Firing Jaruon was stupid

[RayFinkle]

Holiday shopping season. Suddenly folks are excited about the Bills. Doesn't sound stupid to me, sounds like a great marketing move.

[BobbyC81]

It WAS stupid if it was a knee jerk reaction to the bud Adams finger thing, or the T.O. blow up, or the Schoble comments, or the fan reaction. If Dick was fired just becaused he sucked it would have served the team better if the deed was done the week prior to the bye, it would have given the interm coach more time to "work" his team and get on the same page as his coaching staff.

 

It WASN'T stupid if we are on the verge of hiring a head coach/GM combo guy like Shanny, Cower, Holmgren etc and are just clearing the deck to bring him aboard.

 

 

Only time will tell

 

I think a post the other day hit the nail on the head:

 

Ralph waited to see if Jauron took advantage of the bye week to make some improvements to make a difference. Even though the game was tied after 3 Qtrs, the embarrassing final score was status quo.

 

The last 7 games will also be a good chance for evaluation of current players. Now, there may be nobody left from the coaching staff or personnel dept for next season, but some evaluations can be made with a different coach now with a different style.

 

AFter the season, it'll be interesting to see if a new GM is hired before the draft with new player personnel evaluators or they let the current team prep for the draft & free agency.

 

I'd rather see the new team in place to make their own decisions on players. Otherwise you end up with scenarios like drafting players for the Tampa 2 and then have a new coach with a different defensive philosophy.

 

I'm hoping we get the right mix of GM & coaches to develop the right team for playing in Buffalo winters. In other words, the big defensive players along with O-Line instead of these schemes relying on quickness. And please no QB that grew up & played collegiately in California or any other warm weather states.

 

All that being said, Shanahan was successful with his zone blocking scheme that used quick O-linemen playing in Denver where winter hits even earlier than in Buffalo. So, hiring him would not necessarily require changes to O-Line. Actually, don't the Bills currently have one of the biggest O-Lines in the league based on weight??

[Orton's Arm]

Close.

 

The disillusionment was from the players and the organization internally. Team leaders were questioning the direction of the team. Frankly, there wasn't unanimity on keeping Jauron on for 09 from the start. If Ralph cared so much about what fans wanted, he'd have fired Jauron a long time before now.

You bring up a good point about the mood in the locker room. We have some information that things were starting to get ugly, at least in terms of the moods of some players. But there were other players who still, IIRC, voiced support for Jauron.

 

On the other hand, don't underestimate the influence fans played in this decision. I'll grant that Ralph probably wouldn't loose too much sleep over doing something that would irk the fans a little bit. Especially if he had good reason to believe that the team was on the right track over the long run.

 

But the mood among the fan base went well beyond just that. Bills fans were on the verge of outright mutiny or desertion. As expressed in their future plans to not renew their season tickets. As expressed in current boycotts of Bills' merchandise. And anything else they could do to hit Ralph smack in the middle of his pocketbook, to force him to listen. It's my belief that the financial punishment that Bills fans were prepared to inflict would have significantly exceeded the punishment of paying Jauron not to coach.

 

Frankly, the anger of Bills fans was reasonable. This team hasn't made the playoffs since the '90s, despite the loyalty of its fan base. That lack of success--and Ralph's role in having created it--has weakened his relationship with Bills fans. A relationship which he has now begun to repair.

[BillsVet]

Do you know how far down the list merchandise sales are to a franchise of our caliber? We're not the Cowboys. I respect Tim Graham, and so I'll assume that he said that very lightly. There is no way a team made a firing for that reason. It would be so troubling if that were so, that I'd stop rooting for them entirely. I'm not though, because that is one of the most unfounded theories I've read on this firing (and there have been plenty bad ones).

 

Do you know how this organization operates? We're not the Cowgirls, but if there's revenue and it's not a stadium name, they go after it. Merchandising is big for this team, just look at what happened after TO signed. It's not beneath them to realize ST sales and jerseys weren't going to leap off the shelves. This just gives fan a little bit of "hope" and rekindles some positive thoughts that the owner MAY do something.

 

I'm not saying this is the central reason, but it's out there and not far-fetched as a supporting reason for DJ's firing.

[murra]

Do you know how this organization operates? We're not the Cowgirls, but if there's revenue and it's not a stadium name, they go after it. Merchandising is big for this team, just look at what happened after TO signed. It's not beneath them to realize ST sales and jerseys weren't going to leap off the shelves. This just gives fan a little bit of "hope" and rekindles some positive thoughts that the owner MAY do something.

 

I'm not saying this is the central reason, but it's out there and not far-fetched as a supporting reason for DJ's firing.

 

You're going to have to do better than that. Not only is there no proof, but merchandise sales come from star players, big signings mostly. Are you suggesting that the Bills fire Jauron and all of the sudden people started buying Bills mugs? It's ridiculous.

 

I'm sorry, I usually like what you have to post, but why are you buying into this? Merchandise sales wouldn't spike at all because of the signing. People aren't renewing season tickets yet either, until after a big time coach is named.

 

Also, if you're going off the "money theory"...no merchandise sales would replace the money lost in the firing. If anything, this move netted negative money for the Bills. Look, it's just no a possible reason. It's a cute idea, but nothing more.

[Flbillsfan#1]

Close.

 

The disillusionment was from the players and the organization internally. Team leaders were questioning the direction of the team. Frankly, there wasn't unanimity on keeping Jauron on for 09 from the start. If Ralph cared so much about what fans wanted, he'd have fired Jauron a long time before now.

Good post. It has been reported the decision was made to fire Dick after the Browns game, but Ralph wanted to wait until the end of the season. The best guess is Ralph decided Dick lost the locker room as the reason for doing it now.

[billsrcursed]

Good post. It has been reported the decision was made to fire Dick after the Browns game, but Ralph wanted to wait until the end of the season. The best guess is Ralph decided Dick lost the locker room as the reason for doing it now.

 

To me, this makes the benching of Edwards seem "oddly convenient". I have a feeling Dick knew he had to win the Titans game to keep his job. I don't believe he went to Detroit for his meeting with Ralph not expecting to get fired. This was something discussed during the bye, IMHO.

[BillsVet]

To me, this makes the benching of Edwards seem "oddly convenient". I have a feeling Dick knew he had to win the Titans game to keep his job. I don't believe he went to Detroit for his meeting with Ralph not expecting to get fired. This was something discussed during the bye, IMHO.

 

I don't think DJ figured he'd be fired. NFL coaching is about survivability, and DJ had to have figured that after the bye week if he hadn't been cut loose, it wouldn't happen until the end of the season.

 

Still, it's odd he was let go when he was. I suspect a combination of Bud Adams, the disruption of TO and Reed on the sidelines, Schobel's comments, and the general misery of the fan base contributed to this move.

[billsrcursed]

I don't think DJ figured he'd be fired. NFL coaching is about survivability, and DJ had to have figured that after the bye week if he hadn't been cut loose, it wouldn't happen until the end of the season.

 

Still, it's odd he was let go when he was. I suspect a combination of Bud Adams, the disruption of TO and Reed on the sidelines, Schobel's comments, and the general misery of the fan base contributed to this move.

 

Perhaps, but I still question the TE move during the Titans game. Not because he didn't deserve it, but because to me, it didn't seem to fit "Jauron Protocal". Now that he's been fired, it just magnifies that move to RF, to me anyway.

 

Trust me, I could totally be selling myself on this, I'm rarely right...

[SDS]

Without a plan in place going forward this was an absolutely pointless move at this time. The Bills should have already had multiple interviews scheduled for their permanent coach when they pulled the plug. Maybe they do, I don't know. But if not this move is just stupid and pointless.

If they want to do anything positive in the near future they should have a coach in place by Thanksgiving (and I don't mean Fewell or April or anybody else on staff) and a new GM and a reorganized front office completed before Christmas. If they can't manage that, then this move was nothing but more of Ralph Wilson's mindless bullshlt.

 

I usually have your back on most everything you post, but I'm with GG on this one.

 

We now have a green light to interview any person not under contract, w/o doing the cloack and dagger routine. If our football man is currently unemployed, then we can have a reasonable discussion and thoughtful consideration. An early hire would allow them to get acquainted and thoughtfully consider who the coach might be.

 

It's all upside in my book.

[Sisyphean Bills]

You bring up a good point about the mood in the locker room. We have some information that things were starting to get ugly, at least in terms of the moods of some players. But there were other players who still, IIRC, voiced support for Jauron.

 

On the other hand, don't underestimate the influence fans played in this decision. I'll grant that Ralph probably wouldn't loose too much sleep over doing something that would irk the fans a little bit. Especially if he had good reason to believe that the team was on the right track over the long run.

 

But the mood among the fan base went well beyond just that. Bills fans were on the verge of outright mutiny or desertion. As expressed in their future plans to not renew their season tickets. As expressed in current boycotts of Bills' merchandise. And anything else they could do to hit Ralph smack in the middle of his pocketbook, to force him to listen. It's my belief that the financial punishment that Bills fans were prepared to inflict would have significantly exceeded the punishment of paying Jauron not to coach.

 

Frankly, the anger of Bills fans was reasonable. This team hasn't made the playoffs since the '90s, despite the loyalty of its fan base. That lack of success--and Ralph's role in having created it--has weakened his relationship with Bills fans. A relationship which he has now begun to repair.

The torpedo that sinks your ship is timing. There is no reason to dismiss Dick Jauron immediately to sell season tickets after the season is halfway over. It makes no sense. Firing him now, 3 weeks from now, or at the end of the season has little bearing as to the direction they are going to take to get fans interested again. The 2010 season is over 9 months away; a few days or weeks is hardly a blip on the marketing campaign radar. Jauron wasn't making the playoffs and was on a death march already. Now, you might have a point if they announced the ticket office would be open extra hours and was having trouble answering all the calls for fans eager to buy tickets to see a Perry Fewell coached football team. But, I doubt seriously that there was any T.O. like tidal wave of new ticket sales.

 

When team captains & administrators are saying things like "What's the !@#$ing point?" then someone in charge has to make a decision as to whether to sit there and play with the paper clips and watch a nuclear meltdown, or whether to take some sort of action to try and instill some sort of confidence there really is someone at the top.

 

As far as Tim's guess that this was for the holiday shopping season. He may be right, but I take it he was smiling a bit as he typed that.

[keepthefaith]

Without a plan in place going forward this was an absolutely pointless move at this time. The Bills should have already had multiple interviews scheduled for their permanent coach when they pulled the plug. Maybe they do, I don't know. But if not this move is just stupid and pointless.

If they want to do anything positive in the near future they should have a coach in place by Thanksgiving (and I don't mean Fewell or April or anybody else on staff) and a new GM and a reorganized front office completed before Christmas. If they can't manage that, then this move was nothing but more of Ralph Wilson's mindless bullshlt.

 

 

You're crazy.

[Sisyphean Bills]

I usually have your back on most everything you post, but I'm with GG on this one.

 

We now have a green light to interview any person not under contract, w/o doing the cloack and dagger routine. If our football man is currently unemployed, then we can have a reasonable discussion and thoughtful consideration. An early hire would allow them to get acquainted and thoughtfully consider who the coach might be.

 

It's all upside in my book.

In fact, it shows some integrity and respect in a way. Mr. Wilson could have just curtailed Jauron's authority completely and forced him to march the death march to the end and all the while he and Russ Brandon could fly in a number of candidates for various positions, showed them the digs, the occupied offices they'd be taking up, etc. He could've treated Dick Jauron like the Chiefs treated Herm Edwards. Just not tell him anything and let him go through the motions. Dick could've found out he was fired when a reporter knocked on his front door like other coaches. But, there is no reason to treat a guy like Dick Jauron like yesterday's trash. It was just time to move on.

[Kelly the Dog]

It's a very good move if ONLY for the fact that it eliminates the chance that Jauron goes on one of his patented three game winning streaks that puts some hope in Ralphie that he can get the job done.

[PromoTheRobot]

Bills will spend any amount to land Shanny

 

If this is what you call amatuer hour then I'm all for it.

 

PTR

[Orton's Arm]

The torpedo that sinks your ship is timing. There is no reason to dismiss Dick Jauron immediately to sell season tickets after the season is halfway over. It makes no sense. Firing him now, 3 weeks from now, or at the end of the season has little bearing as to the direction they are going to take to get fans interested again. The 2010 season is over 9 months away; a few days or weeks is hardly a blip on the marketing campaign radar. Jauron wasn't making the playoffs and was on a death march already. Now, you might have a point if they announced the ticket office would be open extra hours and was having trouble answering all the calls for fans eager to buy tickets to see a Perry Fewell coached football team. But, I doubt seriously that there was any T.O. like tidal wave of new ticket sales.

 

When team captains & administrators are saying things like "What's the !@#$ing point?" then someone in charge has to make a decision as to whether to sit there and play with the paper clips and watch a nuclear meltdown, or whether to take some sort of action to try and instill some sort of confidence there really is someone at the top.

 

As far as Tim's guess that this was for the holiday shopping season. He may be right, but I take it he was smiling a bit as he typed that.

There is no torpedo that sinks my ship!

 

I didn't characterize the move as something intended to create immediate sales among fans desperate to see a Fewell-coached team. I described it as the first step in repairing a seriously damaged relationship between Wilson and Bills fans. A repair job that was best started sooner rather than later, before the damage to that relationship became any worse.

 

In the days and weeks leading up to this firing, you had people who'd been Bills fans for decades--who had never missed a game--indicate that, for the first time, they felt apathy about this team. There were posts along the lines of, "for the first time in twenty years, I've missed a Bills game." Others indicated that any excuse would be sufficient to pull them away from the games. The Bills were in legitimate danger of losing a significant portion of their fans. Once you loose those people--once they stop caring--it can be hard to win them back.

 

What made the situation worse was that Bills fans already got suckered with the T.O. signing. A lot of people invested money, not to mention emotional energy, into this team that they otherwise wouldn't have, thanks to that signing. The spirit of disillusionment was all the greater when it became clear that T.O. would not solve this team's problems.

 

The Buffalo Bills are a business, just like any other. Bills fans are the customers. As is the case with any business, the Bills can't afford to ignore what their customers want. With Jauron's approval rating consistently in the single digits, with billboards about firing him popping up, it was clear that this time, Bills fans would demand more than the window dressing of a T.O. signing to rekindle their interest in this football team. The firing of Jauron is the kind of substantive change without which fan relations could not be repaired.

[billsrcursed]

Bills will spend any amount to land Shanny

 

If this is what you call amatuer hour then I'm all for it.

 

PTR

 

You have no idea how hard I'm trying to not get my hopes up.... you're not helping at all!!!!

 

(thanx for the link!)

[Sisyphean Bills]

There is no torpedo that sinks my ship!

 

I didn't characterize the move as something intended to create immediate sales among fans desperate to see a Fewell-coached team. I described it as the first step in repairing a seriously damaged relationship between Wilson and Bills fans. A repair job that was best started sooner rather than later, before the damage to that relationship became any worse.

 

In the days and weeks leading up to this firing, you had people who'd been Bills fans for decades--who had never missed a game--indicate that, for the first time, they felt apathy about this team. There were posts along the lines of, "for the first time in twenty years, I've missed a Bills game." Others indicated that any excuse would be sufficient to pull them away from the games. The Bills were in legitimate danger of losing a significant portion of their fans. Once you loose those people--once they stop caring--it can be hard to win them back.

 

What made the situation worse was that Bills fans already got suckered with the T.O. signing. A lot of people invested money, not to mention emotional energy, into this team that they otherwise wouldn't have, thanks to that signing. The spirit of disillusionment was all the greater when it became clear that T.O. would not solve this team's problems.

 

The Buffalo Bills are a business, just like any other. Bills fans are the customers. As is the case with any business, the Bills can't afford to ignore what their customers want. With Jauron's approval rating consistently in the single digits, with billboards about firing him popping up, it was clear that this time, Bills fans would demand more than the window dressing of a T.O. signing to rekindle their interest in this football team. The firing of Jauron is the kind of substantive change without which fan relations could not be repaired.

I agree with you generally. Jauron was a disaster and something needed to be done, and I think virtually everyone knew he was a dead man walking this season at this point.

 

I disagree that there was some sort of "sudden apathy" involved at all. I don't believe Ralph Wilson could measure it from his home in Detroit even if it was a real phenomena. Perhaps, you or someone you know became disillusioned this week, but I know many Bills fans that were fed up with Dick Jauron last year and have been losing interest for years now.

 

Of course, "fan-dom" is the reason for this change ultimately. Ralph Wilson is the #1 fan of this team and he had had enough. His opinion is the only one that mattered in the end.

[reddogblitz]

Firing Dick was way over due. He flew this thing into the ground. With the all rookie OLine and firing Turk 2 weeks before the season started. Knowing we need QB depth and gets Fitz. Loses to Cleveland 6-3. He was making us the laughing stock of the league. The anchor dude on the NFL channel makes fun of him, calling him "the cagey Dick Jaruon" in sarcastic tone of voice. His horrible game time decisions costing us games. It had gotten to the point where he had no business patrolling an NFL sideline. The wheels were falling off and finally the players were even speaking out. If Aaron makes a scene in public, you now it's gotta be bad! Way to go Ralph.

 

I can't wait for the game Sunday. I'm thinking we win 3 or 4 games the rest of the way.

[Acantha]

Why DJ was fired now:

 

"Clearly I believe it's the right thing to do. "It's painful for him and for his family and for the organization to go through it. But it was just a decision I needed to make, I felt, and made it."

 

"I just didn't feel like we were progressing and I didn't get the sense that we were going to move forward and that we were going there."

 

"When you make a decision, you know when you should do it. "I wasn't thinking about firing him three days ago. I wasn't thinking about it two weeks ago. And when you start thinking about it, I think you need to move on it and do something. So when I started thinking about it, I gave it a good deal of thought and did it."