Gailey and Jauron

[Adam]

I never knew that player aquisition was Jauron's job. I thought we had a GM at the time.

[kickedface]

lol as soon as there is talk of coaches, the senator trots out his mike leach angle. i had no idea who he was until the senator enlightened me. not sure if i'm going to thank him for that or not yet.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Where to begin....

 

Hopefully roles and responsibilities were worked out with prior responses, but to rehash...

 

 

Coach = the guy who decides the balance of the coaching staff, and ultimately owns responsibly for the play book and has a strong say in the depth chart

 

GM = the guy responsible for drafts, the hc selection, free agents and ultimately the roster.

 

How things arrived where they are is pretty easy.

 

Defense was bad. Really bad. Had been atrocious at rushing the passer and stopping the run. Small and weak as well.

 

Nix knew it was going to take drafts and free agents to fix it and appears to believe in building in the trenches, so that's where acquisitions and drafts have tended to be.

 

Meanwhile gailey, known for making something out of nothing, could rig some sort of offense with talent in hand avoiding a whole 53 man rebuild, which takes a whole lot more drafts and free agents.

 

Every time I hear buddy say they have a plan and they are following it, this is what I belive is meant.

Edited May 21, 2012 by over 20 years of fanhood

[folz]

As others said, you can't put all the hits or all the misses on Jauron as he wasn't

the sole decision-maker, but here are the totals:

 

Jauron era (2006-2009): drafted players still on the team

 

Kyle Williams, Steve Johnson, Leodis McKelvin, Eric Wood, Jarius Byrd, Andy Levitre

 

(Wood, Levitre, and Byrd came in Nix's first year back with the team...he wasn't GM

yet, but I bet he had a lot of influence on that draft considering the rudderless FO that existed at the time).

 

Draftees still playing ok to good elsewhere: Marshawn Lynch, Donte Whitner, Paul Posluszny, D. Bell, Maybin?

 

So, 4 drafts (34 picks) and 11 decent to excellent players...but when you add in that Lynch, Maybin, McKelvin, and Whitner

were 1st round picks (and therefore should be more than just decent) and Wood, Levitre, and Byrd may have been Nix

influenced, that 32% actually looks inflated.

 

 

Jauron era (2006-2009): free agent players still on the team

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick (2009 FA), Fred Jackson (2006 FA), Spencer Johnson (2008 FA), Corey McIntyre (2008 FA)

 

(Marv definitely brought in Fred on his own and I doubt it was Jauron's decision to bring in an, at the time, backup QB)

 

 

Holdovers (pre Jauron-era) still on team:

 

Chris Kelsey (2003 draft), Ryan Lindell (2003 FA), Brian Moorman (2001 FA), Terrence McGee (2003 draft), George Wilson (2004 UDFA signed from Detroit)

 

 

So, 15 pre-Nix/Gailey players remain on the team (12 pre-Nix---if you accept his hand was in the 2009 draft).

10 from Jauron's 4 year stint. I would think with a 51 man roster, 34 draft picks, UDFAs, and FA over a 4 year period,

most fans could probably find 10 good players.

 

 

I don't think Jauron ran the franchise into the ground (Donahoe did that), Jauron just maintained the mediocrity.

And starting Lynch over Fred/Trent over Fitz/Anyone over Stevie/Whitner over Wilson (when fans at the time could

see who the better player was at each spot) definitely doesn't help the cause if you're trying to give him credit for

bringing talent to the team).

 

No offense to the OP, yes, there are some holdover players that are very important to the team right now, I just question

giving a lot of credit to Jauron for how he and the FO at the time managed anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gailey stubbornly stuck with his 5 wide offense long past it being figured out by defensive coordinators around the league last season. Not at all what I would expect from an offensive "genius". But it is consistent with someone with his career resume.

 

To me this season is as much make or break for Gailey as it is for Fitz.

 

 

I think Gailey will be fine this year...I felt the same as you at the end of last season about sticking with the passing game, but I think there was a reason for it

and that reason was Eric Wood/Fred Jackson. First of all, early in the season the pass set up the run (not the other way around) but the run was still an option on early downs

to keep the defense honest. Once Wood went out I think it really hurt the run game and then when Fred went down, there was no way for that team to pound the ball

with C. J. and no center. I don't think he had much of a choice due to injuries. I don't think it was so much the scheme was figured out as we no longer had the players

to run it properly. And it would have been hard to change the scheme mid-stream with so many young players (Hairston, C.J., WRs) playing due to injuries. They were

just trying to stay alive out there...to change the schemes on the fly could have been disaster (although it kind of was anyhow, but he was trying to give his team the

best chance to win by not putting too much extra on the young guys who were filling in).

 

And what about Gailey's career resume leads you to believe he isn't capable?

[CodeMonkey]

And what about Gailey's career resume leads you to believe he isn't capable?

Not so much isn't capable as his body of work to date does not support the offensive genius label applied to him by some here in my opinion.

A lifetime ago in NFL terms, he took over the Cowboys. Who at that time were at least a decent team. He did make it to the playoffs both years, but lost in the wild card game both trips. And he fell into the playoffs the second year with a record of 8-8. His overall record with Dallas was 18-14. A fairly mediocre showing I'd say, and before the Bills his only NFL HC experience, with even that being in the late 90's. His overall record as a NFL head coach is currently 28-36.

 

At Georgia Tech his overall record was 44-32, with his best season being 9-5 and the rest split between 7-6 and 7-5.

 

When I look at his overall body of work, I see a study in mediocrity. Nothing in there shows me a genius of any kind. I would classify Gailey so far as a capable coach, but as far as a genius or even a top tier head coach I'm still waiting to "see the baby" I guess.

 

And FWIW, I always thought that Gailey was the best HC the Bills could get at the time.

Edited May 21, 2012 by CodeMonkey

[thewildrabbit]

The offensive scheme under Jauron I would LEAST categorize as a Mike Martz style offense. Not accurate at all.

Dick Jauron had a reputation for being a running the ball type of HC from his days as head coach of the Bears. When he first arrived in Buffalo all the media did was talk about the strong defense and a strong run game that Jauron would install with the Bills.

 

Instead, Jauron / Levy hired Steve Fairchild as his first offensive coordinator, the then OC of the St Louis Rams. Mike Martz called the plays in St Louis but Fairchild was the technical coordinator. So now the media talked about the Bills building the "greatest show on snow". The St Louis Rams had the nickname "greatest show on turf" when they won the super bowl in 2000.

 

Fairchild had previously work for the Buffalo Bills in 2001-2002 as RB coach. He then worked for the Rams in 2003-2005 as OC & QB coach. He worked for the Bills for a season and a half (2006-2007) before taking the job as head coach of Colorado state. Fairchild didn't do to badly in his only year with the bills as he called 431 passing vs 420 rushing plays.Farirchild brought with him the Rams playbook and the Bills wanted him to install that famous Mike Martz passing offense from the Rams to the Bills. In 2006 Jaurons first year the bills went 7-9 up from the previous year of 5-11 under HC Mike Mularkey.

 

 

 

This is where Dick Jauron made his biggest blunder of his coaching career with the Bills, after Fairchild left the Bills instead of hiring another OC with some NFL experience, he then promoted Bills QB coach Turk Schonert to Offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2008.

 

Can anyone ever forget that infamous "roll out fumble" by JP Losman that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the NY Jets in week 14 in 2008? The Bills basically had the game won, all they needed to do was make a first down running the ball and run out the clock with Marshawn Lynch who had just made several first downs by running, he had 27 attempts for 127 yards that day. The Jets just couldn't stop the bills run game that day. Then Schonert calls that roll out... Jauron took the heat and said he called the play. But there is no doubt in my mind that it was Turk the idiot who called it.

 

Schonert took that Mike Martz scheme and ran with it, always calling shotgun passing plays. It wasn't until midway thru the 2008 season before he called for a "play action pass" to take the heat off the QB. Is it any wonder why JP Losman and Trent Edwards were suffering?

 

If you recall two weeks before the 2009 season started Jauron fired Turk and replaced him with then QB coach Alex Van Pelt. To his credit I thought AVP did a better job as OC then Turk. but it was too late, Jauron had successfully scuttled his own team previous to that 08 season. New OC who was unprepared to be an OC two weeks before the opening game, got rid of guard Dockery, got rid of RT Langston Walker. To be honest that 2009 line wasn't that bad, JP at LT. but it had 2 rookies in Wood and levitre at guard. The center Hangartner played with a bad back all season. Kirk Chambers settled in at RT.

 

 

So yea, with Steve Fairchild as the only OC with real NFL experience as OC in Jaurons tenure with the Buffalo Bills and with him he brought in that "get your QB killed" Mike Martz offensive scheme that was passed down by Fairchild to Schonert to AVP.. Martz was fired In St Louis, fired in Detroit, fired in SF and now fired in Chicago (technically he resigned) as his offense gets his QB's killed. His offensive scheme calls for way to many 5-7 step back passes with sub par O lines. His aggressive pass happy play calling usually results in getting the QB sacked and concussed.

Sound familiar? Ask Trent Edwards about his 5 concussions with the Bills.

 

Jay Cutler was getting sacked so often in Martz's offense that during one game against the Vikings last season (2011) Cutler reportedly stated to a teammate about Martz "tell him I said FU*K HIM!

 

 

Anyway, Chan Gailey still has a lot to prove in that he can win with the Buffalo Bills. So far 4-12 & 6-10 isn't even as good as Jauron at 7-9 with JP Losman at QB and Turk Schonert calling plays.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Fear the Beard

[The Senator]

lol as soon as there is talk of coaches, the senator trots out his mike leach angle. i had no idea who he was until the senator enlightened me. not sure if i'm going to thank him for that or not yet.

 

 

Link - CJK5H

[Best Player Available]

Not so much isn't capable as his body of work to date does not support the offensive genius label applied to him by some here in my opinion.

A lifetime ago in NFL terms, he took over the Cowboys. Who at that time were at least a decent team. He did make it to the playoffs both years, but lost in the wild card game both trips. And he fell into the playoffs the second year with a record of 8-8. His overall record with Dallas was 18-14. A fairly mediocre showing I'd say, and before the Bills his only NFL HC experience, with even that being in the late 90's. His overall record as a NFL head coach is currently 28-36.

 

At Georgia Tech his overall record was 44-32, with his best season being 9-5 and the rest split between 7-6 and 7-5.

 

When I look at his overall body of work, I see a study in mediocrity. Nothing in there shows me a genius of any kind. I would classify Gailey so far as a capable coach, but as far as a genius or even a top tier head coach I'm still waiting to "see the baby" I guess.

 

And FWIW, I always thought that Gailey was the best HC the Bills could get at the time.

I think Gailey would have been a way more better choice as OC then head coach. Less responsibility and more time to devote to OC'ing.

But, we got what we got, good or bad. Levy I believe had a similar NFL record when he arrived. This is a huge year for Gailey, I'm hoping

his game planning takes a giant leap forward, as the opposing D's last year certainly were catching up. if not the offense may very well stink up the joint.

[uncle flap]

Not so much isn't capable as his body of work to date does not support the offensive genius label applied to him by some here in my opinion.

A lifetime ago in NFL terms, he took over the Cowboys. Who at that time were at least a decent team. He did make it to the playoffs both years, but lost in the wild card game both trips. And he fell into the playoffs the second year with a record of 8-8. His overall record with Dallas was 18-14. A fairly mediocre showing I'd say, and before the Bills his only NFL HC experience, with even that being in the late 90's. His overall record as a NFL head coach is currently 28-36.

 

At Georgia Tech his overall record was 44-32, with his best season being 9-5 and the rest split between 7-6 and 7-5.

 

When I look at his overall body of work, I see a study in mediocrity. Nothing in there shows me a genius of any kind. I would classify Gailey so far as a capable coach, but as far as a genius or even a top tier head coach I'm still waiting to "see the baby" I guess.

 

And FWIW, I always thought that Gailey was the best HC the Bills could get at the time.

 

 

I think you also have to look at his experience as an offensive coordinator.

 

In Miami as OC, they went 11-5 twice while he was there with Jay Fiedler starting. Sure they rode Wanny's defense, but the offense was also pretty productive.

 

In Pittsburgh, the offense was near the tops in the league, and he found a way to get the most out of Kordell Stewart, en route to numerous playoff berths.

 

While on the Chiefs, he completely turned the offense around from one of the worst in the league to something resembling competence. The Chiefs starting and backup QBs were injured (not to mention Larry Johnson was suspended) and Chan installed the spread to get the most out of Thigpen who prior to that looked as lost as he did this past year when he took a football to the head on the sidelines. There bottom feeding defense was more of a factor in the Chiefs terrible record that year.

 

Not saying this stuff qualifies Chan as a genius, but these examples are where that idea stems from. He seems to bring out the best in guys while minimizing the impact of their respective weaknesses.

 

And don't discount what he's done with the Bills so far. W/L aside, the offense has made great strides with a bunch of no-names. Yeah, it doesn't matter if it doesn't translate to wins, but it is a testament to his ability to design an effective offense around his personnel. Let's see what happens with a competent defense.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Dick Jauron had a reputation for being a running the ball type of HC from his days as head coach of the Bears. When he first arrived in Buffalo all the media did was talk about the strong defense and a strong run game that Jauron would install with the Bills.

 

Instead, Jauron / Levy hired Steve Fairchild as his first offensive coordinator, the then OC of the St Louis Rams. Mike Martz called the plays in St Louis but Fairchild was the technical coordinator. So now the media talked about the Bills building the "greatest show on snow". The St Louis Rams had the nickname "greatest show on turf" when they won the super bowl in 2000.

 

Fairchild had previously work for the Buffalo Bills in 2001-2002 as RB coach. He then worked for the Rams in 2003-2005 as OC & QB coach. He worked for the Bills for a season and a half (2006-2007) before taking the job as head coach of Colorado state. Fairchild didn't do to badly in his only year with the bills as he called 431 passing vs 420 rushing plays.Farirchild brought with him the Rams playbook and the Bills wanted him to install that famous Mike Martz passing offense from the Rams to the Bills. In 2006 Jaurons first year the bills went 7-9 up from the previous year of 5-11 under HC Mike Mularkey.

 

 

 

This is where Dick Jauron made his biggest blunder of his coaching career with the Bills, after Fairchild left the Bills instead of hiring another OC with some NFL experience, he then promoted Bills QB coach Turk Schonert to Offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2008.

 

Can anyone ever forget that infamous "roll out fumble" by JP Losman that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the NY Jets in week 14 in 2008? The Bills basically had the game won, all they needed to do was make a first down running the ball and run out the clock with Marshawn Lynch who had just made several first downs by running, he had 27 attempts for 127 yards that day. The Jets just couldn't stop the bills run game that day. Then Schonert calls that roll out... Jauron took the heat and said he called the play. But there is no doubt in my mind that it was Turk the idiot who called it.

 

Schonert took that Mike Martz scheme and ran with it, always calling shotgun passing plays. It wasn't until midway thru the 2008 season before he called for a "play action pass" to take the heat off the QB. Is it any wonder why JP Losman and Trent Edwards were suffering?

 

If you recall two weeks before the 2009 season started Jauron fired Turk and replaced him with then QB coach Alex Van Pelt. To his credit I thought AVP did a better job as OC then Turk. but it was too late, Jauron had successfully scuttled his own team previous to that 08 season. New OC who was unprepared to be an OC two weeks before the opening game, got rid of guard Dockery, got rid of RT Langston Walker. To be honest that 2009 line wasn't that bad, JP at LT. but it had 2 rookies in Wood and levitre at guard. The center Hangartner played with a bad back all season. Kirk Chambers settled in at RT.

 

 

So yea, with Steve Fairchild as the only OC with real NFL experience as OC in Jaurons tenure with the Buffalo Bills and with him he brought in that "get your QB killed" Mike Martz offensive scheme that was passed down by Fairchild to Schonert to AVP.. Martz was fired In St Louis, fired in Detroit, fired in SF and now fired in Chicago (technically he resigned) as his offense gets his QB's killed. His offensive scheme calls for way to many 5-7 step back passes with sub par O lines. His aggressive pass happy play calling usually results in getting the QB sacked and concussed.

Sound familiar? Ask Trent Edwards about his 5 concussions with the Bills.

 

Jay Cutler was getting sacked so often in Martz's offense that during one game against the Vikings last season (2011) Cutler reportedly stated to a teammate about Martz "tell him I said FU*K HIM!

 

 

Anyway, Chan Gailey still has a lot to prove in that he can win with the Buffalo Bills. So far 4-12 & 6-10 isn't even as good as Jauron at 7-9 with JP Losman at QB and Turk Schonert calling plays.

 

Our offense, scheme, play calling and MOST OF ALL passing system resembled nothing of the Rams or Chicago. Just because they hired a nobody within the Rams organization doesn't make it they they tried to replicate Martz system.

 

Martz system is an intermediate passing game that takes time to develop. It was non-existent in the Jauron era. It didn't exist because the quarterback couldn't make those throws so those type of plays weren't called. It was either dink and dunk or a fly route to evans. The majority of the pass calls were under 10 yards.

How often did you see Trent Edwards throw the ball past 10 yards?

 

Our passing system was as conservative as you can get in the Jauron Era. Totally opposite of the Martz system which is down field.

Edited May 21, 2012 by BuffaloBillsForever

[Bruce]

I find this both interesting and ironic considering that Gailey is known as an offensive coach while Jauron cemented his reputation (via the Schonert fiasco) as a defensive coach and a poor judge of talent… ironic indeed that our best offensive players are from the previous regime.

 

I think it points to two things:

 

1) Jauron and company did make some good decisions here and there but just not enough of them. The difference between success and failure in any endeavor is usually minute.

 

2) Chixley has had the wisdom to give players from the previous regime a fair and honest chance at continuing the mission. Unlike some regime changes witnessed in the Bills recent history, this administration wisely did not overdo the housecleaning. In fact they gave some of the former regime's players (ie- Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch) considerable benefit of the doubt. Chixley has been patient and wise in their approach to re-making the roster.

 

I will second this.

 

Jauron had an inverse success rate when compared to the rest of the NFL.

 

That is, if the rest of the NFL had a 70% success rate with players and a 30% rate of failure, Mauron had a 30% rate of success and a 70% rate of failure.

[thewildrabbit]

Our offense, scheme, play calling and MOST OF ALL passing system resembled nothing of the Rams or Chicago. Just because they hired a nobody within the Rams organization doesn't make it they they tried to replicate Martz system.

 

Martz system is an intermediate passing game that takes time to develop. It was non-existent in the Jauron era. It didn't exist because the quarterback couldn't make those throws so those type of plays weren't called. It was either dink and dunk or a fly route to evans. The majority of the pass calls were under 10 yards.

How often did you see Trent Edwards throw the ball past 10 yards?

 

Our passing system was as conservative as you can get in the Jauron Era. Totally opposite of the Martz system which is down field.

If you read everything I posted, watched the Bills games during the time Jauron was HC and still come away with the thought that the Bills didn't run the Mike Martz passing scheme..... Jeez guy, let me try to enlighten you a bit.

 

Can we forestall the fact that JP Losman was drafted as a mobile down the field passer with a big arm, but rarely had the time in the pocket to throw deep because of an inadequate O line. You don't recall Losman throwing deep bombs to Lee Evans? Remember that game against the Texans where he threw 2x TD's for 83 yards each to Evans in 2006?

 

Trent Edwards OTOH was coached to run the west coast offense in college while at Stanford. Edwards did have some success in 2008 when the Bills opened the season 4-0. Then the Bills went down to Arizona where on the 3rd play of the game Edwards suffered a horrendous hit by an untouched blitzing safety Adrian Wilson. Edwards suffered a severe concussion from that hit, and that more then probably ruined his career. So Edwards wasn't always a dink & dunk QB his entire time in Buffalo, 5 concussion in 3 years was the reason why.

 

 

Both JP Losman and Trent Edwards were ruined by Jauron, Schonert in that Martz passing offense which calls for very a aggressive passing system and deep throws, and were plagued by inadequate protection the entire time. Don't you remember both QB's being in constant shotgun sets under Turk Schonert? Just because the QB chooses to dump the ball to the RB more often then he throws down field doesn't dictate what scheme the team runs. The Bills OC would call for a 5 step drop deep pass over the middle and the QB would dump the ball off to the RB or the underneath WR simply because it was the safer pass.

 

In the end of Edwards career in Buffalo he didn't trust his line, his WR's or his coaches, and was always looking for that outlet to dump the ball off. kinda why he was cut after two games in 2010

[T master]

Obviously Jauron was not strong with identifying talent, whether it was through the draft or FA. However, I find it ironic that even though our head coach is considered an offensive expert, our top five offensive players (fitzy, FJ, stevie, wood, levitre) were from the Jauron regime. Again, I'm not supporting Jauron here, I just found that interesting. Obviously, we've attempted to aggressively address our defense during the Gailey tenure, but interesting nevertheless...

 

Hey every body get's lucky once in a while .. Plus most of them came from the scouting department which if i'm guessing correct we didn't get rid of a bunch of them --- did we ??

 

Then you take into consideration that Jauron was a D coach & he drafted Maybin , Whitner , McCargo , Mckelvin , & others of which worked out real well for the team so i think he's a wash !!!

[Bill from NYC]

Anyway, Chan Gailey still has a lot to prove in that he can win with the Buffalo Bills. So far 4-12 & 6-10 isn't even as good as Jauron at 7-9 with JP Losman at QB and Turk Schonert calling plays.

 

Levy/Jauron destroyed this team as soon as they got here. They signed Dockery and Walker to contracts adding up to 73 million dollars. Both were awful players.

Let's examine this a bit more closely. Rinehart and Urbik are both clearly superior to Dockery, and his 48 million dollar contract, and one of them will not start. Walker? Pears is a much better player, and I would even take Hairston as a rookie over Walker.

 

Sadly, these were not their biggest blunders of 06. Not even close. In the 06 draft, they had the #8, a 2nd, and 2 early 3rd round picks. 4 prime selections! They came away with Whitner, McCargo and Youboty. A so-so safety at #8, and 2 players who sucked. And this particular draft was literally stacked with good players, let alone at positions of great need for the Bills.

 

These sophmoric, amateuristic moves hamstrung the Buffalo Bills football team for many years. The drafts continued to be awful, and Jauron proved once again to be a horrible coach.

 

Nix/Gailey do not have Ivy League degrees, but they are both real football men, and imo, Gailey is something of an intellectual in his own right. He doesn't have the great resume, but he puts Jauron to shame, and it isn't close.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

A lifetime ago in NFL terms, he took over the Cowboys. Who at that time were at least a decent team. He did make it to the playoffs both years, but lost in the wild card game both trips. And he fell into the playoffs the second year with a record of 8-8. His overall record with Dallas was 18-14. A fairly mediocre showing I'd say, and before the Bills his only NFL HC experience, with even that being in the late 90's. His overall record as a NFL head coach is currently 28-36.

To be fair to Gailey, the year before he took over in Dallas their record was 6-10. The year after he left they were 5-11.

 

So in Dallas, Gailey was 18-14 and his predecessor and successor were 11-21.

 

 

[Best Player Available]

To be fair to Gailey, the year before he took over in Dallas their record was 6-10. The year after he left they were 5-11.

 

So in Dallas, Gailey was 18-14 and his predecessor and successor were 11-21.

Well, no disrespect too your opinion but the 11-21 successors record is better than Chan's 10-22 here.

No need to mention his predecessors record here since it was better. The nucleus of Gailey's offense was here

when he arrived.

 

I hope succeeds here, it will be a great season if he can become a good game planner, he lacked that

last year especially in the stretch with a supposed wounded quarterback.

 

GO BILLS!!

[BillsBytheBay]

Never thought about that, though interesting.

 

CJ should also emerge more this year.

 

I have nnot been impressed with Gailey play calling, others seem fine with the passing approach, I'm not.

 

If Gailey again struggles this year in the play calling/offense area after the last half of last season, there could be issues.

 

After the 4-12 season, and 6-10 season, I am not sold on Gailey as an OC or a head coach. This will be the third year, and if you

can't sustain some injuries on O and D, and keep the team rolling you have a problem.

 

I would imagine the team goes 8-8 and Gailey does JUST enough to keep his job for another year and the end of his contract.

yea I miss Turk, and Van Pelt calling plays too.

 

I wonder how much of the play book is reduced when you start losing a lot of players at one position. like Wide Receiver for example. Brad Smith started the season at QB; and finished at wideout. We lost donald Jones early. Spiller even spent time out there. That all being said, its time to see the Baby.

[sllib olaffub]

Nix appears able to find talent via the draft and in the open market, but Nix and Gailey appeared a little slow, all in all, in identifying the talents they inhereted from Jauron. Fred Jackson is a good example. It seems, at times, both Nix and Gailey have tried, at the expense of success, to force their systems or players, and only after prolonged failure give way to something else.

 

Now, as it relates to Gailey and the offense - I think Nix just took this approach: he decided Gailey was good enough, as an O.C., to make it work with what he had, while the defense was being built. Defenses, in cold weather, carry teams better than offenses do. I think beginning next year we'll see a much greater attention paid to the offense. In fact, if Fitz falters this year, I suspect there will be real efforts made to obtain a 1st round QB, unless Vince Young, in that scenario, proves Franchise caliber.

[thewildrabbit]

Levy/Jauron destroyed this team as soon as they got here. They signed Dockery and Walker to contracts adding up to 73 million dollars. Both were awful players.

Let's examine this a bit more closely. Rinehart and Urbik are both clearly superior to Dockery, and his 48 million dollar contract, and one of them will not start. Walker? Pears is a much better player, and I would even take Hairston as a rookie over Walker.

 

Sadly, these were not their biggest blunders of 06. Not even close. In the 06 draft, they had the #8, a 2nd, and 2 early 3rd round picks. 4 prime selections! They came away with Whitner, McCargo and Youboty. A so-so safety at #8, and 2 players who sucked. And this particular draft was literally stacked with good players, let alone at positions of great need for the Bills.

 

These sophmoric, amateuristic moves hamstrung the Buffalo Bills football team for many years. The drafts continued to be awful, and Jauron proved once again to be a horrible coach.

 

Nix/Gailey do not have Ivy League degrees, but they are both real football men, and imo, Gailey is something of an intellectual in his own right. He doesn't have the great resume, but he puts Jauron to shame, and it isn't close.

I understand how much you resent the Marv Levy GM / Dick Jauron HC / GM era. I tend to agree with you to a point. But as moronic as Jauron was in many aspects, he wasn't doing the scouting and talent evaluations, Tom Modrak was the head scout. No question as to the reason why Nix fired him after that 2010 season. Modrak was reason the Bills made so many bad selections in the draft the last 10 years. So I'd have to say the brunt of the blame for for the Levy / Jauron era should be shared equally between Jauon and Modrak who did the scouting and choosing. Marv Levy stated as GM he would only recommend a player and let the consensus of scouts / HC ultimately decide the picks.

 

Both Dockery and Walker went back to their respective teams after they were let go by the Bills, and both went on to start and play another year or so. Can I mention a name that Buddy Nix brought in as a free agent RT and paid the man 2 million, and has to be the very worst FA acquisition in the history of the Buffalo Bills. As bad as Walker and Dockery might have been they were no where near as bad as Cornell Green who was quietly benched and released after playing only a few games.

 

To set the record straight that line in 06 was-Peters- Gandy- Fowler- Villarrial- Penningtion. It wasn't until 07 that the Bills brought in Walker and Dockery who both played with the bills thru 07-08. they both played 2 full seasons and didn't do to badly until the starting O line coach Jim McNally retired. I'll grant you that neither one was worth the money paid them. But either of them were infinitely better then Cornell Green.

 

The only difference that I can see in 2009's starting roster, Gone are -WR Terrell Owens, LB Kiwaka Mitchel,OT Kirk Chambers, DE Aaron Schobel. 2010 roster additions that became starters were- TE David Martin, OT Mansfield Wrotto, LB Reggie Tobor, LB Aiken Ayodele, Erik Pears. Kraig Urbik.

 

So in 2010 RT Kirk Chambers was replaced at first before the season started by Cornell Green, then Wrotto, then Pears. The latter two were plucked off the street out of desperation mid way thru the season

 

 

I happen to like both Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix and honestly hope they can turn this franchise around... but with almost the very same players Jauron had the previous year the Bills went 4-12 under Gailey. Not to mention fielding the very worst defense against the run in the 50 year history of the franchise....now that is shameful.

[Adam]

I understand how much you resent the Marv Levy GM / Dick Jauron HC / GM era. I tend to agree with you to a point. But as moronic as Jauron was in many aspects, he wasn't doing the scouting and talent evaluations, Tom Modrak was the head scout. No question as to the reason why Nix fired him after that 2010 season. Modrak was reason the Bills made so many bad selections in the draft the last 10 years. So I'd have to say the brunt of the blame for for the Levy / Jauron era should be shared equally between Jauon and Modrak who did the scouting and choosing. Marv Levy stated as GM he would only recommend a player and let the consensus of scouts / HC ultimately decide the picks.

 

Both Dockery and Walker went back to their respective teams after they were let go by the Bills, and both went on to start and play another year or so. Can I mention a name that Buddy Nix brought in as a free agent RT and paid the man 2 million, and has to be the very worst FA acquisition in the history of the Buffalo Bills. As bad as Walker and Dockery might have been they were no where near as bad as Cornell Green who was quietly benched and released after playing only a few games.

 

To set the record straight that line in 06 was-Peters- Gandy- Fowler- Villarrial- Penningtion. It wasn't until 07 that the Bills brought in Walker and Dockery who both played with the bills thru 07-08. they both played 2 full seasons and didn't do to badly until the starting O line coach Jim McNally retired. I'll grant you that neither one was worth the money paid them. But either of them were infinitely better then Cornell Green.

 

The only difference that I can see in 2009's starting roster, Gone are -WR Terrell Owens, LB Kiwaka Mitchel,OT Kirk Chambers, DE Aaron Schobel. 2010 roster additions that became starters were- TE David Martin, OT Mansfield Wrotto, LB Reggie Tobor, LB Aiken Ayodele, Erik Pears. Kraig Urbik.

 

So in 2010 RT Kirk Chambers was replaced at first before the season started by Cornell Green, then Wrotto, then Pears. The latter two were plucked off the street out of desperation mid way thru the season

 

 

I happen to like both Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix and honestly hope they can turn this franchise around... but with almost the very same players Jauron had the previous year the Bills went 4-12 under Gailey. Not to mention fielding the very worst defense against the run in the 50 year history of the franchise....now that is shameful.

if what you say is true, the fault is completely on Levy. That is no way for a GM to run a franchise.