Dr. K

Here's what I posted on last Jan 12: I freakin' hate this. This is one one of the reasons why hiring Ryan was a bad idea. The Bills need help on offense and the first thing that happens is they lose the DC who brought them the best defense in the last decade. For what? A "Big Name" coach who hasn't won in four years. Until I see otherwise, hiring Ryan was a terrible decision. I hate this musical chairs administration. No continuity. It makes me sick. The Pegulas dazzled by Ryan's fame and the spotlight it brings. Idiocy. and: I like Whaley and I think in general he has done a good job. But Rex is the wrong HC hire. Maybe the Pegulas were leaning on him to make the sexy hire of the Big Name, like they did with LaFontaine for the Sabres. I'm saying Rex is not taking this team to the playoffs. He has a terrible record developing an offensive system and a QB. The Bills DID NOT NEED the things Ryan is bringing. He was the wrong hire for this team at this time. Of course I could be wrong, and I'll be pulling for them, but I have NO faith in Ryan. None. and this one day later: All this jazz about Rex's great defensive mind is completely beside the point. The Bills ALREADY HAD a top five defense without Rex's great defensive mind. Do you really expect, with another freakin' change of system for next season, that the defense is going to be better than it was in 2014? So what is Rex bringing to the defense that the defense NEEDED? Even if you don't care about the prospect of players having to change roles to responsibilities they are not suited for. I will be flabbergasted if they play better defense in 2015 than they played in 2014. So what is Rex Ryan bringing to this team that IMPROVES their situation for 2015? Well, apparently he's bringing Roman as the new OC, a guy who has shepherded the decline of Colin Kaepernick over the last three seasons and whom they can't wait to be rid of in San Francisco. Even if you like Roman, the Bills could have had him ANYWAY--or any number of other OCs who I think would do a better job with the Bills personnel and as mentors for Manuel, while keeping Schwartz as HC. They have thrown away any chance for continuity on either side of the ball by throwing away Schwartz, and any improvement they have at OC they could have had anyway without hiring Rex. All this optimism that Rex's presence immediately makes this team more competitive is moonshine. The guy is 26-38 over the last four seasons as a head coach. I expect Whaley will give him a good roster to manage, with upgrades on the o-line, for instance. But Whaley would have done the same for anyone--Schwartz with Bevell, for instance, as OC. I do not see any convincing way that hiring Rex is going to improve this team for 2015 over what we saw in 2014. Except all of you who are so excited that the national press is paying more attention to the Bills. Enjoy Rex's press conferences, brothers and sisters. Wrong coach for this team at this time. A step backwards.

This is what I said last January they should do after Marone quit. Not hindsight.

Exactly. People who rail about drafting EJ never name the great QB from that draft that the Bills should have drafted instead. They never mention that Whaley traded down and picked up an extra second rounder who turned into Kiko (who later became McCoy). I've even seen people complain here about how Whaley TRADED UP to get EJ. Not to say he's been perfect and he may be gone but I don't expect this mythical "Czar" to come in and turn everything into sugarplums and twenty year old bourbon with his magic wand. Looking at the problems with the team this season and deciding to keep the coach and fired the GM would be just about a classic Bills move.

Rex would have insisted on Schwartz running Rex's defense. Do you think Rex really would have let Schwartz run the wide 9 4-3? The minute they hired Rex, it was a foregone conclusion Schwartz was out the door.

How about based on a year of terrible coaching, dismantling the defense, lack of discipline and accountability, losing the players, blustering and hollow promises, and a history of losing prior to his coming to Buffalo?

What happens? . . . I stop caring.

I thought it was a bad hire, mostly because it seemed to me obvious that Schwartz would have to leave and the defense change, when the problems with last year's team were more on the offensive side of the ball. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is my motto. And I remembered that this is the same thing that happened when the Bills hired Gregg Williams, who proceeded to dismantle a fine defense Wade Phillips had built up. Even if I liked Rex's personality (which I did not), the Bills had a good defense and lousy offense--so the Pegulas hired a HC whose supposed strength was defense? No

Fire Rex. Yes, there are other problems, but the meltdown this season all comes down to him. The team right now is a trash fire and he's the reason. These same defensive players last season were able to do their jobs and succeed at them. Then Rex comes in with his bluster and his schemes and suddenly they all become incompetent? Suddenly they can't play ten snaps without a penalty? Hiring him was the worst decision the Pegulas have made, and until they undo it, the team is in the dumpster. You can tell yourself it's just a matter of getting rid of the players who don't fit his system or his personality, and replacing them with others, but Ryan shows manifest inadequacies as a game day coach and leader of the team. His squad is undisciplined, confused, hesitant, out of synch. His game prep is spotty at best. I do not see how it will get better--change the players and he'll still be the same man with the same bad habits, inability to change, unsuccessful methods and excuses. He must go.

I am enjoying this more than I ever have a humiliating loss. After more than FIFTY years of following the Bills, I just don't care anymore. Not as long as this clown is the head coach.

Fire Rex.

I don't know. I can say I've seldom been unhappier with a head coach of the Bills and I don't expect ever to like this clown.

Just my opinion, but firing Whaley and keeping Rex would be disastrous. Brain dead. One of the worst moves ever. On the other hand, I would not be surprised if Whaley leaves on his own for a better situation. He's hog tied with having no power over Rex and he can probably see the writing on the wall as well as anyone. I expect him to be a long time successful GM, with titles on his record, somewhere, if not here.

I went to grad school at the University of Kansas and lived in KC for five years 1977-82 and became a Royals fan. So I've had the pleasure of seeing KU win the NCAA basketball title in 1988 and 2008, and the Royals win the World Series in 1985 and this year. I also suffered with the Jayhawks losing the NCAA title game three times, including once to Syracuse. And seeing the Royals have one of the worst records in baseball from 1985 to 2013, missing the playoffs for 28 years. I also saw the Royal lose to the Phillies in the 1980 World Series, got to see them lose the crucial game 5 in person at Royals Stadium. 1982-83 was my first year teaching at NC State, and I saw all that craziness, that 6-game winning streak that took them to the title against Houston. I was at the bonfire in the Brickyard the night that Lorenzo Charles's dunk off Derrick Wittenberg's missed jumper won the game at the buzzer. Wittenberg was a student in my American Lit class. He earned a B.

The be all and end all of defense is points given up. The Bills are giving up almost a touchdown more per game than last year, even though their offense is better and not turning the ball over at a greater rate. Maybe the time of possession stats would better if the defense could stop somebody and get off the field. Maybe the Bills would face fewer drives if they didn't let their opponents score so readily.

And the year before prognosticators were sure Schwartz's defense would decline from Pettine's because they lost Alonzo for the season and Jairus Byrd, who led the team in interceptions, to New Orleans. But they got better under Schwartz. You can't convince me the decline across the board in the Bills defense is solely because of injuries. They've been less than the 2014 squad since day one of this season.

I wish you would not paint with such a broad brush. I had plenty of misgivings about Rex and his system from the moment he was hired. I thought it was stupid to hire him and insure a change of D scheme when the D was not broken, the O was broken. I wanted them to hire an offensive-minded coach and keep Schwartz on, and I said it at the time. I even thought, idly, that the Bills would have been better off with Gailey as head coach and Schwartz as D coordinator, thought of course that was impossible. As I've already said several times, my instinct is not to change things for change's sake. We'll see how much any of us are willing to stay the course with Rex after another season or two.

I agree 100% with your post. But Big Cat is all in on Rex. We'll see how he does once he's purged the front seven and gets his own kind of players. I don't see how that is going to remedy the lack of accountability and discipline, and I am skeptical his defense next year is going to rise to the level of the defense he destroyed pretty much single handedly (with some help from injuries, to be sure).

I agree.

Thank you finally for replying. I think what our disagreement comes down to is your statement that "The man knows what he's doing." From the evidence of what has happened on the field (I don't care much about his press conferences--he's great at press conferences, actually--very enjoyable and frank), from the disorganized and undisciplined play, from the number of personal fouls and inability of experienced, intelligent players to succeed in his system, I don't see it. I do want to reiterate that I have never been a fan who wants change for the sake of change--I have felt that, as a fan, I don't know everything and for the most part we ought to leave it to the professionals. But in this case I think the results, and the manner in which those results have come about, cast Ryan's competence into grave question. I'll also point out, as someone did above, that when Schwartz came in and instituted a completely new defensive system (which I was wary about, after Pettine's modicum of success the previous year) the team picked it up and played BETTER under him. He did not have to get rid of a third of the defense to get an improvement. A player like Bradham, who had looked ineffective in Pettine's defense, looked worlds better under Schwartz. Dareus came into his own. Mario looked great and people stopped crying about his salary. Kyle and Hughes had fine years. The rookie Brown looked like a steal in the draft. But now apparently we need to get rid of half to two-thirds of the front seven in order to get competent play. But that's getting down into the weeds, and it's clear at this point we will not agree. So we'll have to agree to disagree. If the Bills make it to 11-5 next season I will gladly come back here and say you were right.

Yes, I pin (most) of the blame on Ryan. I have given reasons why I think it should fall on him. The best argument I have heard from you for keeping him is continuity. I agree that changing coaches and systems every other season is a bad practice and incompatible with winning teams. I also admit that, given what they have invested in him, the Pegulas are unlikely to switch at this point. But there are some things that trump continuity. I have not seen anything in this season and the lead-up to it, in Ryan's ways of dealing with the problems this team has shown and his habitual practices, that tells me we can expect better results from Ryan in the future. Are you simply unwilling to tell us what you have seen from him that causes you to feel otherwise? So again: What do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?

I asked you politely to share "what do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?" Is it unreasonable for me to ask this?

You're probably right that they won't fire him. But I want to ask you honestly, with sincerity and no hostility, what do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?

Rex is on the right track, when he is the one responsible for those schemes and stupidity you complain about? I don't want wholesale change. Keep Roman, for instance. Keep the players who were fine on D the previous year. Let Whaley draft additional players and sign quality free agents, which he has shown he can do. Rex Ryan is the problem, not the solution. I want him out of Buffalo.

Don't fire Whaley. Don't gut the roster of fine players just because they don't fit Rex's scheme. Fire Rex.

If Rex is the coach? Maybe 8, maximum. Probably 6.