BringBackFergy Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Look, I don't have a clue what our future holds with this coach or even this administration as far as that goes. Matter of fact this free agency that just opened up scrambled my brain even more but what I do like about this coach and administration sans Nix is that they are New Yorkers, they are us. Even Buddy had the Western New York/Buffalo Bill connection with the John Butler/A.J. Smith regime and while I felt that he was a big improvement from the previous GM(s) that he succeeded, he and Chan Gailey just aren't one of us as far as northern/New York mentality goes. I think that that type of thing does count and it can and will make a difference. What is even more important is that Marrone was a player before he got into coaching. That in itself is the most important attribute that he brings to the table. While I may be wrong, and I have been much more than I have been right, I believe that he is a no nonsense educator. He will demand the proper commitment from his players. There will be no lackadaisical attitudes, middle of the road efforts and players that are divas, not that we have any on the roster as of now but to know that we won't have any in the future either and I like that.......a lot! Now, with all that being said It bothers me that decisions have been made, ala Donald Jones for example, and he hasn't even met these players yet according to that article. Furthermore it is no secret that we have plenty of holes to fill and our roster is precariously thin right across the board and we just about did nothing so far in free agency. I get it that we are a small market and that we shouldn't be getting into bidding wars or overpaying for players but although I am by no means an accountant it behooves me to see teams like the Dolphins be able to manipulate the salary cap while they accumulate some of the bigger names in free agency and still have a relatively low hit on their salary cap for the 2013 season. Granted, they may be mortgaging their future seasons after that, and I'm not even sure that they are, but for argument sake there has got to be some kind of concession that we could have made to be able to get more than just Manny Lawson. One name that comes to mind is TE Ben Watson. In hindsight I think that he would have been a great pick-up for us, especially with Chandler being a question mark and that we are, in addition, looking to bolster this position. If I'm not mistaken he was signed for very reasonable dollars. I'm not trying to be long winded but I'm sure that there's a few other names that I could come up with that didn't demand high dollars. So, my question is this, who is the one(s) that are making all these decisions for us? It doesn't sound like it's Marrone but if it is shouldn't he have at least met some of these players before we decided not to even tender them or before we just cut them loose?? Is it Nix? If so I'm very rapidly losing confidence and respect for him. ****, he can't even make a commitment to play a 4-3 or 3-4 defense! How many times did we go back and forth on this in the last 3 years??! I won't even get into that Fitzpatrick contract because that one still chafes my a$$. Is it Brandon? Golly, I sure hope not! I like him and I believe that he is definitely committed to turning this around and is trying his damnest to do so but he sure has been hoodwinked on the last several personnel changes that has been made in the front office the last few years and let's face it, he is not a football guy, he's a PR/number guy. I think that the best decision that he has made in quite some time is that he's willing to step aside and let his dept heads that he hired be the ones to make the important football decisions. Or is it a combination of a few of these guys making these decisions collectively? I sure would like to know. Who? Who? Who? You find it saddening that guys like Donald Jones were let go and Marrone never even met him. Welcome to the world of analytics. Every player boils down to a "cost benefit analysis"....what have you done for me lately to mandate this salary? You don't need to meet these players face to face to figure out that Merriman, Wilson, Fitz, and yes...even Levitre did not deserve the numbers they were demanding based on performance. As difficult of a pill to swallow as it is, analytics takes emotion out of it altogether. As for being Miami's jealous next door neighbor and looking at their brand new Jaguar they just bought...chances are it will be repossessed or wrapped around a telephone pole next year. We are in this for the long haul. The problem with the cap is you have to cut what grows too fast...that includes other young players on Miami's squad. They won't be able to manage their roster in two years.
BuffaloFan68 Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 With Fitz @ QB I only predicted us winning about 5 games this year but now I feel that 8-8 is more possible. With new coaches & systems, I really see 2014 being our year.
Storm Front Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 I loved his comments. If the Bills get a winning record, I am voting Marrone for Governor!
Cash Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Empty words leave me cold. Not hating on Marrone -- it's a nice speech and all, and there's no games for him to win yet -- but I'm sick of speeches about how we're going to turn it around. I've heard enough of them with no results. Odds are that eventually someone will turn it around, (hopefully Marrone!) and when that happens, I'll be fired up. But I'm done with being fired up from empty words with nothing to back them up. And I mean NOTHING. Even if the Bills eventually dip back into free agency and sign some value/bargain players (who have been signing for several days now, by the way -- all the crazy deals were done by day 2 of free agency), there won't be anything to get excited about until the draft.
Canadian Bills Fan Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Lets give him the key to the city!! Joking aside I love this coach and he brings passion that has been lacking in Bills head coaches for quite some time CBF
PearlHowardman Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Half of Bills fans are critical of their coaches... the other half are critical of those who are critical...i just bought an Andre Reed superbowl 25 jersey. 1/2 of Bills fans are critical of the coaches and the other 1/2 are critical of those who are critical - very true. Also, had Andre Reed made a few more catches in the first 1/2 of SB 25 the Bills would have trounced the Giants by something like 40-10. But Andre Reed dropped a few easy passes, the Bills lost SB 25, and I've never had any respect for him ever since. Edited March 20, 2013 by PearlHowardman
CodeMonkey Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) With Fitz @ QB I only predicted us winning about 5 games this year but now I feel that 8-8 is more possible. With new coaches & systems, I really see 2014 being our year. This is what I love about this place. The new HC/OC were 25-25 at Syracuse. The DC has potential, but it is unclear (at least to me) how much of the D was due to him and how much was due to Sexy Rexy. Presumably (hopefully) whoever the starting QB is, he isn't on the roster yet. They lost or cut several starters and, so far anyway, picked up a former backup LB in free agency. They have 6 draft picks and presumably Nix will start bargain hunting the FA market soon. Yet you see 3 more wins without Fitz than you saw with Fitz. I will give you credit for saying 2014 is the year and not 2013, and for saying 8-8 and not 14-2. It is impressive to me, and says a lot about the character of Bills fans in general, that the team can be in the midst of a suck-streak of record proportions and many fans still just Billieve. I don't have the capacity for blind faith in my character I guess. I'm not sure if the Bills will stay in Buffalo or not after Mr. Wilson passes, but the true Billievers do deserve a team. Edited March 20, 2013 by CodeMonkey
ChevyVanMiller Posted March 20, 2013 Author Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) It's funny that there is a thread on the OTW section about a long-time poster that was driven away by the negativity of people on this site. Many posters said they would try harder to have more civil discourse. I posted this thread and many of you are bashing Marrone for flinging around hollow words. I understand everyone's frustration - we've all lived through terrible football and management that has stretched into over a decade of futility. That said, Marrone hasn't been a part of even one of those losses. I have no idea how he will do ultimately, but I am at lease heartened by the fact that he is in tune with the pain and anguish of the Bills' faithful. Glass half full or half empty? Your choice, but I'm standing with the half-full diehards. Edited March 20, 2013 by ChevyVanMiller
Storm Front Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Marrone didn't have to say any of those things. As an SU fan, I gotta say that he is pretty good at handling reporters. I can't think of any other head coach I would want to lead this team than Marrone. If he doesn't get the team a winning a record, I will be convinced that no one can and it will be a waste of time to root for a team in the same division as the Cheatriots.
Leelee Phoenix Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 It bugs me how much Marrone has relied on this "I'm a New Yorka blue-collar guy like you" BS. It gives me more pause that Brandon just hired his Syracuse buddies.
BillsfanAlberta Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 I have never been ashamed to be a Bills fan, you stick with your team through thick and thin. I wear my Bills gear with pride. I suppose you could say I do have a lowered expectation of how each season is going to go due to many times the team being so poorly mismanaged. I have witnessed this team before the Jim Kelly era, we were pretty bad then, I have witnessed this team lose 4 Superbowls if that did not break me nothing will. I would like to say I think we have heard this same song and dance for longer then 13 years, if you exclude the 90s, we were promised many times before that they were going to turn around this franchise.
The Big Cat Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Agreed. His sarcasm re. the Titans going to Superbowl with Bills' players was a semi-slap. Graham can kiss my butt. Yeah, he should come to the barber shop and we can all tell him how to build the team like they did in Hoosiers. He should tell us a lot more and give us more inside information. I mean c'mon, we post on TBD. Well, as far as Timmy goes, some things never change:LINK **Also, I talked to no-less than a half dozen sports journalists here in Chicago (Sun-Times writers, Tribune writers, Comcast Sports guys, Big Ten Network guys) after Tim's TBD hissy fit three or so years ago, and to a man/woman, they were all BAFFLED that a professional journalist would conduct himself that way, without anonymity, on the Internet.
FLFan Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Well, as far as Timmy goes, some things never change:LINK **Also, I talked to no-less than a half dozen sports journalists here in Chicago (Sun-Times writers, Tribune writers, Comcast Sports guys, Big Ten Network guys) after Tim's TBD hissy fit three or so years ago, and to a man/woman, they were all BAFFLED that a professional journalist would conduct himself that way, without anonymity, on the Internet. I lost all respect for him then. I do not read anything he writes.
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