BillsVet

Tim Graham is on record as commenting this move may (or may not) have something to do with the approaching shopping season. For this franchise, it's not unreasonable to believe merchandise sales may have something to do with it. Crazy, but not out of the question. It struck me that Aaron Schobel opened up after the Titans game. I can't remember the last time he spoke about something on football, let alone organizational direction.

Rushing yards allowed per game 2006: 141 rypg 2007: 125 rypg 2008: 122 rypg 2009: 173 rypg I think a lot of that 08 showing had to do with playing weak opponents. I can't help but remember RW asking DJ and Marv at some meetings in early 07 if they'd be able to stop the run. Marv and Dick must have given him something, but they never could stop the run all that well.

The timing is certainly strange, but this is a unique year in the NFL. And as much as I don't give this team the benefit of the doubt, this may be a preemptive move to get someone in here who otherwise would be gobbled up by the big teams. I'm not going to get crazy, but a lame duck HC finishing the season is not good. We'd all have preferred the guy be fired during the bye week, but this team never does anything the conventional way. Of course, all of this goes out the window if the big names don't come here, and the HC ends up being a cheap-a** signing like Haslett, Fassel, or Marc Trestman. I'm still playing wait and see with RW and whomever he decides to hire and the structure in place. The fans are too astute to be fooled by more garbage people in the front like what they've got now.

As you previously and subtly mentioned, Pat Bowlen doesn't seem as sharp as he once was. And for any NFL HC, 14 seasons is a long time. Here, a change of scenery may be in Shanny's best interest. I won't work myself up believing he's coming to Buffalo. But it's important to remember that there are several teams (as always) working to get one of these guys into their organization. The Bills are attempting to get ahead of the pack, and to me their anticipation of the market is a great thing for a franchise generally a step behind everyone else. FWIW, Shanny's been toured select training camps this year trying to keep up to speed on developing trends. I know he visited NE, and perhaps PIT. Just saying.

My thoughts exactly for Gillbride, Haslett, and Trestman. None of those guys are wanted for HC jobs, and are coordinators at best. Even at that level, I'm not sure they'd do anything substantial with the weak roster here already.

CB and I have been sparring for some time now. I don't expect a poster on this board to show up and admit they were wrong. But.....I never had the feeling he had a purpose, aside from complaining that we dared complain the team wasn't on the right track. His optimistc view point was based on the non-religious version of hope. That sort of mentality doesn't work and never has. SIC, you're a long time poster on this board and I value your opinion. But CB was the type who ripped everyone for not agreeing with him without ever offering substance, just blind optimism. With him, there was rarely conversation, just derision. Now that things haven't gone well, he's retreated in the unknown.

Where's CB he been lately? There are a number of notable posters who aren't seen on TBD as the season has slid into the abyss. Frankly, there are people who know this team and their preferences and those who don't. I always looked forward to BADOL's posts, and it doesn't take more than that one to sum up what's wrong here. If that can be done in one thread. How DJ remained in a HC this long was the real issue. Now it's finding a real GM, coach, QB, et al. 2010 seems to be a rebuilding effort.

We don't know who is going to lead this search, but I'm not confident about any of their options. IMO, I don't think Brandon has much respect league-wide and without paying big money, will narrow the search. He hasn't worked a day in pro or amateur scouting, nothing and was handed a ceremonial position. Very astute marketer, but he's not someone I trust to handle the task of finding a GM. For my money, the Bills would need to roll the dice on a football guy as Wayne Huizenga hired in Bill Parcells. Someone who isn't going to be the day to day person, but possesses the vision for the franchise and hires a GM who matches his plan. Then, the GM finds the pro and amateur scouting directors. That football man needs to be entrusted with the entire direction of the football team without meddling from anyone.

I don't think the OP is saying "DJ sucked" but rather attempts to show that he had little to work with. Sure, that's fine, but this franchise relied heavily on DJ, at least from 06-08, for personnel guidance. Modrak and Guy were providing intel on players, but didn't make decisions. Brandon and Levy counted on DJ to make that roster. The end result featured a team which was small (resulting in more injuries) and not very talented with no game-breakers. Think about this for a moment: the Bills started two street free agents at LB this week: Draft and Scott. Which teams do that? Yes, it's strange the guy was let go today, being that it's Tuesday and after a bye. I won't argue that at all, but merely refrain from citing injuries on a team probably close to hand-picked (not incl. TO) by the former HC. RW just marches to the beat of a different drummer and he's 91.

It's amazing to me how people attempt to explain away failure. There's always another excuse, or reason for not reaching a desired objective. For Jauron, it was injuries, youth, you name it, fans had something ready. The man never had a decent offense in 9+ seasons of being a HC. He never won a playoff game and had 1 winning season. I'd argue that one miracle season he had was the result of those fourth quarters having so many breaks. All I can remember is Mike Brown returning turnovers for TD's.

Bill Parcells may be an overweight 67 year old man, but he scared the sh** out of people in Miami. When Wayne Huizenga hired him at the end of 2007 he observed that sad sack team for a few weeks before he fired everyone, released players, and hired his own guys. We desperately need someone to do just this at OBD. And without Russ, Littman, or Ralph telling him anything. Anyone who thinks Buddy Nix is going to do this is smoking crack.

70 year olds don't do well working 14 hour days as GM of a NFL team. Nix sounds like a great national scout, but he's not GM material. Find someone younger.

I agree, but who goes and finds this GM? Brandon has no clue about NFL personnel, and there's no other football man in the front office capable of knowing what to look for. Wilson picked Levy, which is still hurting this team and Littman counts money.

At eighth overall, we're in a prime position to take the second best safety when Eric Berry is off the board. Oh, wait. Dick Jauron ain't running sh** on this team anymore. Thank goodness. Now we'll whiff on an OT. Please RW, find someone who can tell their head from their a** in personnel. I promise to buy season tickets if you stop making dumb decisions and find let people do the job you hire them to do.

Those comments sound strangely familiar? Could they have been taken from a previous announcement recently? Funny stuff.

I guess DJ really did believe all that BS he spouted during those post game PC's. The idea it should come is a shock is more indication he didn't have a clue about what his team thought. How can someone be that ignorant as a NFL HC? Only Dick Jauron.

I like Bryan Bulaga, but with a run defense yielding 173 yards per game, they could use about 4 first rounders. And it still wouldn't solve anything with this front office.

No. Someone should have said something when they started off 1-3 in 07, were playing street free agents all over the field, and forced to start a rookie QB. This after 7 seasons without a playoff appearance and on their third HC in that span. Or perhaps someone could have said something after the Dallas MNF debacle, the SNF loss by 46 to NE, or even the away Cleveland game. Why should anyone have thought things would change with DJ? And don't ignore the fact that they finished 2-5 after getting to 5-4, or that in 2008 they went 2-8 in their final ten after a 5-1 start. EDIT: removed a sarcastic unnecessary comment

Jauron is the architect of the offense, despite whoever is playing the role of OC. He's been through 5 OC's in this is ninth NFL season as a HC and never developed an offense capable of scoring above the NFL average. All the more reason DJ should never have anything to do with offense again.

I'm just wondering why anyone believes Russ Brandon has any power on this team? This is a man who is the public face of the team in the off-season when the record is 0-0. When the season rolls around, he's nowhere to be found and rarely speaks. The last time I can recall him speaking was after the Cleveland debacle when he admitted it was a low point. Brandon defers on every major decision to Wilson and Littman. He can't make big changes, and he certainly can't sign a UFA like TO, who came when RW dreamed up that marketing move. Brandon simply allows the team not to have to hire a GM, much like his predecessor Marv. Brandon's presence is a cost cutting move.

I wasn't attempting to even alledge Moorman said anything. I was simply looking to highlight that Schobel and Moorman are the players on this team for the longest. Still, Moorman's word really doesn't mean much.

Levitre is a short armed 6'2" G in the NFL. Not that the Jags are a great pass rushing team, but he doesn't have the measurables to play the LT position. Then again, this same board thought a guy who'd never played a regular season game could. And he was horrible until getting injured this past week. Hope he recovers, but I wouldn't plan on D. Bell being the starter next season.

Why has it taken AS so long to make these comments? I know he's not the vocal type and shuns the media somewhat, but he could easily have said this 2 seasons ago. He and Moorman are the longest tenured Bills, but they've said nothing until now. This team will be in more dire straights by the end of 2009 than it was at the conclusion of 2005. If Schobel is talking, something is seriously wrong. Not that we didn't know that already, but now the players are questioning what is going on.

But not that dots stuff they call the ice cream of the future. Maybe they'll have some of that stuff Ty Cobb is pitching, coca-cobra. That Georgia Peach is a hellion!

Sure. But the question is, who goes looking for the GM? Brandon and Littman have no idea what to look for, and I think the only thing to do is find a football czar, a la Bill Parcells, who can do this for them. Of course it's going to cost a lot of money, which will go against what Littman will want. And it'll mean another thing which may negatively affect the final sale of the team. Guy and Modrak have the types of jobs we all want: no accountability, able to be bad to mediocre, and not get fired. He's not the answer, and if he were decent, he'd have left long ago. Then again, who can blame a guy who doesn't want to be at OBD?