Justafan9 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I can't go down the Sullivan/Carrucci path of looking at plays or individual players or coaches anymore. After 15 years, it's time to recognize that there is a greater pattern. Questions: On what planet do you fail for as long as he has and keep your job? Why is he the only Pres in the AFC East without an Ivy League graduate degree? How many other team Presidents in the NFL are running teams with their bachelors degrees? How did a bachelors degree from St. John Fischer, some experience with the Marlins, and 9 years with the bills make him qualified to run an NFL franchise? How many hours and dollars did he spend on the Toronto deals which could have been spent trying to make the team better? Why have we hired more head coaches than any team (except Raiders) since 2000? Why have we not been able to hire a head coach with a winning record? Why is the team winning less than 40% of its games during his tenure? How do prospects feel about coming to play for a guy with this track record, who has the same education level as they do? I'm sure Ive missed some details, but the point is, the guy is grossly under qualified with a long track record of failure. I think he had RW brainwashed, and I hope Pegula asks the hard questions about Mr. Brandon. It's time to have this team run professionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNY Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I personally believe changes will be made. Pegual will learn from his mistakes with the Sabres and make the necessary changes early. He kept everybody in place with the Sabres and it all backfired on him. You don't just buy a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 15 years for 1.4 billion and just keep the same management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deranged Rhino Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 This might be the first time in NFL history someone is complaining about the lack of an ivy league pedigree. There are more ways to define someone's worth, and their intelligence, then where they went to school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Because he's not running the team anymore. Whaley is in charge of football decisions and TPegs is the owner. The time of Russ making anything but marketing decisions are gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 we did have Fitz to fill the Ivy League quota Basically, there are various threads on this, and there has been for years, really. The truth is, nothing said makes a difference, and it all will become clear if/when Pegula brings someone in from the outside to oversee the building of the championship football program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Because he's not running the team anymore. Whaley is in charge of football decisions and TPegs is the owner. The time of Russ making anything but marketing decisions are gone. Officially, Russ no longer has anything to do with football decisions. Unofficially, he's making some bold statements and publicly supporting the people he hired. So the question is whether or not Russ can stay in his lane and only handle team financial matters. From afar, it seems like Russ isn't ready to let go of the power he held as quasi-owner. The Pegula's have to determine whether the previous lead guy for the team (who hired other high ranking people in non-football roles) won't divide the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonabb Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 More of this on Brandon? Seriously? Have you not seen the dead horse? The common denominator was RCW, end of story. Brandon's marching order were from on high. He was a puppet, for better or worse, just like everyone else who is beneath their boss, owner,. CEO, etc., Ivy league or not. It's been discussed and mentioned forever of RCW's micromanagement. So that is now, with all due respect, no long an issue. Was he qualified when he was hired? Who I am to say. Is he qualified now, sure. Can he operate the business side of the football team, yep. What more can the guy do to make you happy? We haven't made the playoffs in 15 years. He wasn't the guy drafting players and coaching last I checked. We have 40,000+ season ticket holders in a region that has had stagnant population and a declining population since 1970. And let me say it once more.... no playoffs in 15 years and a very good base of season ticket holders who have every right to walk away yet somehow, the business side has managed to keep them (myself included) coming year after failing year. If anything, he and Wilson deserve an award for duping us into coming back and spending our money to watch a tire fire. What matters in the NFL is talent and coaching. We had a team bereft of talent across the board for most of this run of futility. It wasn't entirely coaching to blame for JP Losman's suckitude or the Erik Flowers pick (feel free to fill in your favorite horrible player). You need the find the nexus between talent and coaching to get anywhere. Coaching hires and bad GMs have cost this team. And again, RCW made the final call on everything. Brandon should stay on the business side; Whaley as the GM and Marrone one more year assuming he cans Hackett. Does anyone, in all honesty, think that a new coach without a QB will result in a different outcome? Is someone magically going to turn Orton into a playoff QB or fix Manuel? You don't fix QBs. They come with the skillset and you might finely tune or hone it, but you don't fix fatal flaws. It's the biggest fallacy in sports. Anytime a QB comes out with a mechanical flow, an accuracy issues, poor decision-making, weak arm, he's destined for the scrap heap. Jameis Winston is the next one... bank it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Officially, Russ no longer has anything to do with football decisions. Unofficially, he's making some bold statements and publicly supporting the people he hired. So the question is whether or not Russ can stay in his lane and only handle team financial matters. From afar, it seems like Russ isn't ready to let go of the power he held as quasi-owner. The Pegula's have to determine whether the previous lead guy for the team (who hired other high ranking people in non-football roles) won't divide the organization. You had to go and make a Home Run Throwup reference, did ya? For the record, I do believe Brandon will keep his job and "stay in his lane" -- he may be a mouthpiece for the organization but he won't be "running" it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 You had to go and make a Home Run Throwup reference, did ya? For the record, I do believe Brandon will keep his job and "stay in his lane" -- he may be a mouthpiece for the organization but he won't be "running" it. exactly where I'm at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I personally believe changes will be made. Pegual will learn from his mistakes with the Sabres and make the necessary changes early. He kept everybody in place with the Sabres and it all backfired on him. You don't just buy a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 15 years for 1.4 billion and just keep the same management. I hope you're right, but fear you are wrong. Russ Brandon wears a teflon suit. Nothing sticks to this guy. He is a slick talker and I'm sure he'll convince Pegula the problems lie elsewhere and have nothing to do with him. I believe strongly that Whaley made one of the worst trades in Bills history.It may not be in the Sam Bowie/Michael Jordan category of bad decisions, but it will definitely set the team back significantly. Hopefully, the Pegulas will want a fresh start with a new management team, but history says he will stick with the status quo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Here's how I look at it: Russ Brandon still has a badge that gives him access to the locker room, the war room, and all GM meetings. Some of you delusional folk think that this guy is getting his position re-adjusted, and that means he's only going to be in marketing. The guy is a football fan. He loves it. He has access to everything, and has years and years of meddling with it all. Are you telling me that he's just simply going to stop it all and stick to marketing? Come on. He isn't qualified, and his experience tells us his football decisions are poor at best. What's amazing, is that some people are willing to look past that and claim that he's valuable to the team due to his marketing ability. You want to live in this perfect world where he's just going to do marketing and have a separate team accountable to him, and not get CC'd on all the important GM moves. Sorry, it's just not how it works. The guy's the President. They can re-title him all they want, once you're the president they can't take that away from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Every one these weekly Russ threads is exactly the same. We get it. You blame Russ because you do not understand what his role with the team has historically been, you don't understand what his role is now, you're skeptical about what role if any he will continue to play, but you're certain his influence is very strong and guides every poor decision. This opinion is barely defensible, but since it cannot be definitively discredited it must be right. See you next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Why stop at Russ? Some of the ladies in the secretarial pool have been around too long as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 This might be the first time in NFL history someone is complaining about the lack of an ivy league pedigree. There are more ways to define someone's worth, and their intelligence, then where they went to school. ^^^This....nothing like crapping on the guy's education...he is a smart man...that much is evident.....crapping on his education makes the original argument look pretty baseless and outright stupid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Every one these weekly Russ threads is exactly the same. We get it. You blame Russ because you do not understand what his role with the team has historically been, you don't understand what his role is now, you're skeptical about what role if any he will continue to play, but you're certain his influence is very strong and guides every poor decision. This opinion is barely defensible, but since it cannot be definitively discredited it must be right. See you next week. So the guy who hired the Syracuse coaching staff, after claiming no stone would be left unturned, is not accountable. Ok, got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 So the guy who hired the Syracuse coaching staff, after claiming no stone would be left unturned, is not accountable. Ok, got it. As long as we're extrapolating ridiculous conclusions which simply aren't present in the text, why not go for some Davinci Code level stuff? While you ponder that, please demonstrate that Russ and Whaley were negligent or hasty in considering the options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Here's how I look at it: Russ Brandon still has a badge that gives him access to the locker room, the war room, and all GM meetings. Some of you delusional folk think that this guy is getting his position re-adjusted, and that means he's only going to be in marketing. The guy is a football fan. He loves it. He has access to everything, and has years and years of meddling with it all. Are you telling me that he's just simply going to stop it all and stick to marketing? Come on. FWIW, there are 150+ employees with badges to access everywhere. The overwhelming majority of them have nothing to do with personnel decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 As long as we're extrapolating ridiculous conclusions which simply aren't present in the text, why not go for some Davinci Code level stuff? While you ponder that, please demonstrate that Russ and Whaley were negligent or hasty in considering the options. What exactly is Divinci Code level stuff? You don't believe that he was directly involved in the hiring of Doug Marrone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 What exactly is Divinci Code level stuff? You don't believe that he was directly involved in the hiring of Doug Marrone? I know he was. What's your point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 FWIW, there are 150+ employees with badges to access everywhere. The overwhelming majority of them have nothing to do with personnel decisions. Right. I didn't at all mean to use badge literally here. On draft day the assistant equipment manager isn't trotting into the draft room. I know he was. What's your point? ...wait...what's YOUR point? I'm genuinely confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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