BillsVet

No one complain! If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all. Seriously, are we in kindergarten or something? Forgive me for not being overly enthused by a guy who wasn't able to get a HC job in more than a decade. Coincidentally, that's the same amount of time it's been since this franchise made the playoffs.

Let me get this straight. You're banking on a 70 year old first time GM who worked out of his home in Tennessee while Assistant GM and didn't manage day to day operations. And, hoping a Guy and Modrak will somehow get things right? You could have substitued Levy and Brandon for Nix and said the same thing in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. I wish DJ would call Gailey and tell him what he's got in front of him. Then again, both are being paid a sum that no other team would.

Good thing Minnesota didn't spend on Favre, trade for Jared Allen, sign Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield, Steve Hutchinson, and Bernard Berrian. They'd at least be in the NFC Title Game if they did. UFA dollars spent wisely is what counts. This franchise hasn't done that since the TD era. Example: all UFA's signed from 2006-07 were not with the team when the season started in 2009. But go ahead living in absolute world.

So what happened in 06 and 07 when there were multiple games blacked out? The NFL remains wildly popular, but Buffalo wasn't selling games out even after Marv was inexplicably named GM (of football I might add). The Dear John letters are more plentiful because the organization stopped caring about winning after TD failed. And no amount of PR can make up for the trainwreck they've become. I suppose ignorance is bliss. Except fewer people are ignorant with hirings like this that serve to remove that they've become Raiderish.

Mr. Smithers gives a rat's arse. He's the guy who has to sell this move to the people who are going to wonder why they should continue supporting the team. They've probably got a wildcard up their sleeves, a la TO, but really there's no way they can't hide who they really are.

I'm just surprised no one has attacked Lombardi for his opinion. I mean, anytime someone says something negative about the Bills, they're destroyed by the faithful homers of TBD. For the record, Lombardi once worked for the 49ers during the Walsh years. And BW told him there are really only a few teams in it to win it each season. Unfortunately, former league executives like Lombardi understands better than others that the Bills are going in the opposite direction. They've quit and the only way out is to have luck as RW puts it. Raiderish is the new adjective to describe the Bills. Or perhaps the Raiders are really Billish.

Three games out from being a WC team after four seasons of rebuilding. Pardon me for not being over-enthused. The Jets may finally have a long term answer at QB, along with possessing an outstanding defense. Buffalo has neither and thus haven't even started their rebuild.

Anyone saying "give the guy a chance" is saying that you trust Bills management. This is the same organization that has approved of Williams, Mularkey, Jauron, and now probably Gailey. Call me crazy, but as long as Smithers and Brandon haven't made a good decision in forever. The rest of the NFL didn't want to give the guy a chance, but he's good enough here? It's mindbending to think we're at the point where it's necessary to make excuses for everything, no matter what it is. Why has he not been mentioned for any other HC job since forever? Why was he not even mentioned for an OC job since his firing in KC? Who is the last manager, HC, GM, or otherwise that was hired by Buffalo and actually in demand by the NFL? And the first person who cites Levy in 86 should remember ML inherited too many quality players and had the greatest GM of his generation running the show.

The marketing plan is pursue a name UFA one a one or two year deal to make people forget how awful their HC hire was. Sound familiar? I'd be willing to bet they're in save face mode after Harbaugh turned them down. They just needed the right stooge who wouldn't demand the front office make the wholesale changes OBD led us to believe would happen. Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas are becoming shills for the front office and hurting their credibility.

No matter how many homers come out in this thread, hiring Gailey will be seen as another in a long line of ridiculous moves by Ralph since TD was fired. Levy, Jauron, promoting Brandon, keeping DJ, not going outside the team for a GM, and now perhaps Gailey. Buffalo continues to take people off the scrap heap and pronounce them lost treasure. Well, the gold paint will be chipping real soon from those "gold" bars. How many solid coaches go 10 years between NFL HC jobs?

Plenty of talk about coaches based on which "list" they're on. Buffalo couldn't get an A List guy like Cowher or Shanahan. B Listers turned them down too, as in Frazier, Harbaugh, and Rivera. So now, we're down to the Z list and we finally find someone. This is liking waking up as a kid hoping for GI Joes, getting all the hints you'll get them and then opening up all clothes.

The Bills could hire Wayne Fontes and there would be someone on TBD heralding the move. Chan freaking Gailey. What's next, Tom Olivadotti and John Shoop as his DC and OC respectively?

Nix isn't running anything. Burns and Smithers are the power brokers with this franchise. We know this because Nix, as a guy hired last February, couldn't fire the three people who most need to go: Guy, Modrak, and Overdorf. If the guy can't fire these people, what can he do? There's more to being a GM than just scouting and the draft.

I'm convinced that even if RW moved the team to Cameroon, you'd be all for it. Somehow, you'd probably equate that with having a better chance at Ndamukong Suh. Gailey was loved in KC that fans were irritated he was fired? TBD has become Looney Tunes. Where's Porky Pig? Da da, da da, that's all folks!

RW said at Nix' PC that luck was necessary. How about a real GM, a non-retread HC, and perhaps new people in the front office. But that'd be asking too much. They'd better have a lot of luck, as in winning the lotto three times in a row.

So we go from mediocrity in the pros (DJ Mr. 7-9) to mediocrity in the NCAA (CG Mr 7-5). I'd rather we'd have kept DJ. And I think he was one of the worst football coaches in the past 30 NFL seasons.

DOOOOMED And I'm not being sarcastic.

Based on what? Their stellar track record since 2000? Rookies aren't a difference maker typically their first season. They'll try to sign McNabb or Vick to a one year deal to be TO 2.0. And yet fans are twisting this to be "okay." Unfreakingbelieveable.

The idiocy abounds on TBD. Forgive a columnist who is paid to author opinion pieces, from complaining about a team that's 0 their last 10 in playoff appearances. Hate on the media, local and national, because they dare to criticize the Buffalo Bills. Their beef isn't with the fans, it's with an ownership/front office that can't build a winner.

Why then did they interview Fewell, who simply received a token interview. He was never a candidate. As for the franchise, they have lost the benefit of the doubt in national football experts eyes. There is a reason for this, and it's the result of bad and short-term feel good decisions since Donahoe was rightly fired.

So how do the Packers succeed year after year? They're the definition of small market, do not have the operating income most big teams have, yet still continue to make the playoffs. How does Indianapolis do it either? The difference between winning and losing is management. Smaller markets have a less margin of error, but in the case of GB, they draft and use UFA extremely well. Buffalo does not have the front office leadership and management capable of adapting and succeeding in the 21st century NFL. But because most on TBD do not manage others, nor ever will, thy can't comprehend that individual decisions can adversely affect so much. No team is absolutely perfect, but when you miss on numerous first rounders, sign bad UFA's, and hire inept HC's, expect to go ofer the decade.

How anyone can say the Bills will be fine with the team's future is serious doubt is beyond me. Go ahead and ignore the obvious that the owner passing means the team is up for sale to the highest bidder. Ignore 10 straight non-playoff years. Ignore a roster nearly bereft of talent and severely lacking in depth that featured only 2 pro bowl alternates. Ignore that in the past four years the team has been on par with TD's last four years. Ignore the multiple individuals who won't even take their calls to be HC. Ignore the GM search that didn't extend beyond the building. Ignore that Mr. Smithers was promoted after managing this team to a 13-19 record in two seasons as quasi-GM. The team's rep has been irreparably damaged since Levy was inexplicably hired. Yeah, they'll be fine all right.

While working for SD from 01-08, Nix worked out of his home in Tennessee and did not interface with other team personnel with day to day operations. A GM needs to manage all personnel, both pro and college along with overseeing the cap, negotiating contracts, hiring the HC, and managing other numerous day to day operations. Nix didn't do a lot of that. It also appears as though he doesn't have the authority to fire people like Modrak, Guy, and Overdorf who need to go.

Buffalo has not have earned the benefit of the doubt in their management and personnel decisions since forever. No, next season isn't over, but odds are that the Bills will be in total rebuild mode with a new HC. I'd ask the casual uninformed homer fans which moves the Bills have made that earn them a level of trust and respect from the fan base.

Who are the stars of this team after four seasons of Levy/Jauron/Brandon? Evans, Schobel, and ???? Both of those guys were drafted by Tom Donahoe 9 and 6 years ago. The other players, Levitre, Wood, McKelvin, and Maybin are either playing positions easy to replace (Guard) or still aren't proven NFL players. Is it any coincidence that none of the team's first rounders from 06-08 aren't really difference makers? Only Posluszny from the 2nd and 3rd rounds from 06-08 can be considered an NFL starter for the long term. They have nothing proven successful at QB, nothing at OT (Butler's been injured each of his seasons), their best defender may retire, and their LB's beside Poz and Mitchell are UFL caliber. Next season will be a total rebuild.