The new tone at OBD: What they're saying

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Look, the whole point of this was to suggest that attitude can be everything. And without sounding like an unmitigated blowhard, I have it on good authority, straight from a player's perspective that last year's coaches had the team's collective confidence (in the systems, in themselves, in the team) in the collective dumpster.

 

That was last year, this is now but wondering if you can expand somewhat on this

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

 

Well until the 'prank phone call'.

I get the sense Nix got sold on Fitz by Chan. Maybe they both where dellusional and hoping he was the guy?

To me Marrone seems like the guy who is more direct and if you can not cut it he is not going to give you 2 years to prove you can. I am sure he will allow rookies to develope, but he is not going to let aging vets who can not produce hang around.

 

Really anything is possible-- it could've been all Gailey, it could've been all Nix, it could've been both of them. It's quite possible Nix was lamenting his own mistake on the phone call. We as outsiders will likely never know.

 

To me, saying "I don't blame Nix for staying with Fitz, that was Gailey's call," is the equivalent of saying "I don't blame Gailey for under-using Spiller, Nix told him to do that." In both cases we're absolving someone of their own responsibility with no evidence for it.

[Just in Atlanta]

Is it? Starting with 2000:

8-8

3-13

8-8

6-10

9-7

5-11

7-9

7-9

7-9

6-10

4-12

6-10

6-10

Then in 2013 ... Superbowl!

 

That's a heck of an overnight improvement due to not much more than a "culture change"

But hey, dare to dream!

It really hits home when you list our record like that. Like an intervention for an alcoholic.

 

What a depressing decade 12 13 years of fandom.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Just in Atlanta

[Bills4]

So Gailey was honest and Marrone is instilling false confidence? Does he honestly think this team is going to the Superbowl? Am I missing something? Gailey was a joke of a coach, no question. But was he the only reason why we finished so poorly? We haven't exactly changed the roster whole-sale.

 

I dont think he installing false confidence, he is just setting expectations high. The Bills have some talent on the roster. Wannstedt was possibly the worst coach in the NFL last year. I think scheme change alone will do more to maximize the talent on this team. Let alone, an attacking style defense brings along with it an attitude, whereas Wannstedt's base defense was terrible. I could write for days about how awful his scheme was as I am sure any fan could see.

 

I've been on a football team where people didnt expect much out of you, and labeled it a building year. That year we (Aquinas) went on to win a NYS championship. And my HS has been winning state championships ever sense. Everybody but our coach and locker room didnt believe in us and that was something that directly effected our team chemistry. We changed the culture, changed the attitude. The Bills have had a losing culture. Marrone is trying to change that. He wont change the culture by telling the team he is aiming for 10 wins.

 

That said, I dont think the Bills are going to the Superbowl this year. But I have zero issues with Marrone setting the expectation that he is only going to accept the best from his players. And that's what he is doing.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Really anything is possible-- it could've been all Gailey, it could've been all Nix, it could've been both of them. It's quite possible Nix was lamenting his own mistake on the phone call. We as outsiders will likely never know.

 

To me, saying "I don't blame Nix for staying with Fitz, that was Gailey's call," is the equivalent of saying "I don't blame Gailey for under-using Spiller, Nix told him to do that." In both cases we're absolving someone of their own responsibility with no evidence for it.

I hear ya.

the only thing i will add is that gailey has been widely known for understanding and working with QB talent. If gailey went to Nix and said 'he is my guy' Nix says ok we can lock him up.

neither deserves full credit for the mistake.

Nix is still the GM for now. i think most everyone here hopes that changes in the near future.

[Dibs]

We are,

 

1 franchise QB

3 legit WRs

1 legit TE

3 solid LBs

1 SS

2-3 depth OL

1 more solid CB

1 more solid DE

 

Away from making the playoffs!

 

Fixed

[The Big Cat]

 

 

That was last year, this is now but wondering if you can expand somewhat on this

 

No word.

[billsfan89]

Its gotta be a mentality before it becomes a reality. You know who said that? Ric Flair a 16 time world heavyweight champion. You always have to think in terms of success.

[Malazan]

Its gotta be a mentality before it becomes a reality. You know who said that? Ric Flair a 16 time world heavyweight champion. You always have to think in terms of success.

 

I'm not sure how an actor from a soap opera is relevant here. I do agree with him though.

[Saint Doug]

Are you being ironical?

 

I think he was talking about Hackett.

[Keukasmallies]

Let me be perfectly clear about this: The Bills haven't done anything on the field yet, haven't won a game, haven't dispelled any sense of impending doom...just haven't accomplished anything. The best predictor of tomorrow is yesterday; see the post above regarding W - L records over the past decade plus....

[XXL Franchize]

So Gailey was honest and Marrone is instilling false confidence? Does he honestly think this team is going to the Superbowl? Am I missing something? Gailey was a joke of a coach, no question. But was he the only reason why we finished so poorly? We haven't exactly changed the roster whole-sale.

 

Part of a coach's success is there ability to make their players buy in and believe they can achieve more that what is expected. Why would you want a coach that portrays an attitude of "we can't"....that doesn't make any sense.

Edited April 10, 2013 by XXL Franchize

[BADOLBILZ]

Look, the whole point of this was to suggest that attitude can be everything. And without sounding like an unmitigated blowhard, I have it on good authority, straight from a player's perspective that last year's coaches had the team's collective confidence (in the systems, in themselves, in the team) in the collective dumpster.

 

Marrone said last week that he sees no point in keeping a guy on the roster that won't help the team win. This plays right into the Steelers' "next man up" philosophy and is completely counter to all the claims we'd hear from Gailey about a player "not being quite ready yet."

 

When you play for Marrone, you're expected to be ready, you want to be ready.

 

1) Let me sum up what you are seeing from OBD:

 

Hubris

 

It's a quality every new Bills HC and GM has brought to their new office at OBD in spades since Donahoe first succeeded Butler. We've been sold a line by each regime that implied that the iherited lack of talent on paper was either a gross miscalculation by......everyone else......or a gross underestimation of their coaching expertise. Big talk.....tough talk......poo-pooing the naysayers and their conventional wisdom....that's the NORM.

 

Perhaps it would be refreshing if the HC and GM changes coincided with a sense of urgency on the personnel side. That sense of urgency usually emerges near the END of that coaching regime.

 

Simpy put, everyone of them had a plan.............until Belichick bent them over. And then Herm Edwards. And then Rex Ryan. And then every Dolphins HC except Cam Cameron.

 

That hubris in itself is no guarantee of failure......but it's just hot air at this point.

 

2) Speaking of hot air......and you being an unmitigated blowhard.......that's an affirmative.

 

Your last hot tip from a "source" was that the Bills were going to make a big splash in free agency. Source fail.

 

Tip: players don't make great inside sources.....half the time they don't even know where they stand.

 

Of course, neither do those people in the ticket office, PR, marketing or groundskeeping.....but that doesn't stop people on here from claiming inside info from such sources.

[KOKBILLS]

 

Fixed

 

Yep!!!

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Part of a coach's success is there ability to make their players buy in and believe they can achieve more that what is expected. Why would you want a coach that portrays an attitude of "we can't"....that doesn't make any sense.

 

It's hard to lead in the NFL.

 

1) Let me sum up what you are seeing from OBD:

 

Hubris

 

It's a quality every new Bills HC and GM has brought to their new office at OBD in spades since Donahoe first succeeded Butler. We've been sold a line by each regime that implied that the iherited lack of talent on paper was either a gross miscalculation by......everyone else......or a gross underestimation of their coaching expertise. Big talk.....tough talk......poo-pooing the naysayers and their conventional wisdom....that's the NORM.

 

Perhaps it would be refreshing if the HC and GM changes coincided with a sense of urgency on the personnel side. That sense of urgency usually emerges near the END of that coaching regime.

 

Simpy put, everyone of them had a plan.............until Belichick bent them over. And then Herm Edwards. And then Rex Ryan. And then every Dolphins HC except Cam Cameron.

 

That hubris in itself is no guarantee of failure......but it's just hot air at this point.

 

And this differs from new/failed regimes in Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City, etc. in what way exactly?

 

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the confidence that the Bills new coaching staff portrays is par for the course for all teams in this situation?

 

Of are you saying that the downtrodden Bills organization which recently admitted that "the brand has been tarnished" is more arrogant than other organizationsins the same situation?

[Sisyphean Bills]

Perhaps it would be refreshing if the HC and GM changes coincided with a sense of urgency on the personnel side. That sense of urgency usually emerges near the END of that coaching regime.

On the nose.

 

The Kolb deal is reaching agreement, hit the pause button -- work out a deal with another DT -- hit the play button and ink Kolb to a contract. Business as usual or urgency?

[Sisyphean Bills]

You're not being clear enough for me.

 

Are you agreeing with Dick that the Bills have not been urgent enough in their player moves this offseason?

This offseason is not in the books yet.

 

What he said is generally correct though. Williams came to Buffalo and his first starting QB was the sack-prone hold-over Johnson, who turned into the roly-poly Van Pelt. Mularkey came in and his first starting QB was the hold-over Bledsoe, but he did draft Losman, so I'd say he'd be an exception. Jauron's first year he stuck with the hold-over Losman. Gailey's first year he stuck with the hold-over Edwards, who turned into Fitzpatrick when Edwards jogged out of bounds rather than unlimber his faster-than-a-sharpshooter arm. (In the meantime, the Bills were having a rather remarkable run of 1st round picks.)

 

So, other than Mularkey, none of these coaching staffs has hit the ground running at the franchise defining position that would make or break their career (at least in Buffalo). Oh, to be sure, they have mostly shared the "addition by subtraction" approach to roster building, but then I don't think that's exactly what Bado meant.

[billscents4ever]

Punting from the 34 yard line indoors is all you really need to know about Chan Gaiey's coaching style.

 

I agree i remember screaming at the tv LET HIM KICK THE DAMN FIELD GOAL

[White Linen]

Let me be perfectly clear about this: The Bills haven't done anything on the field yet, haven't won a game, haven't dispelled any sense of impending doom...just haven't accomplished anything. The best predictor of tomorrow is yesterday; see the post above regarding W - L records over the past decade plus....

 

What does the past win loss history have to do with Marrone? Maybe your point is you don't want to be optimistic because of the past. Ok fair enough, but isn't being optimistic fair enough too? That's the beauty of a new coaching staff, it's an opportunity for our team to get better. The argument that we have holes on our team is so tiresome. Every team does, like Big Cat said it's not fantasy football.

 

All I'm saying is the debate that a coaching staff can change the direction of a team is absolutely true. Is this the staff to do that? Who knows, but IMO there's plenty of reasons to believe it's possible. The people that don't have the same issues of pursuading as those that do. So I'll turn your own statement back on you. They haven't played a game yet so how do you know they won't win more games than they lose? And what's your evidence they haven't dispelled any sense of impending doom? I say they have with me, you can't prove I'm wrong about that.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Triple Threat

[Bills4]

1) Let me sum up what you are seeing from OBD:

 

Hubris

 

It's a quality every new Bills HC and GM has brought to their new office at OBD in spades since Donahoe first succeeded Butler. We've been sold a line by each regime that implied that the iherited lack of talent on paper was either a gross miscalculation by......everyone else......or a gross underestimation of their coaching expertise. Big talk.....tough talk......poo-pooing the naysayers and their conventional wisdom....that's the NORM.

 

Perhaps it would be refreshing if the HC and GM changes coincided with a sense of urgency on the personnel side. That sense of urgency usually emerges near the END of that coaching regime.

 

Simpy put, everyone of them had a plan.............until Belichick bent them over. And then Herm Edwards. And then Rex Ryan. And then every Dolphins HC except Cam Cameron.

 

That hubris in itself is no guarantee of failure......but it's just hot air at this point.

 

2) Speaking of hot air......and you being an unmitigated blowhard.......that's an affirmative.

 

Your last hot tip from a "source" was that the Bills were going to make a big splash in free agency. Source fail.

 

Tip: players don't make great inside sources.....half the time they don't even know where they stand.

 

Of course, neither do those people in the ticket office, PR, marketing or groundskeeping.....but that doesn't stop people on here from claiming inside info from such sources.

 

Huge difference between hubris and confidence in ones ability. I think the Russ Brandon GM and now president of the organization would fit the definition of hubris. He obviously is not in touch with the reality of his own abiltiy But each new coaching staff brought in has had confidence, tried, then failed. But dont you want a new staff to come in with confidence?

 

I have no problem with Marrone having the confidence he does based on his experience in the NFL with the Saints and his proven track record of turning a horrible organization around like he did in Syracuse. Only time will tell if he can accomplish what he has set out to do. But even if he tries and fails, I would not consider it hubris

 

Let me be perfectly clear about this: The Bills haven't done anything on the field yet, haven't won a game, haven't dispelled any sense of impending doom...just haven't accomplished anything. The best predictor of tomorrow is yesterday; see the post above regarding W - L records over the past decade plus....

 

Although I agree with you, I do think you need let these guys have a shot and bring some optimism into your point of view. From the few posts Ive read of yours, I dont understand why you would even want to join a Bills board. You bash the team, and bash any fan who has some hope. Nothin wrong with a little positive thinking mixed in with your realism,.