BillsVet

There is a difference between a reporter and a columnist. They have different functions at a newspaper. I would think any "hapless" fan would want to understand how their perspective came to that. When a team consistently doesn't make the post-season, some people (reporters, columnists, objective fans) typically ask why. How doesn't being a fan divorce oneself from analyzing that their team can't make the playoffs? Events in the past week illustrate that dysfunction exists at OBD and it's spilling into the news more than it should. The MSM has a lot of faults, but in this case, local media has questioned recent happenings because they reveal a toxic environment. That said, I can't wait for Monday.

Russ has nothing to do with football decisions. He just observes decisions that are made while participating in meetings where other people make decisions.

Marketing never ends at OBD. Never.

One of these decades Buffalo will make the playoffs and Jim Trotter will be sorry he ever called the Bills organization a dumpster fire.

Reminds me of what management does when things go wrong. Point to the coach and say it's his fault. Finding a new HC and staff isn't going to change what's wrong. The lack of accountability is a common denominator at all levels of the organization.

This will go a long way to attracting UFA's to Buffalo.

Career minded NFL types don't work for franchises where the front office (read: Whaley and staff) actively undermines the previous HC and leaves the interim guy to handle questions about things he doesn't control.

It is for this reason no one with a decent reputation in NFL circles will seek this job regardless of what ownership will offer. Buffalo has become NFL Siberia again for coaches. It's where they go to essentially kill their career. Lynn should think about this when he interviews next week. You can give bad ones when you've won consistently in the league. Until then, whether right or not, you need to be good in front of the mic.

Most fans see that something more is wrong than just the 3 HC's who were hired and subsequently left since 2010. Most fans become impatient when the team wins 4, 6, 6, 6, 9, 8, and 7 games their last 7 seasons. Most fans are impatient when the same people remain behind the scenes pulling strings. Most fans see the big contracts handed out placing the team closer against the cap that 3/4 of the league and don't understand why the Bills ride the rails of mediocrity for so long without every getting into the playoffs. Not all fans...but most fans.

Nice find Rico. That quote should live on until Brandon and Whaley are fired.

Beat me to it. Sort of like Anthony Lynn being in line for the Rams job after immediately after Fisher was fired. Or that Rex would be fired because he didn't get enough out of the talent Whaley acquired. If Lynn becomes their pick it's not going to be taken well. And OBD has no one to blame but themselves for creating such a terrible work environment. And that all goes back to the team president and GM who feed their favorite media types these narratives.

I remember Buddy Nix telling everyone even Oakland gets calls (for their HC job) when he was hired as GM almost 7 years ago. At this point, Reggie McKenzie could say the same about Buffalo. It would be funny because it's true. This team's reputation is close to what it was in late 2009. The only question I have is when does Whaley tell us he gets 35 calls a day, and you wouldn't believe some of the names?

Rex offered a solution better than Whaley's attempt. The HC had his faults, but the GM couldn't figure you don't stop trying to acquire a QB until you know you've got one. Did Rex tell Overdorf to sign TT to that contract as well?

Like draft picks, Whaley only makes the good ones. Since they haven't hired good coaches, he obviously hasn't hired them. That's someone else's fault. Like Brandon with St. Doug and T Pegs with RR.

Only in Buffalo would it be necessary to renegotiate a contract signed four months ago for their best QB. And the guy who wanted that contract done will now lead the head coach search. Then again this team signed Charles Clay to a contract and renegotiated it a year later as well. They're among the bottom 10 teams in the league in cap room for a reason.

So the guy that's been there two years is more responsible for failure then a guy that's been there now seven seasons? Whaley will eventually learn that those who live by the sword die by it as well. And Brandon will bring it down on him if ownership wakes up.

It's amazing after this past off-season the Pegula's bought the narrative that Whaley's stocked the roster but Rex didn't coach it well enough. Whaley is the same guy who makes remarks on the radio in current times about football not being a game humans should play and need walking back the following day. Same guy who drafts damaged players in the first round. Same guy who still hasn't found a QB and insisted on one so flawed for 2+ seasons. Same guy who has the Bills tighter against the cap than most teams and doesn't really have a QB to pay. Same guy who talked about being in "quarterback purgatory." Same guy who's drafted all of or signed as a UDFA 3 starters on offense in 4 drafts. Same guy who's traded up in 2 of the last 3 drafts when the team wasn't close to competing. This is the guy the Pegula's apparently want running their HC search. If anything, Brandon and Whaley are telling the emperor how great their new clothes are. They excel at that kind of subterfuge. Problem is ownership buys their line and shows no sign of figuring those guys out.

What is NFL protocol? Bill Belichick runs NE with personnel help. John Schneider reports to Pete Carroll in Seattle. The relationship between GM and HC isn't the same everywhere. Yep. Whaley learned from Brandon in protecting your 6 and he's been waging a PR war against RR behind the scenes. I found it ironic that Lynn garnered attention for LA's HC job after Fisher was fired. Guy's been a position coach for 15 years and now is HC material? Rapoport reported last December Lynn was this great HC candidate before ever coordinating an offense. Well, if that was the case, I'd imagine he'd have been an OC to start a season before 2016. The Pegula's will need to learn the hard way not to trust Brandon and Whaley.

It doesn't help when OBD tries to freeze out reporters from doing their jobs. Their media policy introduced during mini-camp was widely panned, mocked, and eventually OBD capitulated on the more notable aspects. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/05/24/buffalo-bills-new-media-policy/ Some of those tweets are hilarious, particularly Incognito's.

You lose your job when you don't get results. Doug Whaley and Rex Ryan have not produced results, thus they're criticized. Difference is, one of them doesn't face the music and the other one does. You've made this into journalists "desperate to be part of the story" and that (EDIT: remains) a complete distortion. Sports media is what it is, but they know underachievers and calling their record into question isn't improper. The point is, Whaley doesn't respond at all unless you count softball questions lobbed by WGR. He hides when the hype doesn't match the results. I know you don't believe the team is accountable for their failures, particularly during Whaley's tenure. Fewer people though see it that way because they're not invested like you are in defending a moribund franchise.

That a GM doesn't speak to anyone besides the radio station that carries his team's games speaks volumes.

Keeping Rex and Whaley together only prolongs the division at OBD. The GM thinks his roster is awesome and that the HC can't win with it. The HC likewise doesn't care for the GM and it's pretty clear there are internecine battles being waged. The recent anti-Rex PR campaign is coming out of OBD. Who would have motivation to do that? If ownership thought they could placate both by giving them lots of UFA dollars and placing them on equal contractual terms, they were clearly wrong. Now it's time to do the dirty work of clearing out the mutinous political factions that have created an atmosphere where people try to survive and sacrifice the team in the process.

I guess this is supposed to make the dwindling homer crowd happy? Houston has still managed to go 8-6 and be in position for the playoffs, even without J.J. Watt and solid QB play. Buffalo is approaching their 17th season (are we allowed to say that anymore?) and has nothing at QB besides TT. Yeah, Buffalo's better off.

What'd Russ have to eat at the game today?