NoSaint Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 I don't really get a LB coach being an assistant coach. It's like being a project manager at a job, having a VP for a boss but the project manager is also the special assistant to the CEO. It undermineds the VP. Not saying Edwards is the guy, but if that's going to be DW's role, then just get rid of Edwards. Sounds like it's going to be confusing for everyone. I like bringing on someone with experience, but this is just weird (I get it, you almost have to give that title to DW if he's going to join, but still...) It's actually pretty commonplace in the NFL. Just offhand singletary was hired into it, and Joe vitt has the same titles. I expect more gameplanning involvement from DW but not any "final say."
Kelly the Dog Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Bad, bad comparison. Why? He's right. The title "Assistant Head Coach" means very little in the NFL, is used in all kinds of circumstances for all kinds of reasons, and in no way does it mean "everything now goes through him", which is GG's point.
The Big Cat Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Does not compute. THANK YOU!! I'm so sick of having this argument.
DrDawkinstein Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Exactly. If Wannstedt gets offered a DC position on another team he will take it and it will be a step up from Assistant Head Coach not a step down. A former head coach who was just fired doesn't usually want to sit out a year because he could fall into obscurity. He wants a job, he wants to be respected, he wants a title. This is a good place and title for him in his transition. If Edwards fails, Wannstedt would have an advantage over other candidates but wouldn't automatically assume the job. He gives us what we need though, some experience as a DC in this league to game plan, design packages/blitzes, etc. From virtually everything that Gailey has said publicly about Edwards, he's not going to undermine the guy and have him look over his shoulder. Wannstedt himself very likely said I'm not going to step on anyone's shoes because this is a transition job for him (which COULD lead to a DC position if Edwards craps the bed). But Gailey has proven himself in the last year here to not be a guy who blows smoke up people's asses or placates the press. And he is firmly in Edward's camp. This is a lot like the Lebeau hire, IMO. Kelly, usually you are dead-on and I agree with what you say, but I think you're a little misguided here. How is Assistant Head Coach LOWER than Defensive Coordinator?? The reason the Assistant Head Coach position was ever invented was to restrict other teams' options for stealing that coach away. There is only ONE position higher on the coaching tree, and that is Head Coach. Whether Wanny is calling the shots on gameday or not, I guarantee every call by Edwards has to go through Wanny first.
Fan in Chicago Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 GR reporting Wannstedt is the linebacker/assistant head coach! This is great news. Not only do we have a good defensive mind on the pay roll but should Edwards' schemes continue to blow even after adding D talent, we have the Stache to take over. Nice move, FO. Solid, solid all the way.
K-9 Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Now all we need is four linebackers worth coaching. Yep. It's not as though DW will just show up and our LBs will magically transform into All Pros. Contrary to some around here, it was very evident to me that the front seven's problems were less about scheme and more about not having better players. I say that knowing that our coaches had no business putting some players in positions they have no business playing like Kelsay and Stroud. But other than those two glaring examples I can't think of any more off the top of my head. The coaches should have seen earlier that changing fronts wasn't a good idea given our lack of talent to do so. However, our defense was equally bad regardless of front. Especially our LBs who were terrible in every facet of LB play way more often that not. They over pursue, don't maintain gap discipline, take terrible angles, can't shed blocks, and don't take very good drops in coverage. I'm glad we have him and I'd like to believe Wanny will "coach 'em up" and all that's wrong with our LBs and the rest of the defense will go away but I'll need more convincing before I believe he can make chicken salad out of the chicken sh*t we have now. GO BILLS!!!
lets_go_bills Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Glad he joined. This is a great addition. He brings a wealth of experience and only makes us better. This is a step in the right direction and makes me feel that we're building something here.
SF Bills Fan Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 This is good news. Certainly need help with our defense.
stony Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Peterson is a bust. Busty Busty Bust. Like Katie Perry size bust. Stay away. If you are vying for the Bills to make the mistake of taking a DB at #3, atleast go with Prince Amukamara. I didn't realize he was playing already...
RevWarRifleman Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 A good move! His expertise on defense will be a great help. I'm gonna read the tea leaves here a bit but I think this is another indication that the Bills are really going to address the defense big time in the off season. Between this move and Chan's comment in the SI article about the strong defenses of the four teams remaining in the playoffs, I think these are early signals that the Bills, finally, want to get serious about defensive needs. I hope so. I also think that they intend to make Wannstedt the head coach after the Gailey era is done. Just readin tea leaves. We'll see.
The Senator Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Great news. (Now, we just need some mustachioed emoticons!) Never doubted for a second that Wanny would sign with Buffalo and reunite with Gailey. Now, if DW has any input into the Bills draft, look for the Bills to end up with Pitt DE Greg Romues in the mid-to-late rounds - Romeus was a favorite of Wanny's at Pitt and a round one prospect until he tore his ACL... Romeus - NFL Draft Scout Profile 19 and 0 baby!!! GO BILLSSS!!!! Fear the stache!!!!
Kelly the Dog Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Kelly, usually you are dead-on and I agree with what you say, but I think you're a little misguided here. How is Assistant Head Coach LOWER than Defensive Coordinator?? The reason the Assistant Head Coach position was ever invented was to restrict other teams' options for stealing that coach away. There is only ONE position higher on the coaching tree, and that is Head Coach. Whether Wanny is calling the shots on gameday or not, I guarantee every call by Edwards has to go through Wanny first. We will have to agree to disagree. There were several, almost limitless reasons the title of Assistant Head Coach was created and handed out. One was to stop them from going to other teams in a sideways move (thereby staying just the DC with the additional title but no extra responsibilities). One was to make it look like the coach or the coach's agent were getting a higher title when it wasn't true at all but just a figurehead. One was to save face for guy's fired from previous jobs. One was for guys like Lebeau when he was with the Bills to give them transition jobs. One was to placate coaches who were bypassed for the real Head Coach job. As someone stated before, Elijah Pitts was the Assistant Head Coach of the Bills during some of the Super Bowl years, I guarantee not everything had to go through him even though he was a good coach. I will bet you anything that Edwards will call all defensive signals for the Bills until it's publicly announced he's been stripped of those duties, without it going through Wannstedt.
purple haze Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 From my man in Pittsburgh, a walking sports almanac: "Your defense will be vanilla with 2 deep man under and rare blitzing. But he usually finds badass lineman to get pressure. Lots of pressure on the corners to hold up in man to man." This sounds EXACTLY like the Jets formula to beat the Pats last weekend... That works when you have a Revis or Cromartie. And Jason Taylor and Shaun Ellis. We better hope Free Agency happens and we get a gift or two for the front 7.
zow2 Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 It's great to have him onboard now so he can help coach and evaluate the young guys at the Senior Bowl practices next week.
BobDVA Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Great news. (Now, we just need some mustachioed emoticons!) Never doubted for a second that Wanny would sign with Buffalo and reunite with Gailey. Now, if DW has any input into the Bills draft, look for the Bills to end up with Pitt DE Greg Romues in the mid-to-late rounds - Romeus was a favorite of Wanny's at Pitt and a round one prospect until he tore his ACL... Romeus - NFL Draft Scout Profile 19 and 0 baby!!! GO BILLSSS!!!! Fear the stache!!!! Good call on Romeus Senator! Two major injuries last year, could be a steal in the 4th round....
MattyT Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Why? He's right. The title "Assistant Head Coach" means very little in the NFL, is used in all kinds of circumstances for all kinds of reasons, and in no way does it mean "everything now goes through him", which is GG's point. I don't think anybody stated that "everything goes through the assistant head coach" for the simple fact that that's his job title. They used a little bit of logic and realized that an Asst. HC who was a head coach for 10 seasons and a DC for 5 seasons may have a great deal more responsibility than an Asst. HC who's been little more than a STs coach for his entire NFL career.
GG Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 Kelly, usually you are dead-on and I agree with what you say, but I think you're a little misguided here. How is Assistant Head Coach LOWER than Defensive Coordinator?? The reason the Assistant Head Coach position was ever invented was to restrict other teams' options for stealing that coach away. There is only ONE position higher on the coaching tree, and that is Head Coach. Whether Wanny is calling the shots on gameday or not, I guarantee every call by Edwards has to go through Wanny first. Why do people get fixated by the titles? There's nothing to suggest by Gialey's comments to date that he's pushing Edwards aside, which is what would happen if Wanny effectively runs the entire D. The title is only important for NFL rules on how coaches are slotted for their next job.
FluffHead Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 We will have to agree to disagree. There were several, almost limitless reasons the title of Assistant Head Coach was created and handed out. One was to stop them from going to other teams in a sideways move (thereby staying just the DC with the additional title but no extra responsibilities). One was to make it look like the coach or the coach's agent were getting a higher title when it wasn't true at all but just a figurehead. One was to save face for guy's fired from previous jobs. One was for guys like Lebeau when he was with the Bills to give them transition jobs. One was to placate coaches who were bypassed for the real Head Coach job. As someone stated before, Elijah Pitts was the Assistant Head Coach of the Bills during some of the Super Bowl years, I guarantee not everything had to go through him even though he was a good coach. I will bet you anything that Edwards will call all defensive signals for the Bills until it's publicly announced he's been stripped of those duties, without it going through Wannstedt. I agree with you, Kelly. There's no way all play calls go through Wanny until Wanny is actually the one calling them. There's no way that with 20 seconds to call a play, Edwards finds his play and checks for Wanny's approval before sending it in. That is a recipe for disaster.
buffaloaggie Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 We will have to agree to disagree. There were several, almost limitless reasons the title of Assistant Head Coach was created and handed out. One was to stop them from going to other teams in a sideways move (thereby staying just the DC with the additional title but no extra responsibilities). One was to make it look like the coach or the coach's agent were getting a higher title when it wasn't true at all but just a figurehead. One was to save face for guy's fired from previous jobs. One was for guys like Lebeau when he was with the Bills to give them transition jobs. One was to placate coaches who were bypassed for the real Head Coach job. As someone stated before, Elijah Pitts was the Assistant Head Coach of the Bills during some of the Super Bowl years, I guarantee not everything had to go through him even though he was a good coach. I will bet you anything that Edwards will call all defensive signals for the Bills until it's publicly announced he's been stripped of those duties, without it going through Wannstedt. I'm sure Wannstedt's price needed a bigger title than linebackers coach. I also would think that since Edwards is raw, an experienced coach will come in and help him game plan to see how it's done. We recognize that Edwards is in over his head, so now he has help. I don't think Wannstedt will be a linebackers coach long. If Edwards fails, Wannstedt steps in. Otherwise, he will get an offer elsewhere. This is the first move in a long time that makes sense.
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