WR Coach Ike Hilliard Released from the Bills' Coaching Staff

[BigBuff423]

I believe Hilliard's departure has more to do with the lack of development on the part of the two rookie WRs, the lack of good blocking demonstrated over the course of the season by the WRs, the dropped passes which were pretty bad, and the general lack of connection with the playbook..because no matter the QB, to run a route as designed is simply following the scheme and when the QB(s) and the WR(s) seem like they're on different pages of the book, that means either the QB or the WR is to blame, and given that such a young group needs good coaching and direction, and that it wasn't just one QB but all three, I'm guessing Marrone and Hackett determined that the WRs were frequently out of position....not to mention the problems of catching passes and making their blocks.

 

Now that you say that, I bet that Woods punch played a role in this.

 

Agreed.

[Dibs]

come on, WR was the worst position group we had all year.....

 

Though I can't and certainly don't claim to in any way be an expert in this sort of thing.......I definitely agree with you. To my eyes our WRs lacked discipline in various ways all throughout the season. I wasn't surprised at all with the sacking.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Dibs

[BillsFanFromCincy2012]

I guess we are getting Syracuse's WR coach now...

[NoSaint]

 

 

Here's a question I'll ask again:

 

How many good receiving corps feature 2 rookies and 1 second-year player in their top 4?

 

heres my retort - how many of those young guys looked better in december than september/august? woods came in as "the most nfl ready wr" in the draft and played well from the first time he stepped on the field - is that Ike, or just woods meeting expectations? graham, arguably, took a step back in his fundamentals, it was the worst stevie has looked in some time. rogers washed out and is responding well to a new coaching staff. im assuming streeter didnt respond that well to coaching as hes already gone (not that i expected anything from him, but just another possible spot where we couldve seen a guy get better). easley has all the physical tools and seemingly the desire but couldnt get on the field but cant.... im just not sure what he could hold up as his big victory. production aside because there are offensive issues beyond the group - did anyone look like they were extraordinarily sound in their fundamentals down the stretch?

 

as to the young group - indy might be close to comparable? right now with Wayne out, outside DHB they have TY hilton, brazil, and whalen (2nd year) and Darick (rookie)

Edited December 31, 2013 by NoSaint

[CodeMonkey]

heres my retort - how many of those young guys looked better in december than september/august? woods came in as "the most nfl ready wr" in the draft and played well from the first time he stepped on the field - is that Ike, or just woods meeting expectations? graham, arguably, took a step back in his fundamentals, it was the worst stevie has looked in some time. rogers washed out and is responding well to a new coaching staff. im assuming streeter didnt respond that well to coaching as hes already gone (not that i expected anything from him, but just another possible spot where we couldve seen a guy get better). easley has all the physical tools and seemingly the desire but couldnt get on the field but cant.... im just not sure what he could hold up as his big victory. production aside because there are offensive issues beyond the group - did anyone look like they were extraordinarily sound in their fundamentals down the stretch?

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

[The Big Cat]

 

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

 

CJ

Byrd

Gilmore

Dareus

Glenn

ROBEY

Searcy

 

[YoloinOhio]

Cross Greggo Marrone and feel the wrath I guess. If Hilliard questioned the almighty Greggo Marrone he has to go. Crossman probably doesn't question him ever.

Why is it automatically assumed this is the only change? It is simply a change that was pre-determined before the evaluations. And since when is "evaluating" personnel a bad thing before making a decision? SMH. On the surface I absolutely believe Crossman should be replaced. Expecting that to occur yesterday is fair, but it is common for these changes to be made after Black Monday.

[atlbillsfan1975]

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

Good point.

Some of the guys on D maybe. Robey?

God why can't the Bills ever find a good coach???

[CodeMonkey]

CJ

Byrd

Gilmore

Dareus

Glenn

ROBEY

Searcy

Robey yes, I had forgotten about him. He actually improved the most in my opinion. I disagree with the others. Not saying the others had bad seasons mind you, I just did not see improvement.

[YoloinOhio]

I believe Hilliard's departure has more to do with the lack of development on the part of the two rookie WRs, the lack of good blocking demonstrated over the course of the season by the WRs, the dropped passes which were pretty bad, and the general lack of connection with the playbook..because no matter the QB, to run a route as designed is simply following the scheme and when the QB(s) and the WR(s) seem like they're on different pages of the book, that means either the QB or the WR is to blame, and given that such a young group needs good coaching and direction, and that it wasn't just one QB but all three, I'm guessing Marrone and Hackett determined that the WRs were frequently out of position....not to mention the problems of catching passes and making their blocks.

 

 

 

Agreed.

Say what? It's not just because Hilliard was a scapegoat and clearly must have questioned Marrone one time and therefore got the boot? smdh.

[Sisyphean Bills]

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

 

One could trot out the "they needed an evaluation year" excuse for this.

[BigBuff423]

Say what? It's not just because Hilliard was a scapegoat and clearly must have questioned Marrone one time and therefore got the boot? smdh.

 

And you know this how?? Because you're inside Marrone's head or in the film room with them? Or Ike called you to say that he disagreed with Marrone and Marrone couldn't handle his version of the truth?? You simply don't like Marrone as a coach...and that's fine, you're entitled to that as a fan. But making **** up as you go and making presumptions of personality are just juvenile. Marrone was clear that Ike's philosophy was different than his...based upon Woods being ejected, the WRs ranked near last in dropped passes, and that just to the casual fan / observer you can tell the WRs were frequently out of position, the WRs needed more work and / or better guidance. And as I stated in my original response, if that was the case with just one QB, any of them, you could argue its the QB play (and I'm NOT saying the QB play is ok or good, it needs to get better) but when those stats bear out over the course of the season and with all three different starting QBs, then it becomes apparent the WRs had much more to do with that and when you put it all together, it seems the coaching of the WRs has been an issue...more change is needed, but this was a pretty simple and direct answer to hopefully solving some of the Offensive woes

Edited December 31, 2013 by BigBuff423

[YoloinOhio]

And you know this how?? Because you're inside Marrone's head or in the film room with them? Or Ike called you to say that he disagreed with Marrone and Marrone couldn't handle his version of the truth?? You simply don't like Marrone as a coach...and that's fine, you're entitled to that as a fan. But making **** up as you go and making presumptions of personality are just juvenile. Marrone was clear that Ike's philosophy was different than his...based upon Woods being ejected, the WRs ranked near last in dropped passes, and that just to the casual fan / observer you can tell the WRs were frequently out of position, the WRs needed more work and / or better guidance. And as I stated in my original response, if that was the case with just one QB, any of them, you could argue its the QB play (and I'm NOT saying the QB play is ok or good, it needs to get better) but when those stats bear out over the course of the season and with all three different starting QBs, then it becomes apparent the WRs had much more to do with that and when you put it all together, it seems the coaching of the WRs has been an issue...more change is needed, but this was a pretty simple and direct answer to hopefully solving some of the Offensive woes

I was being sarcastic.... What you wrote is exactly what I think. Edited December 31, 2013 by YoloInTheBlo

[boyst]

 

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

the OL did begin to gel. Pears improved. The OL finally got out to lead block on runs. The OL improved

 

Based on prior play Carpenter did, too. He lasted all season and strong. He hadn't done that well later in the season compared to the first part. That is if I remember correctly

 

Mckelvin did get a lot better as the season went on. He started strong and finished amazing. ?

[BigBuff423]

I was being sarcastic.... What you wrote is exactly what I think.

 

Whoops....my bad! Sorry Bro...I need to work on reading through the lines to interpret sarcasm...apologies, but thank you for responding with class.

[#34fan]

Might be simple. Maybe he was a critical of the OC.

 

This seems more of a likely scenario. IMO, Nat Hackett comes off as a snarky, entittled, ego-maniacal little know-it all... Why on earth we would drag in a carcass from the Jauron regime, I will never know. I tend to believe that this was Doug's call, and it's not like he had much of a choice. As much as I like Marrone's personal story, and work ethic, he's not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree...

 

I'm not saying the guy is stupid, but I cannot, in good conscience, say he's clever, or effective. If they fired him and his OC right now, I really wouldn't care.

[The Big Cat]

 

 

This seems more of a likely scenario. IMO, Nat Hackett comes off as a snarky, entittled, ego-maniacal little know-it all... Why on earth we would drag in a carcass from the Jauron regime, I will never know. I tend to believe that this was Doug's call, and it's not like he had much of a choice. As much as I like Marrone's personal story, and work ethic, he's not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree...

 

I'm not saying the guy is stupid, but I cannot, in good conscience, say he's clever, or effective. If they fired him and his OC right now, I really wouldn't care.

 

Oh, dear.

[Mark Vader]

Robey yes, I had forgotten about him. He actually improved the most in my opinion. I disagree with the others. Not saying the others had bad seasons mind you, I just did not see improvement.

Hughes

Branch

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I'll go one step further ... how many Bills looked better in december than in august? Certainly not any QB for example. I could make a case for Alonzo ... maybe, No one else is coming to mind.

 

You understand that it's pretty much impossible for a young player to improve if he's not playing regularly?

 

CJ

Byrd

Gilmore

Dareus

Glenn

ROBEY

Searcy

 

Robey yes, I had forgotten about him. He actually improved the most in my opinion. I disagree with the others. Not saying the others had bad seasons mind you, I just did not see improvement.

 

Hughes

Branch

 

Yes, Hughes probably improved more than any Bill from start to finish.

 

The biggest reason for the team's failure this year was the lack of an effective passing game. There are multiple reasons for this:

 

1) Our starting quarterback couldn't stay healthy.

 

2) His backup was mediocre.

 

3) Our wideouts are very below average.

 

4) The jury is still out on our offensive coaching.

Edited January 1, 2014 by San Jose Bills Fan

[KOKBILLS]

(i am trying hard to resist the comments about the first coach fired being heavily involved in all that)

 

But you have to wonder right?

 

I do...I REALLY do...