I know nonone would actually say it but do you think Whaley might actu

[3rdand12]

Well I will say this.......Marrone certainly isn't the coach he promised to be.

 

He promised to be innovative and aggressive offensively and they are as far from those things as they could possibly be.

 

Where the blame for that goes is up for debate but someone needs to be held accountable.

 

As much as I'd like to blame Marrone/Hackett I think the front office bungled badly wrt personnel decisions in the offseason when they hired Marrone and I was less than impressed with last offseason as well.

 

The best time to make a turnaround in the NFL nowadays is year ONE. New coaches bring new systems that other teams are unprepared for and that buys you a natural game-planning edge much of that first season.

 

In year one Marrone and Hackett tried to install an up-tempo attack that looked quite promising early but they scrapped it this year....saddled with a porous OL and a QB who wasn't good enough to throw from the pocket or durable enough to be a dual threat.

 

It's almost as if Marrone has said........if you give me mediocre talent I will give you a mediocre offense....which fits the whole St. Doug model.

I find this to be a very interesting take. i had not considered it this even though its simple enough. well done

[BobbyC81]

That idea of the up-tempo attack with a rookie QB was pretty assinine.

[3rdand12]

I have seen this argument made on TBD many times this season. However, isn't getting the team to execute the coaches responsibility as well? A team that executes is a well coached team. Is it not? A team that gets a lot of penalties and doesn't execute is a poorly coached team.

 

Yet it's not Doug and Nate's fault because they coach well and have a good plan but the players aren't good enough to execute it? That's your position?

 

It has been at Times for me. But i focus on the O line and QB alot

[Manther]

Cant judge a coach or win playoff games without a solid qb that has a decent enough Oline line to keep him upright and to create some holes here and there for the runners.

 

Until then I wouldnt fire anyone because you don't know what kind of coach he is yet.

We have all seen what kind of coach he is. You haven't seen many games if you haven't seen enough of Doug Marrone to know what kind of coach he is.

[Nitro]

I like Marrone but he is coaching the Bills like they are a college team. He is a position coach and is over his head. His choices of position coaches and Hackett have been questioned. Williams wasted a year and a draft pick. Players making the same dumb penalties and undisciplined play. Time is now to make a change. Sorry Doug but your time is up.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Why try to find a feud where there is probably none?

You want a feud, check out the Deadskins. Coach totally disillusioned with Griffin, says so publicly, and wants him to sit while Snyder and his patsy GM Allen want to get something out of their significant investment. Guess who'll win that one? The thing is if Gruden goes, so does Allen, who convinced Snyder to hire Gruden. Skins organization continues to be the ultimate drama queen.

[Manther]

That idea of the up-tempo attack with a rookie QB was pretty assinine.

For sure. It is another example of DM putting square pegs in round holes and not letting petsonel dictate systems. He tries to force his systems with the wrong personel for them. His ego and stubbornness is much bigger than his brain.

 

I like Marrone but he is coaching the Bills like they are a college team. He is a position coach and is over his head. His choices of position coaches and Hackett have been questioned. Williams wasted a year and a draft pick. Players making the same dumb penalties and undisciplined play. Time is now to make a change. Sorry Doug but your time is up.

Agree

[BisonMan]

There seems to be a lot of inside baseball talk on this thread when we have no real idea what the relationships are like in the clubhouse. For all we know, Whaley may absolutely love Marrone and Hackett. There is just no telling. Every franchise that goes through tough seasons generate rumors about rifts in the management team. It doesn't mean it's true. It's probably often just an indication of highly competitive people working together and that's a good thing.

 

I'm all in favor of keeping Marrone and Hackett given that I really know nothing about the internal team relationships. The team is saddled with a very weak QB situation and has weak OGs. Oddly, aside from those positions, the team has a ton of talent almost everywhere else. Of course, the QB situation is one of those "other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" sort of things.

 

QB talent is almost everything in this league. Very few teams post strong winning records without a decent or great QB. Folks can site KC or Philly as teams with average QBs but they are both worlds better than what the Bills have. Folks complain about the offense being less than inspiring. Tell you what, get a top 15 QB at the helm and DM and NH could throw a lot more at him and would be immediately considered great coaches.

 

10-6 is a pipe dream. After a loss this weekend, the Bills should sit Orton and see what kind of progress Manuel can make over the last two games. Find OGs in the offseason and get try to get another QB (or two) to compete the way Seattle did to find Wilson. QB picking has extremely low returns so nobody should really expect anyone they bring in to be the savior. As the NFL shows each year, there are very few franchise QBs out there and it often takes a bit of luck to get one (ala Brady, Wilson, Romo, Brees).

 

Early success is no strong indicator either. See: Griffin, Kapernick, Dalton, Newton, Freeman.

 

It's a crapshoot that we have to deal with.

[NoSaint]

 

IF we finish 10-6 that means we beat the Packers and the Patriots, and that would mean, unless a completely bizarre game, that our offense played well enough to beat a very good team twice. That would be massive improvement right when we needed it most and likely gets us into the playoffs. It would also mean we didn't tank out west against Oakland. I would still blame the offense for not getting into the playoffs if we lose to them, because I felt that they could have done better, but if we finish 10-6 I will totally be in favor of keeping them, not disappointed we have to.

 

I complain about the formations a lot. I think we really ruined a chance at a much better offense. But I also know if Bryce Brown didnt fumble and Chandler didnt flub the recovery we could have easily won the KC game. If Orton hits an open Sammy on fourth down on the final play we win another game. We were close.

 

Hackett is young. Marrone is young. They are less than two years into their careers in these jobs. There is really no apprenticeship for being a Head Coach or Pro OC and calling plays. They can get better. There are things I like about both of them and things I don't like. But if they finish 10-6 I'll be in full favor. I just don't think that is going to happen.

 

Well said.

[thewildrabbit]

As did Coach Gailey and Coach Malarkey.

The difference now is that the new owners won't be scraping the bottom of the barrel of the least expensive out there. Nor will anyone worth a darn not want to work in Buffalo. Buddy Nix was forced to settle for Gailey because nobody wanted to work for a 90 year old owner who was notorious for micromanaging his coaches. It got so bad that even not so good assistants were turning down interviews for the job.

 

New ownership perhaps the richest in the NFL have already stated they want to win above all else, and don't care if the team makes money or not. To quote Terry Pegula "if i wanted to make money I'd drill another well"

 

If there is another Chip Kelly type out there we Bills fans can now expect him to be considered instead of ignored because he commands such a high salary. I think we can perhaps expect an offer to go to Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher or Jim Harbaugh should the Pegula's decide they are tired of an offensive coach who fields a near last ranked offense.

[GunnerBill]

I do not want Schwartz as HC. He can't do the job. 4-12 with that Lions roster last year is disgraceful, especially with Rodgers missing half the season. Imagine an HC in Buffalo going 4-12 with Brady out for an entire year, and an 8-8 Pats squad. You'd lose your mind.

 

Just for the sake of accuracy Schwartz was 7-9 last year in Detroit. 4-12 was their 2012 season when they were injury ravaged (it was still a significant underachievement don't get me wrong).

 

I am a huge Schwartz fan as DC - not sure I want him as a Head Coach. What happened with him as Head Coach in Detroit was that he wasn't spending as much time with the defense and as a result it didn't look like a Schwartz defense despite the talent and the offense was questionable at best and the whole thing was consistently ill disciplined.

 

I personally don't think Marrone is fired. I do think he could walk if they try and fire Hackett and I'm pretty sure they will try and fire Hackett. If we need a HC there are undoubtedly worse options that Jim Schwartz.... but there are better options too.

 

As for those who say he has some Belichick in him - he was on the Bill Belichick staff in Cleveland. That staff that has thrown out so many guys who have had noteworthy careers. And this is where I think our problem is with keeping Schwartz as DC. Thomas Dimitroff the current Falcons GM was also on that staff and was Schwartz's house mate for a time. If Dimitroff survives and Mike Smith is fired I'm 100% certain Schwartz at least gets an interview in Atlanta.

[Dr. K]

I think it's funny to read all the people here who want to fire Marone because he has not been able to win despite having plenty of talent on the roster, and then they want to fire Whaley (and excoriate Nix whenever they get the chance) for the bad job he's done as GM. Who do they think GOT all this talent that Marone is wasting? The tooth fairy?

 

You can't hold both of these opinions at the same time.

[ALF]

Starting all over once again would be a big set back. Marrone and Hackett are learning from there mistakes. If EJ can be a good starter by next season all is good. If Schwartz gets a HC job on another team, Pepper Johnson is ready to step up as DC

[GunnerBill]

Pepper Johnson is ready to step up as DC

 

Then he'd get to bench our best players in the linebacking corps and the secondary too. :-)

[ALF]

Then he'd get to bench our best players in the linebacking corps and the secondary too. :-)

 

If he stops unnecessary penalties , it's worth a try

[GunnerBill]

If he stops unnecessary penalties , it's worth a try

 

Hahahaha.

[Wagon Circler]

This is the best Bills team in ten years. Hamstrung by crappy quarterbacking, they will finish 8-8, the best record in 10 years.

Progress is being made; the roster is better. We could be in contention next year with the right QB.

I don't want to start over again with a new coach and staff. I like Whaley.

Bring everybody back, get a QB and let's go!

[thewildrabbit]

That idea of the up-tempo attack with a rookie QB was pretty assinine.

It was actually with three rookie QB's, and I agree it was pretty asinine.

 

This is the best Bills team in ten years. Hamstrung by crappy quarterbacking, they will finish 8-8, the best record in 10 years.

Progress is being made; the roster is better. We could be in contention next year with the right QB.

I don't want to start over again with a new coach and staff. I like Whaley.

Bring everybody back, get a QB and let's go!

The Browns have fired everybody every year for the last three years, and now finally have a team with a winning record.

 

What right QB? The Bills have had four QB's over the last two years, and each and every one regressed under this offensive coaching staff. In particular under Hackett.

 

Whaley will stay, and so might Marrone. Jim Schwartz will probably stay unless he gets an offer to be a head coach again. Its Can't Hackett that is most likely the goner, and good riddance to bad garbage.

[Billsfan369]

Coaches coach Players play Players don't or can't excute coach pulls hair out of head LOL The system is not broke. the O-Line is I don't care who you put in at QB line don't protect he gets hammered. I would like to see DM get his last year in an give him some o line players maybe a top flight Tight end. Not sure what to do about QB If Ortin had that extra 2-3 seconds he can fling with the best of them. Maybe that ARZ qb who's throwing some lazers right now. But If they decided to put Swartz in I would be ok with that.

Just some thoughts. probley none of which would happin. I do think that this team this year was close to being a very dangrous under the radar team that if they made the playoffs would have surprised other teams.

 

This is the best Bills team in ten years. Hamstrung by crappy quarterbacking, they will finish 8-8, the best record in 10 years.

Progress is being made; the roster is better. We could be in contention next year with the right QB.

I don't want to start over again with a new coach and staff. I like Whaley.

Bring everybody back, get a QB and let's go!

I totaly agree with it But would add that crappy QB play goes hand in Hand with Crappy O-Line play UGH!!!

[Big Gun]

I agree. I don't think Marrone comes back if he loses out.

 

Conversely, 10-6 (playoffs or not) brings him back, I think.

 

This is when I'm reminded of the Bullough days. If the players sincerely don't respect Marrone, they may very well run for the bus if they feel a losing record gets him fired. That's not as bat-schit crazy as it sounds. Fred Smerlas threatened physical harm to anyone that played well for Bullough and made him look good as a result.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

 

 

I doubt Russ gets touched now that he's back on the business side. His track record in that capacity is pretty impressive, actually.

 

I think your idea of DM being asked to fire NH might happen.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

All you people that think this are out to lunch. The team has shown improvement on the field and in their record even if they do lose out. So, ya lets start over AGAIN, makes total sense. Whatever!