Marrone supporter, Pettine's defense, while being the only bright spot of the season, needs to improve for the Bills to be competitive. Not only was the run defense suspect, we had to watch our secondary get absolutely torched by mediocre QBs. Plus, on D we gave up way too many points. With the completely inept offense we had, we needed to limit the opponent's scoring and we couldn't. Come to think of it, if Pettine leaves, I would be begging Wade to come back. Now those were great defenses. Yep. Doesn't change my point though.

I saw nothing but regression the 2nd half of the season. Besides the Miami win (which could've had more to do with their annual implosion rather than Bills dominance), I watched the Bills drop 3 games to teams with worse records (Atl, TB). As for Pettine, it actually wouldn't surprise me to hear that his hire came down from above (ie. Whaley). It was an iuncharacteristic hire for Marrone, whose other 2 major hires (his other coordinators) were favors for his buddies and really haven't shined the way Pettine has.

Outside of what Pettine did on defense, what sort of progress are you talking about? Honest question.

It's a strong possibility, but won't happen. I look back though and wonder why Frank wasn't considered for a QB coaching job here, so won't get my hopes up on him coming here to be our HC. More often than not, coaching selections are not based on aptitude. Nevertheless, I wish him all the best!

I wouldn't mind going after McCown. He was fairly impressive in spot duty and the Bills need the veteran QB presence. Plus it would be a breath of fresh air around here to have a traditional pocket passer.

You know, I may not really agree with Trooth, but what lies behind a fan's need to suffer? The Bills aren't a family member. They don't know you and don't really care about you. They really aren't your team. All they care about is collecting a substantial fee from people. So what really lies behind a fans' need to suffer for a team? Do they feel they owe them something (isn't the ticket price good enough?). I could see if the Bills were a charitable organization and were providing a necessary service for those in need. I could back that, for good or bad. But, they aren't. They are charging fans a good chunk of change when most can barely afford it. Again, the Bills aren't a family member, so why do people feel they owe them unconditional love? Not necessarily directed at you, but is it because they fill some sort of hole/need in people's lives?