BillsVet

Two months into a coaching search and only one legit candidate has had an interview? There's no way to explain how bad this is becoming, and the homers will say not to worry, but there aren't any other teams in the NFL searching for a HC. Perhaps Oakland tomorrow, but if Grimm declines, that guarantees that things are very bad.

Fine, but by May the majority of the pro personnel decisions have been made. Unless of course you count scouring the waiver wire or street FA list for the next retread. Bills fans figured when Jauron was fired that a true housecleaning was coming. It hasn't nor will it happen because no one can fire anyone without Ralph's approval. Ergo, Modrak, Guy, Overdorf, et al will remain until the bitter end.

1) Promising young nucleus on the Line? They have no OT's that aren't injury concerns. OT's are much harder to find than G's. 2) Evans does not get the ball, because both the aforementioned OL is bad and the team has no QB. 3) RB's are not difficult to find, and more likely to be injured than most positions. 4) Secondaries are not as important as the front 7, in that they can be ripped apart without a pass rush. 5) They have one Pro Bowl alternate and an aging Stroud. How many times did MS get double-teamed? Not much 6) Special teams are nice, but they weren't spectacular, flagged regularly, and lost 2 games in 09. Not a stellar unit and will have a new coach. 7) If you think this team can win the AFCE next year, it's going to take a lot going right. As in the previous 6 items working out. They need no less than a starting caliber QB, LT, RT, and a SLB. Then, no one gets hurt because depth is a problem.

Tim-thanks for noting how Buffalo is an organizational mess in your article regarding Kugler's hiring. The Bills have had as many declinations for interviews (one) as they have interviews since Frazier's meet and greet. Have you ever heard of a coordinator turning down an opportunity for advancement?

Fans define success as winning and IMO at this point making the playoffs is the goal. I'm not so sure the execs at OBD see it that way, at least the CEO, CFO, and perhaps the owner. Seems like profit is the motivating factor, hence the cost-cutting moves last season. I thought it ironic that the quasi-GM of the franchise was not heard from as the season started slow and finished poorly. That absence speaks volumes, especially considering that fans were told 7-9 wasn't good enough. Brandon said very little at the Nix introduction, so I'm left to believe he's not one to be in the spotlight any more than necessary when things aren't good.

Rational fans know that there isn't a lot of time for this franchise to construct a winner. ATL, MIA, and BAL all went near worst to first in their division in one season from 07 to 08. (BAL was a WC) Frazier's time as a HC in the college ranks was at...wait for it....Trinity University, which is an NAIA school. He wasn't coaching Ohio State or Florida or Oklahoma and getting big time experience. I don't think the fans want to watch another complete rebuild after 10 years of failure. We've seen that twice already this decade. Even if they don't advertise it, knowledgeable fans can easily spot a rebuild.

Heard it from the dude, playing the dude who's disguised as another dude. Simple.

Don't even try holding a conversation with the homers. Nothing short of the team moving would ever cause them to doubt the franchise. I have never heard of a coordinator turning down a HC job in the NFL, but suddenly it's no big deal. Perhaps it's some OC or DC has rejected an interview before, but for this to happen is a huge slap in the face. All of this is the result of horrible management with RW's people like Littman running the show behind the scenes. Between Donahoe, Levy, and Russ "Mr. Smithers" Brandon handling this team we've witnessed mediocrity in an era when just about every team has made the playoffs. Homer fans are not bright, but simply afraid that if they don't show support, the team will definitely leave. And so you get the drivel like APUS and C. Bisc.

Every team in which the owners run the show routinely fail. Ironically, none of these owners are willing to admit they flat out cannot build a winner. Dallas-Finally won their first playoff game since 96 when Jimmy J.'s boys were running out of steam. Jerra Jones, even with Parcells, could never put big dollars together and replace Johnson's talent. Cinci-Mike Brown's franchise hasn't won a playoff game in 20 years. Two playoff appearances in 5 years though. Oakland-Nothing to say, Al Davis was past his prime about 10 years ago. Myriad of coaches and yes-men have come and gone without change. Washington-Snyder's spending hasn't worked, isn't working, and won't work. Buffalo-Wilson's elderly grip on the team won't recede despite the playoff drought and 0 playoff wins since 95 season. All of these teams, both smaller market and large, have failed because owners think they know enough football to run the show. Sadly, none of them get the point as their teams continue to slide. Only Dallas and Cincinnati have QB's and not coincidentally both were 09 playoff teams.

And every one of those meddling owners has a pretty poor track record. Mike Brown's Bengals haven't won a playoff game in 20 years, Jones just won his first since 96. Davis' Raiders may be the worst team next to the Lions. Meddling owners typically do not succeed. Contrast these guys with the more hands-off approach of Arthur Blank, Dean Spanos, Jim Irsay, Robert Kraft, and Jeffrey Lurie.

Yet Brandon loved to take pictures with Stroud, TO, et al. He never shied away from the camera when it was the offseason and Buffalo was 0-0. As the team inevitably faltered in 08 and 09, Mr. Smithers couldn't be seen or heard from. Brandon's promotion to GM and then to the higher job of CEO is funny. Only in Buffalo can a non-football guy working in a football position put out a bad team and get promoted.

Nope. Nix stated at his PC that it was a "whirlwind" thing that happened in the last week or so of 2009. This organization doesn't think strategically, unless it's Russ' boys in marketing trying to figure our how to sell a bad team. Years ago, Browns assistant Weeb Ewbank accepted the Colts HC job, despite Paul Brown being against it. Don't think for a moment that an assistant wants to remain as such when presented with an opportunity to be a HC. Schottenheimer turned down the Bills won't be the last assistant to do so.

It doesn't matter at this point. The Bills will hire a lesser known coordinator and then attempt to sign a high profile player to make up for it. What sells to a fan base is new players, either FA or rookies and a new coach. They've banked on that for years now, without results. The results are generally the same, but those aren't known until the end of the season after tickets are sold.

With the next thread in the posting career of Trent is Unstoppable, the poster suggests Ted Marchibroda as HC. Ted is a dark-horse candidate and would immediately improve one of the lowest ranked offenses in the NFL. It's speculation, but it could be the next thread. /sarcasm.

While I'm glad the Bills are exploring several options about a coach, the length of their search is attracting some crazy and insane posts/threads. This is another one. Watching Lynch, he got too big this season and made too many moves behind the LOS. I can't believe someone thinks he's a top 5 NFL back. So who does that leave in front of him? C. Johnson, Peterson, T. Jones, Jones-Drew, Grant, Turner, St. Jackson, Gore. I'm not even sure Lynch is top 25 in the NFL.

This coach search has attracted TBD's best and brightest. Apparently reading comprehension is not a pre-req.

How is it whining when the franchise hasn't made the playoffs in 10 years? Now I'm sure someone will chime in and tell me to follow another team, but is it too much to ask for the team to prove to fans they're interested in winning? Because I'm not seeing it right now. Then again, the standard is so low around here, some people figure that it's good enough to have a team. Evidently winning is now underrated.

No one can definitely prove this is the case, but I suspect it. When Levy was hired as GM and no one in the front office was moved out, this franchise went down a notch in respectability. Marv is a fine man, but naming him GM was widely panned in league circles. Since then, Buffalo named a marketing guy GM, retained a coach most teams would have fired, and has refused to look outside the organization for the crucial GM job. I can't prove it, but there have been too many suspect moves made this decade for anyone reputable to consider them as a worthy job destination.

That you Dick Jauron? Cornerbacks are the reason AZ is slicing GB's defense? Neither team has generated much of a pass rush, allowing both QB's all day to throw.

You could say that if we'd won 3 more games each season since 2006 that Buffalo could have made the playoffs. It's the same thing every season, and it's not a coincidence: bad to mediocre teams lose games they shouldn't. 13 NFL teams went 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 in 2009. Only two of them advanced into the post-season, so 11 teams essentially were 3 games away from being a playoff team. All of us would take a playoff appearance, but the goal is to win in the post-season. And yet here we are making excuses for not making the playoffs once again.

If the Bills go with a guy like Frazier or another lesser known personality at HC, they're going to need to sign another "name" FA. Because if they don't, season ticket sales will steeply dive. I don't think a team should hire someone solely on what the fans reaction will be. But when you're coming off a decade's worth of failure, something's gotta give.

And one would think RW would admit to himself that his track record of hiring HC's and GM's isn't all that great since firing Polian in February 1993. I wish more owners were like Arthur Blank, who delegates football decisions to football people. They make sure he knows what's going on, but Blank doesn't believe he know how to make the decisions.

Littman has been Ralph's treasurer for more than two decades and he's not going anywhere. It's interesting this thread popped up when it did in that guys like Cowher probably want to know how much the team will spend to have a winner. I've heard now from two GM's, Levy and Nix, that you've got to sign your own guys. That hasn't happened, and I wouldn't doubt Littman and Overdorf are controlling the purse strings. Surely they won't argue with cutting payroll.

Pardon the OP for stating something that most fans would freely admit. The Dolphins and Jets may have their QB's of the future, and the Pats are, well, the Pats. It's a tough division, one in which each team has made the playoffs in the last two years. The greater question is whether the Bills are descending or ascending. I would favor the former.

Except this time, there's no Levy or TO they can bring in to sell tickets. Their hire at HC will dictate season ticket sales. Frazier's a nice guy, but they know Nix isn't going to keep ST's in the 55k range.