Did anyone keep the warm fuzzy stories from 3yrs ago?

[BobChalmers]

...

There was a big Question mark about Edwards being able to run a 3-4 after being a linebackers coach

 

This understatement alone is very different this time around.

 

Even the folks who were generally enthusiastic about the Gailey hire (yeah, I was one of them) were really taken aback by the George Edwards choice at DC.

 

Gailey was clearly not a defensive guy - hiring a clipboard-holder like Modkins for OC was not unreasonable since Gailey already said he was calling the offense, but to hire someone with such limited credentials to run the side of the ball the head coach doesn't pay attention to - that raised a ton of red flags for everyone, as I recall.

 

The Pettine hire is the absolute opposite of that (along with Morrone's clarity that he's the coach/CEO of the whole team). It's really hard not to like the direction that shows - such as it is so far.

Edited January 10, 2013 by BobChalmers

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I'm not remembering much in the way of warm fuzzies when Gailey was hired.

 

A few, but more negativity than optimism as I recall.

[RevWarRifleman]

I agree... and I ain't buying what there selling yet. I'm also not passing judgement on Marrone's hiring, his assistants, who they draft, or any of the players moves that will be made at this point. I'll wait until they've played 4 games to see where they stand and make a judgement .

 

I've said it before.... this organization has pissed on and pissed off the fans for over a dozen seasons. Yeah, their brand is tarnished. So, I encourage all of the fans to take a wait and see attitude. Don't buy Bills tix or Bills s#it until they earn back our trust with "Ws".

 

+1 You said it, Tooth. It's all about the W's on the field. The media, the press conferences, other NFL personalities can say what they want. Until W's on the field are being produced, its all for naught.

 

Remember "Football is a tough game played by tough people"? Then he predominately called a pass play on 3rd & short all this past season!!!

[tennesseeboy]

Chan was less than impressive from the get go. I couldn't believe they hired him over people who actually were available and willing (Fewell being one of them). Marrone has a good track record so far and he seems to be moving pretty quickly to get his house in order. I'm ready to give him a chance to get this team going. Actually I'm not all that despairing about the talent on the team we have at the moment, and with a tweak here and there (quarterback, linebacker) we might be in a playoff run this coming year.

[MyHorseAteTheKid]

I remember thinking Chan was The Man... I was wrong... Just as I have been about every coach since Chuck Knox... I thought Marv was a waste (glad I was wrong)... But WARM AND FUZZY is based on Hope and with every new begining is new Hope... Being a Bills fan, Hope is about all I have had for a long time... Go Bills!!!!!

[Malazan]

People warmed up to Chan around training camp when he went after the Edwards hecklers and talked about one you go after one of us, you go after all of us deal.

 

I thought the OP was talking about Media coverage, not TSW posting which were pretty lukewarm on the hire as well.

 

Peter King was pretty harsh on the hire: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/01/19/mailbag/index.html

 

I recall the sentiment being much the same of, he got a raw deal in Dallas, but probably not a good choice from the media outlets.

[Dennis in NC]

Excellent point. Its hard for me to be enthused about Marrone especially when Gailey looked better on paper. However I am a die hard Bills fan. Best of Luck to Doug Marrone. Lets win the darn SB!!!

The huge difference I see is that Doug Marrone has a "fire in his belly", a deep passion for the game of football and some loyalty to upstate NY (even though he is a Bronx native).

 

I understand the cynicism many Bills fans feel regarding new coaches, and all the feel good stories once they are hired. But if you read some of the articles about Marrone, you may be able to notice a difference from the usual retread head coaches the Bills hired in the past.

[billsfan89]

When Chan was first hired the perception was the Bills hired a third tier retread who got fired from a horrid Chiefs team. It wasn't until training camp his first year when he got good press because he was the opposite of Jauron but make no mistake Chan was not considered a good hire at the time.

 

Marrone was actually wanted by other teams unlike Chan who was an unknown candidate with zero HC interest (no one thought he was a HC candidate). Only time will tell on Marrone

[benderbender]

I'm just glad no one had to go down to the farm and get Marrone off his tractor to come coach the Bills like they had to with Gailey

[DanInUticaTampa]

Chan was also hired because there really wasn't anyone else worthy or available to hire. Of course we got the good spin on things on that hire. Now, is this much different? I dunno, but at least this time we had interest from viable coaches and we CHOSE who we wanted vice settling for scraps. We'll see....

 

Well, there were people available, they just refused to interview for the job

[markgbe]

When chan was hired i was neutral. Now i'm pretty pumped. These new hires feel .... new and exciting.

[Iraq Vet]

Greg Williams said he was gong to bring in all guys that are teachers 1st... not coaches with strategy 1st. We all saw how that eneded up. The new O/C scares me in terms of experience.

 

Chan brought in a mess....Edwards and Wanny were bad... I heard good things about our last O-line coach or bring back the Mouse...Jim "Mouse" McNally!

[ddaryl]

I remember weeks upon weeks of Cowher speculation and that Cowher eventually recommended Chan to the Bills

 

 

IMO it wouldn't of mattered if we hired Smith, Reid or Marrone, they all have something that certain types would gripe and complain about.

 

All I ever do is renew my optimism every off-season, and even a little more so when we make big changes