This Front Office is looking smarter and Smarter

[BillsVet]

Something bad happened in San Diego. Marty was fired after a 14-2 season. Nix was there and he saw it, whatever it was. Nix is still friends with Marty but but he chose not to hire him.

 

But you probably no more about this than Buddy.

 

Ralph Wilson decided he didn't want Marty, not Buddy. And for all those people who believe Marty didn't want to come to Buffalo, well, he didn't want to admit it and then get shot down. Which is what happened, because RW has such a fine track record of avoiding strong willed people who know football.

[Doc]

Ralph Wilson decided he didn't want Marty, not Buddy. And for all those people who believe Marty didn't want to come to Buffalo, well, he didn't want to admit it and then get shot down. Which is what happened, because RW has such a fine track record of avoiding strong willed people who know football.

So too has every other owner since the 2006 season ended.

[BobChalmers]

OK so Gailey was fired as offensive coordinator from a team whose offense was ranked 24th in the NFL and finished 4-12. As for all the stories of former coaches saying good things about Gailey its a close nit frat that all these former and current NFL coaches live in. If we hired Herman Edwards there would have been good things said about how great of a teacher and motivator he was with the Jets and Chiefs.

 

Just follow his career once he left the Cowboys. He went to Miami were in 2001 his last season the Fins were ranked 21st when he left the year after in 2002 the Fins improved to a 15th ranking. Then you look at his Georgia Tech tenure where in his last season in 2007 he took them to a 7-5 record while in 2008 they were 9-4 and ranked 22nd and in 2009 they were 11-3 and ranked 12th overall.

 

So after all that failure and mediocrity we hire him as our new Head Coach. What is it about this man resume that is suppose to inspire me that he is a good hire and not a cost cutting or good ole boys network hire? Since his Cowboys run every team he has left has either gotten better (Georgia Tech and the Fins) or has stayed the same (The Chiefs) this is a bad hire any way you spin it.

 

Scott Pioli stated he wanted to keep Gailey and promote him to HC but he thought the KC fans were too stupid to get the promotion of an unfamous name. Ever think of becoming a KC fan? You'd fit right in.

 

I notice you're choosing to provide no statistics of his one HC stint in the NFL. That much is smart, eh, since Gailey took over a 6-10 Dallas team and turned them into 10-6 and 8-8 playoff teams. Then when Jones fired him (his mistake, he now says) the Cowboys immediately went 5-11 three straight years.

 

Nope - he's been a failure all right - if you ignore his success, that is.

[PNW_Bills_Fan]

I said the FO is looking smarter and smarter. Let me explain. I think Brandon did the right thing by bringing in a football guy to handle the football side of the franchise. Nix is known as a football guy. He brings in his replacement in the assistant GM he hired. Who has a good track record. Then they hire a coach who knows the "o" side of the ball. Who has a track record of getting more our of QB's. He has since hired a lot of coaches with experience. I like most of the hires. I am not sure if that will translate into wins, but I like the direction they are headed. This in no way means they will win this year or ever. I just think the FO especially Brandon and Nix are getting the right guys here to mold this team. What is left to see is what they do in FA and the draft. Then does that translate into wins in year 3 or 4. I hope it does next year. I would be surprised, but like others have posted this league is made up of a lot of mediocre teams. So we could win sooner than later with a lot of luck.

 

Quality dialog though. I am actually enjoying reading this thread because there has been quality responses.

[BillsVet]

So too has every other owner since the 2006 season ended.

 

30 other NFL teams have had coaching vacancies and neglected to consider Marty Schottenheimer? 200 career coaching wins in the regular season seems to show Martyball works. Then again, Chanman has 18 with a fading Dallas dynasty and wasn't rehired in a decade.

[PromoTheRobot]

30 other NFL teams have had coaching vacancies and neglected to consider Marty Schottenheimer? 200 career coaching wins in the regular season seems to show Martyball works. Then again, Chanman has 18 with a fading Dallas dynasty and wasn't rehired in a decade.

I think I can repeat this since it's been a while, but Nevergiveip told me once that it was Nix, not Wilson, who didn't want Schottenheimer. The Ralph Wilson story (that he didn't want Schotty) was meant to cover Nix. He never said why, just that Buddy "Nixed" Marty. Take it for what it's worth, but Nevergiveup proved himself to be fairly reliable.

 

PTR

[Doc]

30 other NFL teams have had coaching vacancies and neglected to consider Marty Schottenheimer? 200 career coaching wins in the regular season seems to show Martyball works.

So then, why is it that 29 teams have passed on hiring Marty, but the Bills should be vilified for being the 30th?

[bills88]

I am sorry but is hiring Chan !@#$ing Gailey as the coach when Marty Schotenheimer wanted the job is a incompetent move. I mean are we seriously giving kudos to a front office that hired a guy the Kansas City Chiefs fired. Oh but he the KC Chiefs offense fell 7 ranks when he left well you know who else also left KC the same year as Gailey Tony Gonzales who is likely the reason why KC's offense fell from bad to God awful.

 

Look at Gailey's track record and is there anything since a semi-successful run with Dallas that shows why Gailey will be a success? Miami actually got better right after he left. GA tech got better after he left. Then the one stop where the team was worse after he left it was more likely due to the HOF Tight End who also left with him.

 

I am sorry but Marty ball should be our HC. We need a guy who is a proven winner not a proven disappointment. While I do like the coordinators and assistants they have brought in the overall hire of Gailey is a bad one. I love for anyone to seriously defend this hire of Gailey as HC when Marty ball wanted the job.

 

Agreed Bills fan89 (even though I'm not sure if your 89 refers to the season or shawn nelson) And for those who want to make the argument that Marty sucks in the playoffs, hasn't the last ten year made you wish for a team that just could get to the playoffs? Would you care if he turned the team around in 2 or 3 years and they than hired the coach to get them to the next level, because you know Marty would get them to the playoffs? When the Bills hired Jaroun, I was so against hiring Mary just because he had such a poor playoff record. Now I don't care. Get the Bills back to being respectable, than worry about super bowls.

[HooperBills]

To this point the FO has done a great job, for one reason only. NIX CAME IN AND FIRED EVERYONE!! That move alone shows that he is not afraid to make the hard calls that the Bills need so badly.

[Bob in STL]

What happened in San Diego between Marty and A.J. Smith is not too complicated. Both of these characters are too very strong willed and head strong individuals. A.J. Smith disliked Marty so much that he wouldn't even take his calls. When Marty tried to work out a detente with A.J. he wouldn't even make a cold peace with Marty. It got so bad that the owner, Spanos, tried to intervene with no success. The relationship between the HC and GM was so poisonous that one of them had to go.

 

A.J. Smith tried to defend his position by blaming Marty for his team's playoff losses because of his conservative offensive philosophy. Marty responded that in his last year he wasn't even calling the plays.

 

Nix maintained a good relationship with Marty throughout the internal conflict. Buddy saw close hand that Smith is not the easiest person to deal with. Smith has a very pugnacious personality. He is not the type to forget or let go after a dispute has been settled. In some respects Marty and Smith are both cut from the same cloth.

 

 

I have never heard the facts but I do think this situation had something to do with Marty not getting hired. Whether it was Ralph's call, Buddy's, or both.

[PNW_Bills_Fan]

To this point the FO has done a great job, for one reason only. NIX CAME IN AND FIRED EVERYONE!! That move alone shows that he is not afraid to make the hard calls that the Bills need so badly.

 

isn't that SOP when a new guy comes in?

[Thurman#1]

Chan has a coaching staff that has lots of coaching experience. It may not be in the Pro Ranks, but a lot of College experience. Then they are getting younger guys that can be mentored into being the next coach to come in and take over when the old guys are done. Not to mention two heads are better than one. These coaches can challenge each other and see things that the others cannot. I like the moves so far. My opinion will change with wins and losses, but what Bills fan doesn't .

 

 

 

Too early to say.

[folz]

The last regime had some serious issues (that we as fans seemed to be aware of but they never seemed to address):

 

1. OC/Offensive playcalling: always a problem on Jauron coached teams

Nix brought in Gailey, an offensive minded coach

 

2. Injuries

Nix/Gailey announce they want bigger, stronger football players; then address the strength and conditioning

program with the two new hires

 

3. Depth

I trust Nix/Whaley's experience more than Jauron/Brandon to start building depth (Pitt and SD never seem to be

lacking in that category) and they have now started to release some players who were ST specialists and did not

help our depth which is a sign that they look to address depth

 

4. John Guy

He's gone

 

5. Talent evaluation: this includes the draft/FA but also seeing who you have on your own team...how often did

we as fans see players who should get playing time sit for one reason or another (Freddy Jackson, Jabari Greer,

George Wilson, Steve Johnson, etc.)...not saying I know the new guys will be better evaluators, but can they really

be worse? Plus, the FO now has a lot more experience in Scouting/GM (football) type duties. Nix and Whaley (both

scouts and asst GMs for successful teams) making draft and FA decisions instead of Brandon (very good marketing guy),

Guy (terrible), and Jauron (very questionable in talent evaluation).

 

6. Not practicing against the 3-4 defense when all 3 divisional opponents play the 3-4

New guys are switching to a 3-4 or 3-4 hybrid

 

 

I could go on, but what I like is that it seems that the new guys are seeing and addressing a lot of the things we have been worried about or bitching about the last couple of years in regards to what was wrong with the team and that is what I think is leading to the growing optimism among many fans, maybe these guys really know what they're doing. It's no guarantee that they will succeed (God knows we've been burned before), and we do have a lot of holes to fill and need a big influx of talented players, but these guys are definitely a smarter (more experienced) FO than we have had in a while if only for the fact that they can at least see what is wrong with the team and are trying to go about fixing it rather than ignoring it. We'll have a better idea about their talent evaluation after FA and the draft and on into the season, but I'm cautiously optimistic. It may take a couple of seasons to right the ship, but I'd be surprised if we don't at least see positive momentum this year, which is better than stagnating which is what we've been doing for the last 10 years.

[Steely Dan]

The last regime had some serious issues (that we as fans seemed to be aware of but they never seemed to address):

 

1. OC/Offensive playcalling: always a problem on Jauron coached teams

Nix brought in Gailey, an offensive minded coach

 

2. Injuries

Nix/Gailey announce they want bigger, stronger football players; then address the strength and conditioning

program with the two new hires

 

3. Depth

I trust Nix/Whaley's experience more than Jauron/Brandon to start building depth (Pitt and SD never seem to be

lacking in that category) and they have now started to release some players who were ST specialists and did not

help our depth which is a sign that they look to address depth

 

4. John Guy

He's gone

 

5. Talent evaluation: this includes the draft/FA but also seeing who you have on your own team...how often did

we as fans see players who should get playing time sit for one reason or another (Freddy Jackson, Jabari Greer,

George Wilson, Steve Johnson, etc.)...not saying I know the new guys will be better evaluators, but can they really

be worse? Plus, the FO now has a lot more experience in Scouting/GM (football) type duties. Nix and Whaley (both

scouts and asst GMs for successful teams) making draft and FA decisions instead of Brandon (very good marketing guy),

Guy (terrible), and Jauron (very questionable in talent evaluation).

 

6. Not practicing against the 3-4 defense when all 3 divisional opponents play the 3-4

New guys are switching to a 3-4 or 3-4 hybrid

 

 

I could go on, but what I like is that it seems that the new guys are seeing and addressing a lot of the things we have been worried about or bitching about the last couple of years in regards to what was wrong with the team and that is what I think is leading to the growing optimism among many fans, maybe these guys really know what they're doing. It's no guarantee that they will succeed (God knows we've been burned before), and we do have a lot of holes to fill and need a big influx of talented players, but these guys are definitely a smarter (more experienced) FO than we have had in a while if only for the fact that they can at least see what is wrong with the team and are trying to go about fixing it rather than ignoring it. We'll have a better idea about their talent evaluation after FA and the draft and on into the season, but I'm cautiously optimistic. It may take a couple of seasons to right the ship, but I'd be surprised if we don't at least see positive momentum this year, which is better than stagnating which is what we've been doing for the last 10 years.

 

Everything he said.

 

I'm also cautiously optimistic. In the past I've been willing to fully support the moves by the team. I'm hoping that my cautious optimism will be rewarded.

[JohnC]

I have never heard the facts but I do think this situation had something to do with Marty not getting hired. Whether it was Ralph's call, Buddy's, or both.

 

There is no secret in the way Marty S runs his operation when he is the HC. He likes to run a tight ship with everything going through him. He also wants the authority to make personnel decisions. When MS was with the Redskins he did a terrific job in quickly cleaning house of the high paid free agent veterans and replacing them with younger and more maleable players. The team started off 0-5 but finished the season at 8-8. He was successful in changing the course of the franchise and moving it the right direction. But his downfall came when he was dismissive of the owner and made it abundantly clear to the owner that he was making the football decisions without interference from an owner with a marketing background.

 

Marty forgot one important thing with his authoritarian and superior attitude: He isn't the boss! The owner fired him when the season was over. What fun is it for an owner to be an owner and not be a little involved.

[John Cocktosten]

I said the FO is looking smarter and smarter. Let me explain. I think Brandon did the right thing by bringing in a football guy to handle the football side of the franchise. Nix is known as a football guy.

 

This might be the most brilliant statement in the history of TBD. Giving the Bills credit for hiring a "football guy" to run the "football side" of the franchise reminds me of the Chris Rock bit where he talks about how people brag and say, "I TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS!"

PNW, you are giving the Bills credit for something that they shouldn't get credit for! And say what you want about who they hired, IMO, it falls in line with why the Bills have been a horrible franchise forever. Nix and Gailey were not on anyone's list of candidates. But somehow, many Bills fans think Ralph outsmarted the rest of the NFL by hiring "football guys" whom nobody wanted. Brilliant!

I hope and pray that these two can turn this franchise around, but they are being asked to put on the breaks after the car is already off of the cliff. And Ralph and the rest of the brilliant FO thought it would be a good idea to hire two guys who have ZERO experience doing this! It was never about Shanny or Cowher (which was simply a marketing ploy to renergize the Bills fans and it did) becoming the next HC, it was about hiring experienced coaches/GM who have a history of success in turning around franchises. I'm sorry, but a staff full of college coaches and a GM who is a "Top 5 talent evaluator" according to Wkipededia and a Reuters article hardly instills a ton of confidence.

Status quo, nothing new at OBD. Posts like this reassure OBD that it doesn't matter what moves they make, the fans here would support a donkey if one was hired. Love the optimism though...

[JohnC]

This might be the most brilliant statement in the history of TBD. Giving the Bills credit for hiring a "football guy" to run the "football side" of the franchise reminds me of the Chris Rock bit where he talks about how people brag and say, "I TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS!"

PNW, you are giving the Bills credit for something that they shouldn't get credit for! And say what you want about who they hired, IMO, it falls in line with why the Bills have been a horrible franchise forever. Nix and Gailey were not on anyone's list of candidates. But somehow, many Bills fans think Ralph outsmarted the rest of the NFL by hiring "football guys" whom nobody wanted. Brilliant!

I hope and pray that these two can turn this franchise around, but they are being asked to put on the breaks after the car is already off of the cliff. And Ralph and the rest of the brilliant FO thought it would be a good idea to hire two guys who have ZERO experience doing this! It was never about Shanny or Cowher (which was simply a marketing ploy to renergize the Bills fans and it did) becoming the next HC, it was about hiring experienced coaches/GM who have a history of success in turning around franchises. I'm sorry, but a staff full of college coaches and a GM who is a "Top 5 talent evaluator" according to Wkipededia and a Reuters article hardly instills a ton of confidence.

Status quo, nothing new at OBD. Posts like this reassure OBD that it doesn't matter what moves they make, the fans here would support a donkey if one was hired. Love the optimism though...

 

What you are essentially saying is that the fan base is imprisoned by its own low expectations. Stockholm syndrome?

[John Cocktosten]

What you are essentially saying is that the fan base is imprisoned by its own low expectations. Stockholm syndrome?

BINGO!

[Adam]

I am sorry but is hiring Chan !@#$ing Gailey as the coach when Marty Schotenheimer wanted the job is a incompetent move. I mean are we seriously giving kudos to a front office that hired a guy the Kansas City Chiefs fired. Oh but he the KC Chiefs offense fell 7 ranks when he left well you know who else also left KC the same year as Gailey Tony Gonzales who is likely the reason why KC's offense fell from bad to God awful.

 

Look at Gailey's track record and is there anything since a semi-successful run with Dallas that shows why Gailey will be a success? Miami actually got better right after he left. GA tech got better after he left. Then the one stop where the team was worse after he left it was more likely due to the HOF Tight End who also left with him.

 

I am sorry but Marty ball should be our HC. We need a guy who is a proven winner not a proven disappointment. While I do like the coordinators and assistants they have brought in the overall hire of Gailey is a bad one. I love for anyone to seriously defend this hire of Gailey as HC when Marty ball wanted the job.

Really? I like Schottenheimer and think he is a hall of famer, but do you really want to have a coach who may pull a Favre every offseason? Chan Gailey is an excellent football coach, but nobody can win without players. As much as people here don't want to admit it, the talent level is the main reason for our losing over the last decade. We have had a mediocre bunch, but got too attached to the guys who made plays because nobody else would. I won't cry over anyone leaving- not Jackson, not Schobel, not Evans.

 

We aren't going to stay out of the basement no matter who we bring in. This isn't about next season, it is about the decade. You build to win for the long haul. Fix the offensive and defensive line, then worry about the skill positions. You can't build a house without setting the foundation first- unless you don't care if it collapses.

[Mr. WEO]

BINGO!

The Bills are the Symbionese Liberation Army!