Saint Doug

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?

It very well could have played out this way and you know it. Considering he passed the torch not too long after the draft, it's entirely possible they shared picks. One thing we do know though: Nix was hell-bent on drafting a QB before stepping down - he was quoted so numerous times. Marrone is the head coach. The buck stops at him. No need to say more there. As for Chan "salvaging" Fitz, I think he did a fairly good job polishing that turd.

Yes, this is a Bills fan's wet dream. Interestingly, it could probably be had sans Johnny Football, and I'm not sure we even need him. One could argue Chan could even salvage EJ, as he certainly would do with Spiller. But, this is the Bills. Obvious solutions are not that obvious to them (Ralph, Russ). And, sadly, we could probably had this combination too, but the FO garbage picked with Marrone (of all the college coaches, we picked the leader of Syracuse!?) and "I promise to pick a QB before I leave" Nix panicked and picked EJ. Heck, why we didn't target Pettine as our HC instead is beyond me. But, read it now and believe me later, this team will swiftly become a train wreck if Pettine leaves.

Yes, this is a Bills fan's wet dream. Interestingly, it could probably be had sans Johnny Football, and I'm not sure we even need him. One could argue Chan could even salvage EJ, as he certainly would do with Spiller. But, this is the Bills. Obvious solutions are not that obvious to them (Ralph, Russ). And, sadly, we could probably had this combination too, but the FO garbage picked with Marrone (of all the college coaches, we picked the leader of Syracuse!?) and "I promise to pick a QB before I leave" Nix panicked and picked EJ. Heck, why we didn't target Pettine as our HC instead is beyond me. But, read it now and believe me later, this team will swiftly become a train wreck if Pettine leaves.

I always thought Gailey did a fantastic job. I would love to have him back as our OC.

Why is this a good idea? There's too much being handed to NFL coaches by way of them being buddies with someone/knowing someone/owes them a favor. This type of cronyism never ends well. Not only that, it cheats out candidates who are more accomplished or have a better skill set. Just look at the career trajectory of Pettine vs Crossman. In fact, wanting to steal Hackett's job should be part of the search criteria for our new QB coach.

The Bills are getting better? Couldn't be based on their record. Teams which improve usually get better as the season progresses. First half of season: 3-5. Second half? 3-5. And the Bills played a string of bottom dwellers (Jags, TB, Atl) the 2nd half. Strength of schedule was much higher the 1st half.

It's amazing that this thread is still alive. It's clear that the cutting of Rogers was just another dose of Buffalo Bills organizational disfunction. For Pete's sake, there are boarders on here that weren't even alive during the Bills's last winning season, but still people want to give the Bills the benefit of the doubt? It truly amazes me.

The days of waiting until the year after a QB prospect have failed should be gone now. First, for every future HOFer like Brees, there are 20 JP Losmans/David Carrs. So, the odds are greatly in favor of a QB failing after 4 years of futility. Second, despite his growing pains/inconsistencies, there were many NFL-grade passes by Brees during those years. Haven't seen these yet with EJ. All we see him is floating passes to grossly open receivers. Lastly, before the rookie salary cap, teams were forced to play their rookie QBs for 4-5 years. It simply wasn't feasible to draft another QB when you're paying another one $70 million. The reason SD was even able to draft Rivers is because they weren't paying Brees top dollar.

It's really amazing how Brandon can sit back and just watch this play out. We've seen this show before, over and over, and it just doesn't end up well. And this is not only a Bills phenomena. Look all over the NFL, if you can't adapt, your career will be cut short.