If Bills go 5-11, does Buddy get fired?

[2003Contenders]

If you do a root analysis, the end result you will come up with is that the team simply is too lacking in talent from position 1 to 53. This truth was highlighted once the injuries started mounting, as the depth on this team is simply terrible. That has forced Chan to panic in terms of his usual play calling. It has also caused Fitz to press.

 

Now, whose fault is it for the dearth in talent? Well, it is pretty simple, really. In 2001 the team had a brand new (Donahoe) regime pretty much from top to bottom. In 2003 a new head coach was brought in with a different philosophy on offense than the prior regime. So, while the defense didn't change much in his 2-year tenure, the offense was overhauled. In 2006, there was another entire regime change (Levy/Jauron) -- and both offense and defense were drastically overhauled. The GM duties for the next 3-4 years were handled by men who were not even qualified for the position, and the head coach was a buffoon who was inexplicably given way too much latitude in making personnel decisions. In 2010 yet another brand new regime (Nix/Chan) was brought in with differing philosophies on offense as well as defense.

 

Only a player or 2 remain from the Donahoe era. There are remarkably few held over from the Jauron/Levy era. The nucleus of the team is made up of middling free agents and players who were drafted (or picked up as UDFA) by the current regime. I have written elsewhere that I believe that Tom Modrak bares the brunt of blame for the poor drafts from 2002 thru 2010. He was let go after this year's draft and reportedly had very little say in the decisions that were made this last April. Considering that his 2002-2010 tenure was book-ended by 2 quality drafts in 2001 and (so far) 2011 of which he had little or no participation, I do not believe it is a stretch to place the burden of blame on him for those poor drafts during his time as chief college scout. Thus, an argument could be made that the true impact of the current collection of talent really started THIS year.

 

Let's give the current regime some time. Continuity is a good thing. It starts with retaining most of the coaching staff -- although, I can certainly see canning George Edwards -- and the front office. Then it moves toward player retention. Not every player has to be a stud, so it IS important to retain guys that are solid football players. A key example, of course, is Steve Johnson. No, he isn't Larry Fitzgerald -- but he is a quality starting WR in the NFL. Imagine if the team were smart enough to retain him AND seek an upgrade either via the draft or free agency for the other starting WR position?

[thewildrabbit]

Edwards must go. I've seen what coaching can do for a defense. See what Wade Phillips did to the sieve of a Texans defense between this year and last.

Part of me says Gailey and Nix should stay and the "money men" go. However, those money men have made the Bills the class of the NFL in terms of how to financially run an NFL franchise as a business. That, in part, has played an important role in keeping the Bills in Buffalo all these years. The team makes money and has no debt. The finances don't "make" ownership sell or get into dangerously adversarial relationships with the voters and municipality over stadiums and money.

 

I'd probably only fire Edwards.

 

I do think the Bills need to change the way they invest....and start investing in acquiring depth...and that means resigning your veteran half decent players while drafting your blue chips. You have to think about your team like an NBA roster...you have your starters, but you need your good sixth man and a competent "B" unit.

You make a great point, look at the Texans defense last year # 30th in total defense compared to this years defense under Wade Phillips currently #2 !! wow, to go from one of the worst to one of the best and basically all they did was hire a top DC!

[major]

Fear the beard summed it up best. It's amazing what a good DC will do for you.

[CardinalScotts]

I have no problem getting rid of George Edwards, but I think Nix & Gailey are valuable to keep.

 

Getting rid of the GM & Head coach to start all over would be ridiculous.

it would be ridiculous but we are ridiculous - some one actually asked will Buddy be fired

[nbash]

Is Buddy under contract for next season? Then you have your answer. Ralph would rather move to Buffalo than eat a contract.

[BillsVet]

If we had a REAL owner....yes a 9 game losing streak shows that there is something very wrong with the system and he would clean house. As evidenced in the past, there's even a chance that George Edwards will be our DC next year....sad

 

Well, this is the same team that not 3 years ago retained Dick Jauron after a 2-8 finish to the 2008 season in the name of continuity. Translation: We aren't paying someone not to work, so we'll just go with what we've got and hope there's improvement.

 

For the record, these are Buffalo's coordinators since Gregg Williams: Mike Sheppard, Kevin Gilbride, Jerry Gray, Tom Clements, Steve Fairchild, Perry Fewell, Turk Schonert, Alex Van Pelt, George Edwards, and Curtis Modkins. Seems the trend is that they won't (or probably can't) hire minds on their staff who'll be able to coordinate a side of the ball effectively.

 

Buffalo is NFL Siberia.

[BillsfaninFl]

You know, I just can't understand. If I were as old and wealthy as Ralph, I'd think I would have all the urgency in the world to win a superbowl before passing on.

 

I just can't imagine it is gratifying to keep losing even if your pile of money keeps growing... Is he is saving up for a new fleet of jets or something

 

Ralph Wilson has never cared about winning a Super Bowl. When you make statements about hiring a GM from the two candidates he "knew," that tells you he doesn't really actively participate in the NFL culture. He never invested time making contacts among the best management talent around the league, because he never planned to make an all out commitment to win a Super Bowl. The Bills franchise has always been just a lucrative investment to Wilson. That doesn't make him the devil, but he doessn't share the yearning of the fans to win a championship, so he has never got very involved with the movers and shakers in the league. Instead, he surrounded himself with executives that maximize his profits and are loyal to him. In spite of the spin we hear, Wilson doesn't want to hire elite GMs or coaches. They are always trying to spend the money it takes to build a winner. He selects from the bargain basement, then has his watchdogs suppress any dramatic actions toward making a run for the championship. In the last dozen years, how many Bills Head Coaches have been hired in that position by other teams? Zero. I rest my case.

[Meathead]

wow. i figured fans flipping the fk out would have waited until at least training camp

 

the only effect the bills losing out from here will have is accelerating george edwards firing. hes the only coach/front office guy who is clearly over his head and has shown almost nothing positive regarding what he has control over. i cant believe he hasnt been fired already, hopefully he wont make the end of the season

 

chan and buddy are completely safe. the progress the team made from the middle of last season up until this collapse was enormous. granted, the collapse is a huge blot on that record, but still overall there has been very very visible progress. we all knew depth was a serious problem on this team and with yet another season of devastating injuries that depth was exposed. fortunately the collapse started prior to the worst of the injury situation so they cant totally use it as an excuse and will have to learn from it, but injuries were definitely a huge factor to what is sure to be an extended collapse through the end of this season

 

i doubt they lose all remaining four games, after all they have been right in the last two, and that after an epic three straight slaughters by mediocre teams, so they obviously have some character and responded reasonably well to the devastation. wins at this point are meaningless, but playing well in losses with such a young and talent challenged squad is a real good sign. i will root for them during the games but when all is said and done they would be better off losing all four, but more likely they will end with six or seven wins

 

even if they lose them all canning gailey or nix would be epic stupid at this point. even with such a massively disappointing finish, this season has brough some enormous positives

 

- fitz has definitely ratcheted up his game. he will never be elite, and isnt paid like it, so just get over that. but hes done what i thought he couldnt do and raised his compl% into the mid 60s, and that was with receivers who drop an inordinate amount of balls they shouldnt. fitz is a middle of the road starter who at least twenty teams wish they had as their quarterback. he is not the problem here and should continue to make incremental improvements and hold down the fort quite nicely the next few years while they search for their next attempt at drafting a young franchise hopeful

 

- offensive line is much much stronger headed into next season. wood/levitre are approaching probowl level. hairston has been impressive when healthy and could be the answer at lt. pears has exceeded expectations and is nothing less than a solid starter. bell will compete for both tackle jobs and provide excellent depth if nothing else. they really dont need to spend high picks on the line if they dont want to. thats an awesome improvement over where they started the year

 

- spiller is legit. he will be a good starting rb. the only bad thing about that is it likely spells the end of freddie in bflo. he will demand a big raise, which no nfl will give him at his age, he will demand a trade, which nobody will give the bills anything for a back his age, and he will be released. if hes smart he will accept the moderate raise the bills offer him, but thats just not the way it plays out when a 30+ back hits his prime late. you can see the end coming a mile away unfortunately. but spiller is ready and will be a good one next season

 

- stevie established himself as a middling wr1. thats good cuz he showed he can do it without evans. its bad because he also showed hes not the dominating wr1 that every teams wants. fortunately that gives the bills some leverage, no team is going to give stevie the huge contract he wants. and the bills can just wait on him accepting their offer or just franchise him, which stevie would hate cuz it gives him no security long term. ultimately i think stevie realizes he has a good thing here and will take a reasonable deal for his skills. the next big problem is finding a real wr2 cuz donald jones sure aint it. maybe we will get lucky and brad smith will just assume that role. hes looked real good the last couple games, with some specialized training and teaching he might just be a very good answer there

 

- chandler is a for real option at TE. once he learns you cant let a pack of guys hold you up and strip the ball he will be even more valuable. i dont have to tell you how huge that is for the perennial team with no te we have had here for over a decade

 

- defensively the only obvious success is dareus who will be a stud for a long time. but the benefit of having all those rookies playing extended time down the stretch will manifest itself next season. williams, rogers, searcy, sheppard, moats, batten, heard - some of those guys are going to emerge as real ballers. we wouldnt have found that out as clearly if they werent thrust into the main rotation but they were and some of them are going to remain starters when the dust settles next september

 

- overall maturity wise, this season cant help but make them grow up. now whenever stevie is tempted to talk about the superbowl like theyve done anything to deserve talk like that (they hadnt) those ridiculous words will burn on his tongue even before they come out of his mouth and do harm to the team like they did. now he will stop acting like a clown rolling around in the endzone at a crucial time in a key game and instead focus on being the steady and mature leader he needs to be. its going to be really uncomfortable for the entire team walking around all summer with at least nine size twelve cleats shoved firmly up their asses, and thats a really good thing

 

so really, with another round of solid drafting and some more good free agent acquisitions this team really should be a division contender next season. if they can manage to let the dolphins slip by them they will also have the advantage of a last place schedule. this collapse has been epically disappointing, but personally i think the future still looks tremendously brighter than it did before the season started. they are on the right track and if they come back next season as focused men (instead of the giddy boys they were this season), i honestly think they have a real good shot at the playoffs

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

If you do a root analysis, the end result you will come up with is that the team simply is too lacking in talent from position 1 to 53. This truth was highlighted once the injuries started mounting, as the depth on this team is simply terrible. That has forced Chan to panic in terms of his usual play calling. It has also caused Fitz to press.

 

Now, whose fault is it for the dearth in talent? Well, it is pretty simple, really. In 2001 the team had a brand new (Donahoe) regime pretty much from top to bottom. In 2003 a new head coach was brought in with a different philosophy on offense than the prior regime. So, while the defense didn't change much in his 2-year tenure, the offense was overhauled. In 2006, there was another entire regime change (Levy/Jauron) -- and both offense and defense were drastically overhauled. The GM duties for the next 3-4 years were handled by men who were not even qualified for the position, and the head coach was a buffoon who was inexplicably given way too much latitude in making personnel decisions. In 2010 yet another brand new regime (Nix/Chan) was brought in with differing philosophies on offense as well as defense.

 

Only a player or 2 remain from the Donahoe era. There are remarkably few held over from the Jauron/Levy era. The nucleus of the team is made up of middling free agents and players who were drafted (or picked up as UDFA) by the current regime. I have written elsewhere that I believe that Tom Modrak bares the brunt of blame for the poor drafts from 2002 thru 2010. He was let go after this year's draft and reportedly had very little say in the decisions that were made this last April. Considering that his 2002-2010 tenure was book-ended by 2 quality drafts in 2001 and (so far) 2011 of which he had little or no participation, I do not believe it is a stretch to place the burden of blame on him for those poor drafts during his time as chief college scout. Thus, an argument could be made that the true impact of the current collection of talent really started THIS year.

 

Let's give the current regime some time. Continuity is a good thing. It starts with retaining most of the coaching staff -- although, I can certainly see canning George Edwards -- and the front office. Then it moves toward player retention. Not every player has to be a stud, so it IS important to retain guys that are solid football players. A key example, of course, is Steve Johnson. No, he isn't Larry Fitzgerald -- but he is a quality starting WR in the NFL. Imagine if the team were smart enough to retain him AND seek an upgrade either via the draft or free agency for the other starting WR position?

 

I saw your's or someone else point about morak and it's become the new hope I am hanging my Hat on. 2011's draft looks completely different than past drafts. The OT they picked in rd 4 seems to be able to play tackle, the corner they picked can play corner, the ilb they picked can play ilb and the dt they got can play anywhere on the d line.

 

I cannot remember seeing a rookie class contribute so much to the team and look promising doing it. Now, do the same at ilb wr and de next year and we are actually building something.

Edited December 7, 2011 by over 20 years of fanhood

[reddogblitz]

I would have to think that if we finish 7-9 or less, that Coach Gailey is going to have to make some coaching staff changes. A great place to start would be "Coach" Edwards. Then either promote Dave W or get someone else like Mike Nolan or Mel Tucker or Jack Del Rio. Our D talent is not as bad as "Coach" Edwards makes them look with his bad schemes and play calling and players playing the wrong position. DLs at LB and LBs at DL.

[T master]

If Edwards get fired, it will be difficult for Gailey to hire a proven DC since Gailey will have no job security. Unfortunately I don't think Buddy will be gone till Ralph dies. I think the most likely scenario is that Edwards is fired and Waanstadt become DC. Hopefully this will involve a switch to a 4-3 defense.

 

There's nothing like contradicting your self !!! You say that it would be hard for Gailey to get a reputable DC to come in to Buffalo when we have a man with a proven record as far as a D coordinator ! If you remember correctly he was the one DC that stopped our Bills high powered offense HELLO !!!!!!!!

 

And Buddy has done some good things since being here if you all would get rid of your instant gratification mentality you might be able to see that he along with Gailey need more than one or two years (without the right players in place) to make a team a winner !!

 

Unlike the 49ers we don't have the pieces in place along with depth to be a winning team YET give them a break !!!

[Bufcomments]

First Buddy is not going anywhere soon.

 

Buddy has to make a move on D. We have players playing out of position ( Johnson, Carrington) Scheme does not fit the talent and that's a coaching issue.

 

Edwards might be the fall guy but the real issue is talent if you ask me.

[todd]

Sure. Let's fire nix and chan after two years into a rebuilding effort. That's just brilliant!

If Edwards get fired, it will be difficult for Gailey to hire a proven DC since Gailey will have no job security. Unfortunately I don't think Buddy will be gone till Ralph dies. I think the most likely scenario is that Edwards is fired and Waanstadt become DC. Hopefully this will involve a switch to a 4-3 defense.