thewildrabbit Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Well, he is working at getting his own "brand" out there, for sure. That he is blowing his own horn on this hire and extremely brief stint as the proxy-owner with this statement is undeniable. What seems like it could be walking out on a limb is to say these things with two games to go and on the radio. Maybe he is confident that he already has the Pegulas 100% bought in to his viewpoint and strategic vision and direction for how things will continue to be run and regardless of what happens. Man, I hope not. I can only hope the Pegula's hire that senior consultant after this season no matter what happens. While I agree that Brandon has been brilliant on the PR, financial side of things, I also think Russ Brandon = the Matt Millen of the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have new owners that no longer need to scrimp, and cut corners to save money. In essence they no longer need really need Brandon like Mr Wilson needed him. They no longer need smoke, and mirrors or PR moves to keep the stadium filled with fans, as winning will do that for them. Anyway, Brandon has seen inside the real football operations honeycomb, and i gotta wonder if he will be satisfied to stay just on the financial side now. His job is to make the Bills profitable. It's the EXACT same thing that the head of any company tries to do. He has been EXTREMELY successful at it especially when you factor in the inherent drawbacks of the market & stadium. It's mind boggling to me that people dont understand this. Think of RB as the top boss at wherever any of you guys work. What is that man or woman responsible for? How is their success measured? What challenges do they face in obtaining those goals? I think these new owners have a different vision of success with a sports franchise, as they want to win championships above all else. Brandon was very successful at his job as CEO in terms of making a profit, and not very good at winning games while making that profit. Some NFL CEO's are excellent at both.
K-9 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Man, I hope not. I can only hope the Pegula's hire that senior consultant after this season no matter what happens. While I agree that Brandon has been brilliant on the PR, financial side of things, I also think Russ Brandon = the Matt Millen of the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have new owners that no longer need to scrimp, and cut corners to save money. In essence they no longer need really need Brandon like Mr Wilson needed him. They no longer need smoke, and mirrors or PR moves to keep the stadium filled with fans, as winning will do that for them. Anyway, Brandon has seen inside the real football operations honeycomb, and i gotta wonder if he will be satisfied to stay just on the financial side now. Are you saying Matt Millen also delegated to everybody else on the football operations side to make personnel decisions? That Millen never made such a decision on his own? GO BILLS!!!
TheBillsWillRiseAgain Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Russ Brandon's job has been to make money and expand the fanbase of the Bills. He's done a great job at that. It's the GM's job to put a winning football team on the field.
thebandit27 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Just a quick clearing of the air for anyone that may be confused: Russ Brandon's job is--and always has been--to run the business side of the organization. Even in his days as "GM", he didn't make personnel decisions. Russ' influence on the football side can be boiled down to picking the personnel guys. He was responsible for leaving Modrak/Guy in place after Levy's departure. When he was reassigned from "GM" to COO, he promoted Buddy Nix to GM. When he was named President and CEO, he gave Whaley more power and started limiting the influence of Littman and his crew. He also made the decision to give Whaley the reins in order to have a more progressive operation. If you want to pick on Brandon's football decisions, the above are the ones you'll want to take issue with; assigning blame for anything beyond the above is simply wrong, since he didn't make personnel decisions.
K-9 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Just a quick clearing of the air for anyone that may be confused: Russ Brandon's job is--and always has been--to run the business side of the organization. Even in his days as "GM", he didn't make personnel decisions. Russ' influence on the football side can be boiled down to picking the personnel guys. He was responsible for leaving Modrak/Guy in place after Levy's departure. When he was reassigned from "GM" to COO, he promoted Buddy Nix to GM. When he was named President and CEO, he gave Whaley more power and started limiting the influence of Littman and his crew. He also made the decision to give Whaley the reins in order to have a more progressive operation. If you want to pick on Brandon's football decisions, the above are the ones you'll want to take issue with; assigning blame for anything beyond the above is simply wrong, since he didn't make personnel decisions. Yep. Just like Matt Millen. GO BILLS!!!
The Big Cat Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Presently the Bills offense is ranked the lowest it's been since 2010. By which metric?
BillsVet Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 I don't need to conflate the business side decisions with the football operations side of the house. If you want to insist Russ Brandon is an abject failure on the football side, go right ahead; there's not much to argue, obviously. Any objective look at his role on the business side, however, will show that he's had very consistent success. Which was the point being made. GO BILLS!!! The point remains that improved P&L statements are not a gauge of success for someone who manages both finance and football ops. Russ did that from 2008-about 2 months ago.
Kirby Jackson Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Just a quick clearing of the air for anyone that may be confused: Russ Brandon's job is--and always has been--to run the business side of the organization. Even in his days as "GM", he didn't make personnel decisions. Russ' influence on the football side can be boiled down to picking the personnel guys. He was responsible for leaving Modrak/Guy in place after Levy's departure. When he was reassigned from "GM" to COO, he promoted Buddy Nix to GM. When he was named President and CEO, he gave Whaley more power and started limiting the influence of Littman and his crew. He also made the decision to give Whaley the reins in order to have a more progressive operation. If you want to pick on Brandon's football decisions, the above are the ones you'll want to take issue with; assigning blame for anything beyond the above is simply wrong, since he didn't make personnel decisions. Exactly!! If you want to take it a step further you can probably include the Marrone hire here. Obviously leaving Modrak & Guy in power was a mistake but it seems like he learned from that quickly. Buddy Nix stocked and empty cupboard & Whaley has made some shrewd moves & some questionable. I like him for the most part. The same things can be said for Marrone. He has been a good leader & motivator. Marrone's defenses have been great & offenses suspect. He's been pretty good.
The Big Cat Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 The point remains that improved P&L statements are not a gauge of success for someone who manages both finance and football ops. Russ did that from 2008-about 2 months ago. What changed in mid-October?
K-9 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 The point remains that improved P&L statements are not a gauge of success for someone who manages both finance and football ops. Russ did that from 2008-about 2 months ago. P&L statements are a gauge of success if the Pegulas are thinking of retaining Brandon to manage the business operations. They are a gauge of success to other professional sports franchises looking to hire someone in that position as well. Brandon has enjoyed that level of success in two different professional sports leagues and that can't be overlooked. Brandon's failure on the football side of the coin is a moot point as he won't be managing that aspect for the Pegulas. GO BILLS!!!
thebandit27 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Exactly!! If you want to take it a step further you can probably include the Marrone hire here. Obviously leaving Modrak & Guy in power was a mistake but it seems like he learned from that quickly. Buddy Nix stocked and empty cupboard & Whaley has made some shrewd moves & some questionable. I like him for the most part. The same things can be said for Marrone. He has been a good leader & motivator. Marrone's defenses have been great & offenses suspect. He's been pretty good. I left Marrone off because I've heard conflicting opinions about Brandon's level of involvement. I know he was a driving force in recommending Marrone to Nix/Whaley, but that's where the consensus ends (at least what I know of it). If I'm guessing, and you likely know more than I do, I believe Brandon urged Nix/Whaley to make the hire and they complied. I don't, however, think that Brandon would've put his foot down if Nix/Whaley felt that strongly that they wanted someone else.
Kirby Jackson Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 I left Marrone off because I've heard conflicting opinions about Brandon's level of involvement. I know he was a driving force in recommending Marrone to Nix/Whaley, but that's where the consensus ends (at least what I know of it). If I'm guessing, and you likely know more than I do, I believe Brandon urged Nix/Whaley to make the hire and they complied. I don't, however, think that Brandon would've put his foot down if Nix/Whaley felt that strongly that they wanted someone else. I think that is a pretty fair assessment as I understand it. As far as I know though Marrone & Whaley both report to Brandon not Marrone to Whaley. This may not be accurate. It was the case where I used to work as well. I think that it is a pretty popular model now because it prevents a GM/coach power struggle in some ways. Ultimately the hold a similar level of authority and the "neutral" 3rd party (RB in this case) arbitrates and mediates.
hondo in seattle Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Russ Brandon's job has been to make money and expand the fanbase of the Bills. He's done a great job at that. It's the GM's job to put a winning football team on the field. Yep. Let's hope Whaley is as good at his job as Brandon has been at his.
Whack 'Em Williams Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Keep winning and some luck, then we will talk about Culture change.
thebandit27 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 I think that is a pretty fair assessment as I understand it. As far as I know though Marrone & Whaley both report to Brandon not Marrone to Whaley. This may not be accurate. It was the case where I used to work as well. I think that it is a pretty popular model now because it prevents a GM/coach power struggle in some ways. Ultimately the hold a similar level of authority and the "neutral" 3rd party (RB in this case) arbitrates and mediates. Regardless of how the organization--as it stands today--came together, the biggest issue is that Marrone and Whaley need to be able to work together. Marrone needs to make clear to Whaley what he needs to make this team successful, and Whaley needs to get it for him. I think if the team's success simply came down to Whaley bringing in talented players and Marrone coaching them, this team would be in great shape. Unfortunately that's not the case; communication and sharing a common vision for the roster is a huge component.
BillsVet Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 What changed in mid-October? The org chart was altered according to reports: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24749471/pegulas-expected-to-bring-outside-consultants-to-help-with-bills-transition "Under the new structure Kim Pegula will serve as the team's CEO, sources said, with Brandon serving as team president but with general manager Doug Whaley expected to be no longer reporting to Brandon but instead directly to the Pegulas, thus drawing more delineation between football operations and the business operation."
Kirby Jackson Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Regardless of how the organization--as it stands today--came together, the biggest issue is that Marrone and Whaley need to be able to work together. Marrone needs to make clear to Whaley what he needs to make this team successful, and Whaley needs to get it for him. I think if the team's success simply came down to Whaley bringing in talented players and Marrone coaching them, this team would be in great shape. Unfortunately that's not the case; communication and sharing a common vision for the roster is a huge component. Agree and I'm not sure that this is necessarily the case. I am speaking strictly on things that I read here or in the media; I don't really know for sure. It just feels like Marrone & Whaley butt heads sometimes. It's not uncommon at all but to your point it needs to improve.
K-9 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Agree and I'm not sure that this is necessarily the case. I am speaking strictly on things that I read here or in the media; I don't really know for sure. It just feels like Marrone & Whaley butt heads sometimes. It's not uncommon at all but to your point it needs to improve. Of course they butt heads. There has never a been GM/HC relationship where butting heads doesn't occur. It's the nature of the dynamic. Add a prickly personality like Marrone, an agenda-driven media, and lots of room to interpret events either way and you have a world of conjecture that feeds on itself. But going back to Marrone's hire, I'd bet Marrone satisfied the entire hiring committee in the room, that he shared their vision for building and sustaining a winning organization. I don't think he'd have gotten the job otherwise. GO BILLS!!!
thebandit27 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 Agree and I'm not sure that this is necessarily the case. I am speaking strictly on things that I read here or in the media; I don't really know for sure. It just feels like Marrone & Whaley butt heads sometimes. It's not uncommon at all but to your point it needs to improve. Agreed and understood. Of course they butt heads. There has never a been GM/HC relationship where butting heads doesn't occur. It's the nature of the dynamic. Add a prickly personality like Marrone, an agenda-driven media, and lots of room to interpret events either way and you have a world of conjecture that feeds on itself. But going back to Marrone's hire, I'd bet Marrone satisfied the entire hiring committee in the room, that he shared their vision for building and sustaining a winning organization. I don't think he'd have gotten the job otherwise. GO BILLS!!! I would also bet that's the case...as badly as Russ may have wanted Marrone to get the job, it's not his style to push his guy on anyone.
K-9 Posted December 19, 2014 Posted December 19, 2014 ... I would also bet that's the case...as badly as Russ may have wanted Marrone to get the job, it's not his style to push his guy on anyone. It's the very antithesis of his style relative to personnel decisions going back to his "GM" days. Brandon never met a consensus he didn't like. Some may view that as a guy who knows his limitations or as someone afraid to make a policy decision on his own. GO BILLS!!!
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