Billsfan4ever14580 Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 While the decision probably could have been made last year after the draft based on past record, the fact is that Nix was new to his role and probably wanted to give it time to make his own evaluation. It seems to me at least that Modrak had less influence in this year's decisions than in the past, perhaps indicative of Nix's lack of confidence. The timing after the draft is correct - this starts the new year and does not disrupt the organization in the middle of draft preparations. Bravo Buddy - well done. Exactly! While this firing is long over due, this shows that Buddy has a plan and Modrak is not a part of it. Mediocrity will not be accepted any longer and it's time to get people in important roles who actually care what the outcome of their work is. A+ Buddy!!
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 (edited) Agreed. The pre-draft preparation and grading were all on TM and his scouts. So the old addage about "garbage in yielding garbage out" comes to mind. Could this be Tom's replacement? Wow. Darrell Moody. Maybe he'd rather work with the likable Buddy Nix than the infamous autocrat, A.J. Smith? And Matt Hand who discovered Michael Jasper was promoted! Also the Bills announced a player signing? Did they sign him during that one-day period when the lockout was lifted? Edited May 5, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan
ColdBlueNorth Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Wow. Darrell Moody. Maybe he'd rather work with the likable Buddy Nix than the infamous autocrat, A.J. Smith? And Matt Hand who discovered Michael Jasper was promoted! Also the Bills announced a player signing? Did they sign him during that one-day period when the lockout was lifted? they really already have his replacement in Doug Whaley who was in charge of the Steelers scouting of pro personnel for 10 years and was brought on February 2010. The official announcement said, "Whaley will oversee the pro personnel department and assist general manager Buddy Nix in all football-related administrative duties, along with college talent evaluation." With both Nix and Whaley already having years of experience directing successful scouting departments was there a need for Modrak, or anyone else for that matter to run college scouting for the Bills? They don't need a replacement for Modrak, and the time they gave him was most likely just to transition the duties to Doug.
Pilsner Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 What a relief! Where is Red? Red, this is what you've been waiting for for so long and you're not here? This is your big day. Wow what a solid 7 days it's been. We have a great draft, osama bites the dust, modrak gets canned. What's next? We find out Jasper has an identical twin brother who's even more of a secret than he was and wants to join us as an UDFA? Seems like Nix definitely has Ralph's trust now. Way to go Buddy and Whaley. Keep on cleaning house. There's much more to do. Go Bills!!
Captain Hindsight Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 What a relief! Where is Red? Red, this is what you've been waiting for for so long and you're not here? This is your big day. Wow what a solid 7 days it's been. We have a great draft, osama bites the dust, modrak gets canned. What's next? We find out Jasper has an identical twin brother who's even more of a secret than he was and wants to join us as an UDFA? Seems like Nix definitely has Ralph's trust now. Way to go Buddy and Whaley. Keep on cleaning house. There's much more to do. Go Bills!! Im buying a lotto ticket tomorrow
Hapless Bills Fan Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Also the Bills announced a player signing? Did they sign him during that one-day period when the lockout was lifted? This blew my mind - how'd they manage that? An undrafted free agent who played for California 2006-2009. Are there different rules for last year's draft class who have never played with another team? But still..no CBA?
Lurker Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 they really already have his replacement in Doug Whaley who was in charge of the Steelers scouting of pro personnel for 10 years and was brought on February 2010. I look at Whaley as GM-in-training, rather than head college scout. Most of his player personnel experience was on the pro rather than college side. The head college guy needs a ton of experience, plus big time networking relationships with college HCs, which is what made Nix (and John Butler) so effective. I think Whaley has bigger ambitions than that. Also the Bills announced a player signing? Did they sign him during that one-day period when the lockout was lifted? [/size][/color] That BN article was from August 2010...
Cynical Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 This blew my mind - how'd they manage that? An undrafted free agent who played for California 2006-2009. Are there different rules for last year's draft class who have never played with another team? But still..no CBA? Can't say for sure, but I am willing to bet this has something to do with it: Published:May 5, 2010, 10:51 PM Just a hunch.
Chas56 Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 I'm just glad that the era is over now. It is time to move forward with new FO personnel. This present group seems to be much better than the ones in charge for the last ten years, but we shall see. It will be interesting to see Whaley's role over the next few years. Nix is no spring chicken. And seeing who they hire as a PPD will be telling.
Malazan Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Do people really not understand that Nix took over and had about three months to prepare for the draft last season and firing the guy would have been the knee jerk reaction? All time low for TBD. Congrats!
4BillsintheBurgh Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 they really already have his replacement in Doug Whaley who was in charge of the Steelers scouting of pro personnel for 10 years and was brought on February 2010. The official announcement said, "Whaley will oversee the pro personnel department and assist general manager Buddy Nix in all football-related administrative duties, along with college talent evaluation." With both Nix and Whaley already having years of experience directing successful scouting departments was there a need for Modrak, or anyone else for that matter to run college scouting for the Bills? They don't need a replacement for Modrak, and the time they gave him was most likely just to transition the duties to Doug. Maybe Whaley can pull a someone from the Steelers organization.
ColdBlueNorth Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 I look at Whaley as GM-in-training, rather than head college scout. Most of his player personnel experience was on the pro rather than college side. The head college guy needs a ton of experience, plus big time networking relationships with college HCs, which is what made Nix (and John Butler) so effective. I think Whaley has bigger ambitions than that. That BN article was from August 2010... Right you are, and good catch. Moody will take on the college scouting role whereas Modrak had a VP title - not sure if the VP title actually entailed more responsibilities than "National Scout", or just sounds better. I do like that we have raided the Chargers and Steeler organizations, two organizations that have had a lot of drafting success. I agree that Doug is being groomed for the GM role - no stretch there seeing as they gave him the assistant GM title. I like Nix, but if he retires I'm not sure Doug could fill those shoes. Most of us remember how the Bills fell from greatness...Ralph fired Polian and he left to build a successful franchise in Indy while we were stuck with a string of incompetent GMs and a meddling owner that forced Butler and a very talented scouting department to make the exidus to San Diego where they built a successful franchise there. I don't blame Ralph for everything bad that has befallen the Bills, but he certainly is not blameless in driving this franchise into the turf. On a more positive note, folks clamoring for a QB should remember that Nix and Moody have a history with San Diego of finding franchise calibre quarterbacks with Brees and with Rivers. Hitting once on a franchise QB is hard enough, but nailing it twice speaks volumes about their ability to judge QB talent. There are no guarantees, but I believe that when they do invest a high draft pick on a QB he will be someone who has "the right stuff" that can eventually fill that franchise role.
Bob in STL Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Maybe Whaley can pull a someone from the Steelers organization. Yes, Like Ralph did with Donahoe and Modrak.
Lurker Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Yes, Like Ralph did with Donahoe and Modrak. I think he was referring to people the Steelers actually regretted losing...
Bob in STL Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Modrak may have just run his course as all people do in the NFL but does anyone think it odd that the majority of the players drafted were scouted by Nix and coached by Gaily at the Senior Bowl? Ok, on average the best players come from the South and Gailey coached the South but still Modrak and his cronies had 12 months to scout the entire country and Nix selected a large number of players that he and Chan looked at first hand. Makes me think they did not like Modrak's work in comparision to what they did in a few short weeks at Senior Bowl. BTW - now is the best time to make the change as they new year starts for scouting next years draft.
Scraps Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 I remember after the draft that hardly any of these picks had a "Modrak" feel to them and more of a Buddy Nix feel - Big and physical (with the exception of one late round pick) - Addressing needs - Can play now and not drafted on the "potential to play" What was last year? A Buddy Nix draft or a Modrak draft?
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 they really already have his replacement in Doug Whaley who was in charge of the Steelers scouting of pro personnel for 10 years and was brought on February 2010. The official announcement said, "Whaley will oversee the pro personnel department and assist general manager Buddy Nix in all football-related administrative duties, along with college talent evaluation." With both Nix and Whaley already having years of experience directing successful scouting departments was there a need for Modrak, or anyone else for that matter to run college scouting for the Bills? They don't need a replacement for Modrak, and the time they gave him was most likely just to transition the duties to Doug. I was guessing that Whaley was going to fill the position but I hadn't seen the official announcement. I look at Whaley as GM-in-training, rather than head college scout. Most of his player personnel experience was on the pro rather than college side. The head college guy needs a ton of experience, plus big time networking relationships with college HCs, which is what made Nix (and John Butler) so effective. I think Whaley has bigger ambitions than that. That BN article was from August 2010... Aha! Didn't notice the dateline.
benbillsfan Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 FINALLY!!!! This dude has blown chunks for years and its great to have him outta here. He was prob clamoring for terrible prospects all draft weekend and Buddy was tired of his crappy evaluating “skill”. Whitner/McCargo/Maybin/etal... thanks for nothing Modrak - I hope the door hits you on your way out!!!! couldnt of said it better myself...in the "war room" i bet nix and gailey clashed with modrak...he brought in maybin, mccargo, losman...and williams...absolutley horrible...and nix and gailey seen it first hand...then went to the chopping block....good news here.. LOL, if you google "Tom Modrak", this is the 2nd photo in the results, I think it perfectly sums up his time here... http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/113/389/56304810.jpg.14499.0_display_image.jpg?1257473911 great stuff This thread was created within a minute of the other 2. Do you think they were already posted when I presses "start new topic" or do you think we all got the text from the Bills at about the same time? This thread woll obviously die out or the MODs will marry all three into one. Why do you feel the need to be an obnoxious a-hole about it? this poster is always a a-hole...get used to it
Phil Hansen Forever Posted May 5, 2011 Posted May 5, 2011 Bills Update The Buffalo Bills today announced that Tom Modrak has been relieved of his duties as Vice President of College Scouting. from bb.com When employer's say a person has been "relieved of his/her duties", you can read that something else is going on. Normally, they just come out and say that person doesn't fit our organizational structure. Being relieved of duty is quite a different scenario...sounds like he screwed the pooch.
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