mannc Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Got it. Although I think the football czar thing is overrated. It is overrated--if you have an experienced GM whom you trust. TP has signaled that that is not the case here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Me too, but Terry seems to think he needs one, so he should've moved more quickly.I question whether the football czar is for the teams benefit or the pegula's out both. Being new to the NFL I can see them wanting someone like polian to help show them the ins and outs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Got it. Although I think the football czar thing is overrated. 100% agree. What "football czar" has come in and actually helped long-term? Parcells did very little in Miami, Holmgren was a failure in Cleveland, and I can't remember another time it was even attempted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm sure the Pegulas have a plan and I'm sure they haven't shared it with Sully. So Sully's going to add 2+2 and come up with 6. It's what he does. 6 is always a more interesting answer than 4. So Orton retires. Every player eventually retires. So the Pegulas didn't hire a czar right away. Most teams don't have czars, they have GMs just like the Bills. So Marrone quit. The Pegulas could have extended his contract and had him stay. Let's be clear, they let him walk obviously because they didn't believe in him enough to spend the money. The guy has a .500 college record and a sub .500 pro record. How much do any of us believe in him? The Pegulas obviously think they can do better than Marrone and God bless them if they want someone better! So Marrone gets $4 million. (1) the Pegulas can afford it, and (2) the dumb opt out clause was written before Pegs bought the Bills. So the Pegulas are going to be part of the interview process. That's not unusual, and I personally want our new owners to get involved and educate themselves. In the army we used to say, "The leader is in the critical place at the critical time." The Pegulas should be involved in the interviews. I don't see how these facts add up to the Pegulas being in over their head. I can't believe people still take Sully seriously. He's made it clear time and time again that he's not an objective, balanced reporter. He's someone who likes to stir the pot and here he goes again. Actual facts are never an obstacle for Sully. This is the guy who just recently accused Sammy of tweeting that Buffalo was a boring city when Sammy was actually in Florida and referring to a city down there. When learning of Sully's mistake, Sammy called him as a "clueless page stalker." I'm not sure about the "page stalker" part but "clueless" definitely fits. Here's what I wrote in the "What a circus thread": We've heard stories before that the Old Guard (Littman, Berchtold, Overdorf, and maybe a few others) viewed themselves as the heart of the team and weren't anxious to change things for a coach when we all know coaches come and go. According to TG, Marrone's beef was mostly with the Old Guard, not so much with Whaley. Rumor has it that Whaley himself has been frustrated with the Old Guard as he tries to change the organization. Polian was fired because he had conflict with the Old Guard, particularly Littman. And this shows you how powerful the Old Guard was. When Ralph had to choose between the guy who built the Bills into a SB contender or the Old Guard, he chose the Old Guard. Pegula needs to dismantle the Old Guard. And that's what he seems to be doing. Littman, probably seeing the writing on the wall, retired. None of the Old Guard will be involved in the HC interviews (contrary to initial reports). And none of the Old Guard will have any authority over our new coach who will report directly to the Pegulas. And these are just the first steps we've learned. I'm sure Pegula has an overarching strategic plan though he's still assessing things, too. Of course, he's not sharing the plan or the assessments with us. But his first moves are dropping some telling hints. I don't see a circus. I see hope. We've known for a long time (since Polian was wrongly fired, at least) that OBD needs to change. Now we see signs of change. It's about time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 If losing Orton, Marrone, hackett and not getting pollian is blood in the water, I would hate to see what he calls it when we lose someone worth a damn.Has Hackett resigned?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Me too, but Terry seems to think he needs one, so he should've moved more quickly. It is overrated--if you have an experienced GM whom you trust. TP has signaled that that is not the case here. I think Terry thinks he needs one. But sometimes what you think you need and what you actually need and/or get are two different things. I'm willing to see how it plays out with the HC'ing hire. 100% agree. What "football czar" has come in and actually helped long-term? Parcells did very little in Miami, Holmgren was a failure in Cleveland, and I can't remember another time it was even attempted. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 According to this board's favorite </sarcasm> reporter, Jerry Sullivan, they are: http://www.buffalonews.com/columns/jerry-sullivan/pegulas-are-learning-the-hard-way-20150104 I just find it hard to believe that two people with the brains and know-how to make billions could be as lost as Jerry would have us believe. I know casting dispersions on pegula is sac-religious and the same towards sully are commonplace..... However, didn't anyone else draw this same conclusion after, Morrone opts out as the most successful coach in recent history, badmouthing the team on the way out, then Polian is sought but declines, and touts what sounds like advice from a coach over the owner? Oil and pro sports aren't the same thing. You can be phenomenal with commodity speculation and still be miserable in an industry with far more parallels to Hollywood than the Chicago mercant exchange. In the NFL, commodities are living breathing thinking emotional people. No doubt as bills chairman of the board he's just lost his first public battle. Marrone quit, polian declined an advisory role and the only story anyone is hearing is their version. Brandon no doubt is dusting off his resume and the organizations n very much appears to be in for a large and hopefully non detrimental shake up. The best guys at the top manage the information flow and conrtolling the spin on these very sorts of stories. If we don't start seeing the organization do a better managing the narrative, it's going to prove just that.... They are in over their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Has Hackett resigned??No he has not. But I don't believe he will be retained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Me too, but Terry seems to think he needs one, so he should've moved more quickly. It totally depends on what football czar means to them. Polian implied himself there was no heavy lifting. That he wasn't going to be making big decisions and sticking around a long time. There are two kinds of football czars. The consultant kind and the john Elway kind. Pegula looked to be after the consultant kind. I'm sure that guy would have had a say in the Coach search. But I'm not sure how many of them are out there I would want. And Pegula would have to be putting trust for his team with some guy he didn't really know. Polian seemed like a good fit. The only other guys I would want are Arcossi or Wolf. He could have went after them a few months ago but that would have really messed with the playoff push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 According to this board's favorite </sarcasm> reporter, Jerry Sullivan, they are: http://www.buffalonews.com/columns/jerry-sullivan/pegulas-are-learning-the-hard-way-20150104 I just find it hard to believe that two people with the brains and know-how to make billions could be as lost as Jerry would have us believe. I believe they are lost when it comes to the Sabres, and even more so when it comes to the Bills. That's why I hope they get a quality consultant ASAP. Being able to drill gas wells and being a fan of the team (which Pegula was for the Sabres at least) does not quality you to make management or player decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I know casting dispersions on pegula is sac-religious and the same towards sully are commonplace..... However, didn't anyone else draw this same conclusion after, Morrone opts out as the most successful coach in recent history, badmouthing the team on the way out, then Polian is sought but declines, and touts what sounds like advice from a coach over the owner? Oil and pro sports aren't the same thing. You can be phenomenal with commodity speculation and still be miserable in an industry with far more parallels to Hollywood than the Chicago mercant exchange. In the NFL, commodities are living breathing thinking emotional people. No doubt as bills chairman of the board he's just lost his first public battle. Marrone quit, polian declined an advisory role and the only story anyone is hearing is their version. Brandon no doubt is dusting off his resume and the organizations n very much appears to be in for a large and hopefully non detrimental shake up. The best guys at the top manage the information flow and conrtolling the spin on these very sorts of stories. If we don't start seeing the organization do a better managing the narrative, it's going to prove just that.... They are in over their heads. Really? Because every other organization in the NFL hasn't had embarrassing things leak out that they weren't able to control? Perception is just that: perception. The popular perception is that Marrone was some great coach who left the Bills because they were dysfunctional and Polian decided not to join them for the same reason. The real reason is that Marrone tried a power grab and failed and took an easy $4M, while Polian didn't like the fact that people were bad-mouthing him from his first go-around and wasn't interested in putting in serious work. Good riddance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I believe they are lost when it comes to the Sabres, and even more so when it comes to the Bills. That's why I hope they get a quality consultant ASAP. Being able to drill gas wells and being a fan of the team (which Pegula was for the Sabres at least) does not quality you to make management or player decisions. You don't like Murray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 You don't like Murray? Yes he would seem to have a lot of potential. I guess we won't know for a few more years though. I strongly suspect LaFontaine acted more or less as a consultant for that hire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Yes he would seem to have a lot of potential. I guess we won't know for a few more years though. I strongly suspect LaFontaine acted more or less as a consultant for that hire. LaFontaine definitely was more of a consultant. One thing I can somewhat fault Pegula for is not making clear parameters for that job they just made up. Perhaps he did and LaFontaine abused them. I heard that the whole ordeal was LaFontaine trying to hire people without even discussing it with Pegula and his guys and Pegula got pissed and basically fired LaFontaine but let him resign so he could go back to the league. And that LaFontaine was not at all the guy he presents himself to be. But it's really hard to fault people for getting treated like that. He couldn't have predicted that was going to happen. But once Patty had chosen the coach and GM, there really wasn't much left for him to do. Still, the end result is a very good GM who has an eye for talent and no nonsense approach and clearly has a plan he is instituting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintonfallsbillsfan Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 For a new owner having a sounding board/czar sounds like a good idea . I think the whole thing has been blow out of proportion by two self serving individuals, Marrone and Polian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 According to this board's favorite </sarcasm> reporter, Jerry Sullivan, they are: http://www.buffalonews.com/columns/jerry-sullivan/pegulas-are-learning-the-hard-way-20150104 I just find it hard to believe that two people with the brains and know-how to make billions could be as lost as Jerry would have us believe. did you say Jerry Lewis? coo coo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) So you think that Pegs should have named a HC immediately after Marrone opted-out? Seriously?Talk about optics, interviewing for a new HC while Marrone was still here? And how exactly was Pegula supposed to interview candidates while the season was in progress?? Think, people! Edited January 4, 2015 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackInDaDay Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 That's far too many personnel to replace in one season. Far too much experience, both winning and losing, completely lost. Year three of any coaching tenure - a year where the coach can look back on the previous two years and learn from their mistakes. Gone! Now the Bills have to hire a new HC, a new OC, and find a QB. It will take at least one season for these three new hires to work together. the HC will hire his OC - so they should be on the same page.. unless the new HC is inexperienced, and makes a bad call.. the HC must bring an offensive schem that can maximize EJ's skills - and also lends itself to any veteran QBs invited to compete as the #1. this takes care of what takes the field, and it give Pegula an opportunity to review the various departments put in place to support the GM.. this is the dirty work that has only now been exposed to Pegula as an immediate task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Talk about optics, interviewing for a new HC while Marrone was still here? And how exactly was Pegula supposed to interview candidates while the season was in progress?? Think, people! Yeah, the histrionics are getting out of hand this morning. Better to step away from the keyboard and do something more productive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Yeah, the histrionics are getting out of hand this morning. Better to step away from the keyboard and do something more productive... Except that nobody actually argued that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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