BillsVet

Littman is RW's son in law IIRC and makes the old man money, so he's not going anywhere. And Overdorf couldn't get fired after cutting Troy Vincent without telling anyone on the coaching staff. They're both Bills lifers. It takes an edict from RW to fire anyone in the front office or a HC. No one's fired anyone but RW. These three being on the payroll is proof-positive that results are optional so long as profit is generated.

Tom Dimitroff did it in ATL. Parcells did it in MIA. Through 4 weeks STL and KC are looking much better, though not perfect. You get consistent rebuilding when you don't hire the right people at the top (many times over), allow non-football people to interfere (going on since Day 1), and draft bad players who can't get on the field (consistent since 2000). The reason the Bills can't avoid bottoming out is because they think their way is the only way. Unfortunately for us, their way stinks and hasn't resulted in much of anything for 10 years now. Get a proven personnel man and let him do his thing. Not these darn half-meausres.

Par for the course from OBD: remain silent as the ship sinks. Kinda like Brandon last season, who IIRC, spoke once after the Cleveland debacle. They go into shell mode when things are bad and expect it to go away like a a rain storm. It's ironic to see some homers here protecting OBD and attacking Sully. But it's not Sully anymore seriously questioning the direction of the franchise. It's Pat Kirwan, Jay Glazer, Adam Schefter, and a host of others who look at the club and either won't say anything or openly doubt them as well. When league insiders can't say anything it's so bad, that tells me there's a lot going on that isn't good.

It's a Buffalo Bills going out of business/liquidation sale!!! 75% off on all items!!! No serious deal refused!!! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!

Lynch is gone because there's one football and there were 3 RB's. Can't see how people overthink this. Former GM Marv Levy wanted players who were smart, hard working, had good football character and good overall character off the field. They ultimately drafted and signed a lot of guys who weren't good players and were coached by an inept defensive minded coach who wasn't good there and dreadful on offense. They also drafted/signed guys with bad football character (Dockery, Walker) or bad character off the field (K. Simpson, Lynch, Hardy) It is simply amazing how people forget history, even the recent kind. The Bills are basically saying hit me to the dealer, not knowing when or if they'll get to 21 or bust out totally. Their moves aren't calculated but desperate and short-sighted.

It was only a matter of time before someone said that 2010 was a rebuilding season anyway and we shouldn't be concerned. Many of the posters who came here said that this years Bills team wouldn't be close to the worst in the NFL. The reason this season is bad remains obvious. It follows 10 straight non-playoff seasons and two previous rebuilds that were unsuccessful. And many of the same front office people are still there making decisions. Why should anyone believe this one is different when there's no proof they have a long term plan and the GM and HC have never handled a rebuild in their current roles. The decision making process thus far has been haphazard. Edwards the anointed starter, then cut. Steve Johnsons #2 WR, then demoted. Kelsay re-signed. Mitchell requests a release. Lynch traded. I don't understand why all of these moves needed to occur during the regular season if there is indeed a plan in place. Some have said that Perry Fewell knew Fitzpatrick was the best starter last season, so why couldn't offensive genius Chan Gailey figure that out? Before that, which team devotes another first rounder to a RB when they're brutally bad at OT and the defensive front 7? But before that, moves to a 3-4 without the personnel to do so. Last year's 4-3 was substantially better than George Edwards' crew. And last but not least, the fans with their hands up in the air screaming are the ones who know the stadium lease expires after the 2012 season and no one from the organization can shed light on what happens to the team after Mr. Wilson's passing. So we've got 11 straight bad to mediocre seasons and a franchise in peril of not remaining much longer. I'd say there's plenty of reason to demand something more. As many NFL reporters have said, Buffalo fans deserve better.

Overdorf and Berchtold decided that Buddy might give away the plan to sell the team.

Regardless, making changes to a healthy OL in mid-season is indicative of a major issue. Remember moving Peters from RT to LT and inserting Pennington at RT during bye week 2006? Bell isn't serviceable at LT, Levitre and Wood aren't playing to the level at the round they were selected (for guards especially) and Hangartner is average at best. Urbik hasn't played OT since college (like Butler) and it's a shot in the dark to think he can handle the role in the NFL. They need serious help at OT on both sides. I think Hangartner eventually settles into the role he occupied in Carolina: principal interior OL backup.

Last year's "major overhaul" was cosmetic because it only changed out the most public faces of the franchise. Aside from the players, most people know a NFL team has a GM and HC. Unfortunately, football team decisions are made by a group and thus no one takes the fall for bad moves individually. They've really done a great job of shielding the decision making process from the public, some of whom might know who Tom Modrak and Doug Whaley are. Until the real power players behind the scenes are removed or more likely shuttled to the side (Littman and Overdorf) then nothing changes. RW listens to both of those guys heavily IMO. Going further, the scouting staff remains intact but even if they're not the issue, it's the guys pulling the trigger in UFA and on draft day. Jay Glazer's comments today about figuring out women before the Bills franchise should really make the homers wince and think twice before blindly declaring things will get better. There's absolutely no truth to that without more changes in the front office.

Bill Polian and his 1st rounders say hello.

Question: Which NFL Defensive Line coach has the weirdest name? Answer: Who is Buffalo Bills coach Giff Smith. Seriously, I get the impression the staff Gailey hired to include coordinators and position coaches were a bunch of guys who wouldn't be in the NFL. Exceptions could be DeHaven and Catavolos. Here's another: Aside from Bob Sanders and Catavolos, who is the other holdover from the DJ's staff That would be DeMontie Cross, who had to rely on Andra Davis in camp and presumably during this season to know where 3-4 ILB's go in the new defense.

We can only hope. RW still has a lot of work to do-if he actually care as some report he does. Welcome to the dark side.

Cameron's deal changed drastically the day Bill Parcells was hired by Wayne Huizenga. BP took one look around, did his evaluation in 2 weeks and then fired the whole coaching staff (minus a few) and the front office. He knew that group of coaches and executives weren't going anywhere and jettisoned the entire lot. Not many in Miami probably were begging that Cameron get more than one season. BP just knew what he had. Nix is a long time scout who is not experienced as the #1 guy in an organization. He's never worked out of the front office but did his work from Tennessee as Pro Personnel Director for SD. The plan may well be to hand over control to Whaley, but there are no assurances they'll have a team by the time Nix steps aside after 2011 or 2012. RW has no long term plans, either for front office executives or his team. I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept.

Nah, I don't think Tuna would even take their phone call. Thing is, I believe RW feels he made the necessary changes last off-season when they hired Nix and Gailey. Even if those guys are home runs (doubtful) we'll never know because they can be undermined by Littman and Overdorf. I think they've finally reached a breaking point where they can't continue like they have since TD was axed. Either they change the organizational structure and have a strong and qualified leader of football ops or they continue along as a bad to mediocre club with people behind the scenes wielding power. They've run out of quick fixes and cosmetic changes because the fans just won't buy it. That said, I still don't see them changing the structure of the franchise given the owner's age. Everyone knows the team is being set up for sale, not to compete with RW owning.

Bills website shows "Breaking News" in red upon opening up and then goes away. Apparently they're not quite ready to announce it officially.

RW still owns the majority of the team. Were he to transfer a minority interest to another individual it would be reported. As for the fans, yeah, the NFL isn't as concerned as the average guy would imagine. Me paying $500 for a season ticket to 7 games is nothing, nor are 10,000 people doing the same. This is a 8 billion dollar business at the end of the day. What's a few million? They're surviving with or without us fans sitting in the lower bowl for a 3rd rate NFL team.

Gailey was an emergency hire and the haste to make the decision illustrates that the franchise was rattled after being rejected by the name guys and secondary candidates. IMO, Nix' blunt talk at Gailey's intro PC was driven by his frustration to get interviews. And he made it a point to say it wasn't bad, which to me was like admitting it was bad. Frankly, and this is amazing, I trust the media more than Buffalo's front office. I agree with BADOL that Gailey would make a fine OC, but struggles when placed in charge of an entire roster. That is exemplified by many players already quitting on the field this week. Everytime the Bills need to hit a home run with a front office/HC hire, they hit that bloop single Jerry Sullivan mentioned. And this one just dropped in.

Rebuilding can begin when the team establishes a workable management structure that excludes Overdorf and Littman from football decisions. Sadly, that will never happen. Until then, it's likely that there is interference in all personnel transactions. But yes, they've compounded the challenges of rebuilding by inexplicably ridding themselves of players while keeping bad ones.

Lead Cheerleader Chris Brown is just a shill for the team. Anyone with a shred of football knowledge knew Meredith didn't have the agility to handle LT, let alone RT. It's funny how many homers on this board actually thought Meredith and Brohm were long term answers at their positions despite being effectively released by the Packers.

The media would report anything that would get headlines, especially Mort. I'm guessing he only knows part of the scenario but not all of it and the info remains closely guarded among RW, Littman, and the rest of the family. Pure speculation, but it's always been a hallmark at OBD for personnel people to be overruled on football decisions. Why would anyone think that the mere presence of Nix has change anything?

I was there during the 2004 season. Only game I got to see was the Pittsburgh game at the end of the season. Nice thing about being in Iraq when it comes to sports is you've got so much else going on the games are quickly forgotten. At least that's the way it was for me. That year the team went on a winning streak at the end of the season only to come up short. Oh well.

This here is what we can denial. As in, denying that things have gone horribly wrong and we can't possibly admit how bad it is. Have you watched since 2000? Same stuff, different year. Yeah. Schottenheimer wouldn't come out and say it, but he wanted the gig. Couldn't admit it in the event he didn't get the job, but he'd never get the level of freedom to rebuild the team, nor the resources. I think that's why the big names avoided Buffalo. And it's why you've got guys who wouldn't be in the NFL coaching this team. Edwards, Modkins, Giff Smith, D'Alessandris, et al.

GB hired Dom Capers to turn them from a 43 to a 34 and the transition went relatively smoothly. Miami hired Mike Nolan to replace Pasqualoni earlier this year. Those are NFL DC's with knowledge of different schemes. George Edwards had been bounced to the collegiate ranks and then becomes Buffalo's DC. I'm sorry, but good NFL coaches remain there. This goes for the rest of the staff, save Catavolos and DeHaven. There's a reason those guys would probably not be in the NFL at their current coaching level. One would think RW would know that hiring bonafide NFL coaches is an investment in the team. Ordinarily I would say this is RW being thrifty, but I think Buffalo has reached a point where legitimate NFL coaches are staying away from Buffalo like the plague because the franchise is like the Hindenburg. It's going down for everyone to see.

Last year when the wheels were falling off, GM Russ Brandon was nowhere to be found. IIRC, he commented after the debacle at home versus Cleveland that it was bad. Buddy wasn't made available when TE was cut, and aside from a QB club appearance, his silence has been deafening as well. This is what happens at OBD when things turn ugly, all the leaders go into hiding and put the HC out there to burn.

So why then are guys like All Pros Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis acting in support of their team? Those three individuals you mentioned left for other reasons: Coffee felt a calling from a Higher Power and decided he wanted to go that route. Balmer realized he wouldn't be starting (was a pick of a previous GM) and had motivational issues while Michael Lewis has also probably lost his starting job so he asked for his release. Heck, Kawika Mitchell asked for a release too, should Bills fans question Gailey at this point as well?