Are the Pegulas in Over Their Heads?

[metzelaars_lives]

Why does Sullivan always insist the Sabres "paid dearly" for Regier hanging around an extra year or two. Weren't his last three trades Kassian for Hodgson, Gaustad for a first round pick and the Matt Moulson trade with the Islanders? They were trending downward. No GM could have come in and made them a playoff contender. In the grand scheme of things, Regier probably outlasted his welcome but I don't think the Sabres "paid dearly" for it, nor do I think they'd be any better off today if they fired him sooner. They should have traded Roy, Pominville and Vanek a little sooner and got the rebuild starter earlier if anything. But it's so easy for Sullivan to just throw stuff out there and assume nobody is going to call him out for it.

Edited January 4, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[Jobu]

You nailed it! But Sullivan nailed it first! The collective denial and ignorance of Buffalo Bills fans in the past two weeks is amazing!

Give it up Jerry, we all know its you.

[BmarvB]

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 find it hard to believe too. They didn't get to where they are by not having a plan of action, and it's not like he's not learning anything from his experience with the Sabres. Granted there's going to be a learning curve, but they're going to get it right and build a winner here.

[jahnyc]

I think optics matter, particularly when you want to attract a new head coach and possibly new front office personnel. I also think that things do appear chaotic from the outside, and likely from the inside as well. Things will be rough in the near-term, but the bottom line is that we are incredibly fortunate to have new owners who will keep the Bills in Buffalo long-term. They are being introduced to the world of the NFL in a rather rough manner, but maybe this is a good thing, because owning a team in the NFL can be tough on so many levels with the players, the fans, the front office and other owners. The Pegulas will learn over time, and maybe this will speed up that learning process. I am not saying that they are incompetent, but this clearly will be a learning experience, which will be okay since they are in it for the long haul. I think that we will all need to show some patience, which will be difficult after 15 years of not making the playoffs.

Edited January 4, 2015 by jahnyc

[jester43]

Wow, I couldn't wait to log on and see the hissy fit over this column and I sure wasn't disappointed. Another great 8th-grade-girls-cafeteria-table moment brought to you by the koolaid drinkers at TBD.

 

Sullivan is 100% right -they should have lined up some expertise immediately upon learning their bid was accepted...did they learn nothing from the Sabres debacle?

 

Now the braintrust who frittered away next year's number #1 and left EJ as our best option at QB are leading a coaching search, but the successful candidate will report the the ...owner?

 

To say it looks a little messy is putting it politely.

 

I will say Sully picked a bad time to flat-out TROLL his haters after his stupid tweeting yesterday regarding Sammy. And I disagree completely that Polian is so damn irreplacable that they should have moved heaven and earth to get him here. But I don't know how you can argue that the Pegulas haven't already messed up.

 

They better just hope that whoever they land to coach this team can get something out of EJ and manages the roster better than Marrone. If they can do that, all this "controversy" just dissolves away. But they're going to have to get lucky. If they just go out and hire Frank Reich because he is a hero here and fine christian, then we'll know we're in trouble. They seem to be driven more by nostalgia than good judgment.

 

[Coach Tuesday]

Sullivan hasn't the slightest idea of whether the Pegulas were aware of the opt out. Doesn't stop him from speculating, though. That's ok, but it's written in such a way to lead you to believe that they were probably unaware.

 

 

My friend there is no way they didn't know about it. It would've been a major due diligence item during the pre-sale process; if they weren't told of it, they should sue their due diligence firm.

 

I too am concerned that the Pegulas weren't proactive enough in advance of the opt-out, and I too would like them to be more public and reassuring about what their vision for the team is, what the roles are going to be, what kind of coach they're looking to hire, etc. I think it's fair to ask these questions. Having said that, they appear to be moving forward quickly with a broad-based no-stone-unturned coaching search and I applaud them for it.

 

And having said all of that, the Buffalo media is a total joke. These articles by Sullivan write themselves. It's one thing to ask these types of questions; quite another to make outright accusations only several days into the Pegulas' first offseason. Sullivan's piece today is just smut, lazy, uninspired, cynical garbage, and sadly it's a pattern with him, Schopp, and many other local hacks.

 

If you'd like to write a real article, why not drill down a bit and provide some real information and insight into the "chaotic dysfunction" you accuse OBD of being infected with? Something like this: a key problem under Marrone's regime, and previous regimes before him, is that while the coach gets to set the grocery list, the process gets bungled when it comes to free agent acquisitions and retentions. Coach Marrone says, I need two big powerful guards for my offense to work right. He tells this to Whaley. Whaley and his pro personnel scouts come up with a list of free agent guards who fit what Marrone says he is looking for. They give the list to Overdorf, who has been tasked with contract negotiations. That's where things fall apart completely. Overdorf uses his own metrics to determine how much particular players are worth; he does not take Marrone's value of a guard into account when surveying the market and determining the bottom line offer for each free agent. And Overdorf operates independently from both the coaching silo and the scouting/personnel silo; he reports directly to the CFO (Littman or whomever it is now); Brandon technically was overseeing everything as Ralph's proxy, but Brandon is a marketing guy and is not capable of managing all of these independent silos effectively. So Marrone's grocery list turns into Overdorf's proprietary rotary league pricing method, which ends up overvaluing and undervaluing and causing a disconnect between what the coach says he wants and what the team ends up with. And it's the coach first, and the GM second, and never Overdorf or his finance department, who end up having to face the music as far as the fans are concerned; coaches and GMs have come and gone (mostly gone), but the purse keepers have remained in place.

 

I'm making all of that up, it's all conjecture about what the real problem has been within OBD. See, the thing is, I'm FORCED to make it up, because the local media hasn't come anywhere close to that kind of critical analysis in the decades that I've been a fan of the Sabres and Bills. We're always forced to guess, as fans, and even worse that providing no real info, the local media stokes the fans' suspicion and doubt by putting out half-baked cynical drivel like this morning's Jerry Sullivan piece.

 

The fact that the most insightful article about OBD this past year came from Jason LaCanfora, in August, is very telling about the decrepit state of the local news media.

 

The Bills are incompetent. Most of the reporters covering the Bills are equally incompetent. Them be the facts.

[BackInDaDay]

first thing i ever did when buying a used car, was start it up - let it run long enough to see if there are any leaks, and that it doesn't overheat. once i was satisfied the engine was ok, i'd work my around the rest of the systems.. but if there was any signs of engine problems, i had to know that first.

 

the Bills have an engine problem. it's leaking, over-heating, and not firing on all cylinders. before he rushes to buy cool wheels and hang his fuzzy dice from the rearview mirror, Terry's got to find a mechanic to identify the problems for him. maybe it's a minor repair, but if the previous owner never addressed what was wrong, he may have to tear it down and rebuild it.

[chris heff]

Is this situation ideal? Hardly, but the suggestion that the Bills would be better if Marrone had stayed another year is ridiculous. If the Pegulas had given into Marrone, then the franchise would truly be in turmoil. Another year would have past and still no direction, no continuity. It would have been postponing the inevitable.

 

As far as Polian is concerned, by his own admission, he did not want to make a long term commitment or work very hard. To his credit he didn't just take Pegula's money. Parcells did just that in Miami, ask Dolphin fans how that turned out.

[metzelaars_lives]

Here's the deal. We don't have a QB or a coach. It's not going to be difficult to upgrade at both. Once we have a new QB and coach, is the sky still falling?

[Doc]

 

 

My friend there is no way they didn't know about it. It would've been a major due diligence item during the pre-sale process; if they weren't told of it, they should sue their due diligence firm.

 

I too am concerned that the Pegulas weren't proactive enough in advance of the opt-out, and I too would like them to be more public and reassuring about what their vision for the team is, what the roles are going to be, what kind of coach they're looking to hire, etc. I think it's fair to ask these questions. Having said that, they appear to be moving forward quickly with a broad-based no-stone-unturned coaching search and I applaud them for it.

 

And having said all of that, the Buffalo media is a total joke. These articles by Sullivan write themselves. It's one thing to ask these types of questions; quite another to make outright accusations only several days into the Pegulas' first offseason. Sullivan's piece today is just smut, lazy, uninspired, cynical garbage, and sadly it's a pattern with him, Schopp, and many other local hacks.

 

If you'd like to write a real article, why not drill down a bit and provide some real information and insight into the "chaotic dysfunction" you accuse OBD of being infected with? Something like this: a key problem under Marrone's regime, and previous regimes before him, is that while the coach gets to set the grocery list, the process gets bungled when it comes to free agent acquisitions and retentions. Coach Marrone says, I need two big powerful guards for my offense to work right. He tells this to Whaley. Whaley and his pro personnel scouts come up with a list of free agent guards who fit what Marrone says he is looking for. They give the list to Overdorf, who has been tasked with contract negotiations. That's where things fall apart completely. Overdorf uses his own metrics to determine how much particular players are worth; he does not take Marrone's value of a guard into account when surveying the market and determining the bottom line offer for each free agent. And Overdorf operates independently from both the coaching silo and the scouting/personnel silo; he reports directly to the CFO (Littman or whomever it is now); Brandon technically was overseeing everything as Ralph's proxy, but Brandon is a marketing guy and is not capable of managing all of these independent silos effectively. So Marrone's grocery list turns into Overdorf's proprietary rotary league pricing method, which ends up overvaluing and undervaluing and causing a disconnect between what the coach says he wants and what the team ends up with. And it's the coach first, and the GM second, and never Overdorf or his finance department, who end up having to face the music as far as the fans are concerned; coaches and GMs have come and gone (mostly gone), but the purse keepers have remained in place.

 

I'm making all of that up, it's all conjecture about what the real problem has been within OBD. See, the thing is, I'm FORCED to make it up, because the local media hasn't come anywhere close to that kind of critical analysis in the decades that I've been a fan of the Sabres and Bills. We're always forced to guess, as fans, and even worse that providing no real info, the local media stokes the fans' suspicion and doubt by putting out half-baked cynical drivel like this morning's Jerry Sullivan piece.

 

The fact that the most insightful article about OBD this past year came from Jason LaCanfora, in August, is very telling about the decrepit state of the local news media.

 

The Bills are incompetent. Most of the reporters covering the Bills are equally incompetent. Them be the facts.

So you think that Pegs should have named a HC immediately after Marrone opted-out? Seriously?

[Gray Beard]

Wow, I couldn't wait to log on and see the hissy fit over this column and I sure wasn't disappointed. Another great 8th-grade-girls-cafeteria-table moment brought to you by the koolaid drinkers at TBD.

 

Sullivan is 100% right -they should have lined up some expertise immediately upon learning their bid was accepted...did they learn nothing from the Sabres debacle?

 

Now the braintrust who frittered away next year's number #1 and left EJ as our best option at QB are leading a coaching search, but the successful candidate will report the the ...owner?

 

To say it looks a little messy is putting it politely.

 

I will say Sully picked a bad time to flat-out TROLL his haters after his stupid tweeting yesterday regarding Sammy. And I disagree completely that Polian is so damn irreplacable that they should have moved heaven and earth to get him here. But I don't know how you can argue that the Pegulas haven't already messed up.

 

They better just hope that whoever they land to coach this team can get something out of EJ and manages the roster better than Marrone. If they can do that, all this "controversy" just dissolves away. But they're going to have to get lucky. If they just go out and hire Frank Reich because he is a hero here and fine christian, then we'll know we're in trouble. They seem to be driven more by nostalgia than good judgment.

 

There is so much right with this post, I don't know where to begin.

[Coach Tuesday]

So you think that Pegs should have named a HC immediately after Marrone opted-out? Seriously?

Not at all. I think the football czar should've been in place last month.

[T master]

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.

 

 

Well its not like Sully has a clue either he's a monday morning QB just like the rest of us ! He is just closer to whats going on than us .

 

I like looking at more than a small hand full of people for the job . When Brandon & company laid that lame excuse last time when they hired Maroon of it being a exhaustive search after lasting like 6 days total & like 4 for real candidates i was like Yah right exhaustive ??

 

They didn't even look at Trestman a top offensive guy for years in the league & one that had championships under his belt . I think Terry is looking at ALL that is out there like a good owner of any company would do .

 

Sully will continue to be Sully as long as he has a job in B/lo & as long as the Bills play there so i won't put a lot into what he says especially at this point when the Pegula's are in the beginning stages of making the team their own ..

 

But i hope they hire Schwartz cause the D guys like him , play hard for him & may be more likely to stick around , but if he leaves we wil see Hughes along with others follow him like some did with Pettine ...

[dave mcbride]

My friend there is no way they didn't know about it. It would've been a major due diligence item during the pre-sale process; if they weren't told of it, they should sue their due diligence firm.

 

I too am concerned that the Pegulas weren't proactive enough in advance of the opt-out, and I too would like them to be more public and reassuring about what their vision for the team is, what the roles are going to be, what kind of coach they're looking to hire, etc. I think it's fair to ask these questions. Having said that, they appear to be moving forward quickly with a broad-based no-stone-unturned coaching search and I applaud them for it.

 

And having said all of that, the Buffalo media is a total joke. These articles by Sullivan write themselves. It's one thing to ask these types of questions; quite another to make outright accusations only several days into the Pegulas' first offseason. Sullivan's piece today is just smut, lazy, uninspired, cynical garbage, and sadly it's a pattern with him, Schopp, and many other local hacks.

 

If you'd like to write a real article, why not drill down a bit and provide some real information and insight into the "chaotic dysfunction" you accuse OBD of being infected with? Something like this: a key problem under Marrone's regime, and previous regimes before him, is that while the coach gets to set the grocery list, the process gets bungled when it comes to free agent acquisitions and retentions. Coach Marrone says, I need two big powerful guards for my offense to work right. He tells this to Whaley. Whaley and his pro personnel scouts come up with a list of free agent guards who fit what Marrone says he is looking for. They give the list to Overdorf, who has been tasked with contract negotiations. That's where things fall apart completely. Overdorf uses his own metrics to determine how much particular players are worth; he does not take Marrone's value of a guard into account when surveying the market and determining the bottom line offer for each free agent. And Overdorf operates independently from both the coaching silo and the scouting/personnel silo; he reports directly to the CFO (Littman or whomever it is now); Brandon technically was overseeing everything as Ralph's proxy, but Brandon is a marketing guy and is not capable of managing all of these independent silos effectively. So Marrone's grocery list turns into Overdorf's proprietary rotary league pricing method, which ends up overvaluing and undervaluing and causing a disconnect between what the coach says he wants and what the team ends up with. And it's the coach first, and the GM second, and never Overdorf or his finance department, who end up having to face the music as far as the fans are concerned; coaches and GMs have come and gone (mostly gone), but the purse keepers have remained in place.

 

I'm making all of that up, it's all conjecture about what the real problem has been within OBD. See, the thing is, I'm FORCED to make it up, because the local media hasn't come anywhere close to that kind of critical analysis in the decades that I've been a fan of the Sabres and Bills. We're always forced to guess, as fans, and even worse that providing no real info, the local media stokes the fans' suspicion and doubt by putting out half-baked cynical drivel like this morning's Jerry Sullivan piece.

 

The fact that the most insightful article about OBD this past year came from Jason LaCanfora, in August, is very telling about the decrepit state of the local news media.

 

The Bills are incompetent. Most of the reporters covering the Bills are equally incompetent. Them be the facts.

Great post.

[Dibs]

........Don't you think that would be a good idea, under the circumstances?

No. What good could it do? Their plan is obvious.....get a HC & get an advisor. Everybody knows this already. They obviously won't make public comment on things that happened behind closed doors (apart from standard platitudes).....so why waste the time?

[Doc]

Not at all. I think the football czar should've been in place last month.

Got it. Although I think the football czar thing is overrated.

[Coach Tuesday]

Got it. Although I think the football czar thing is overrated.

 

Me too, but Terry seems to think he needs one, so he should've moved more quickly.

[mannc]

Question: If Whaley is in charge of the HC search, why will that HC report directly to TP? It seems to me that Whaley is twisting in the wind, yet he is nominally the guy in charge of all football operations. This is one example of the confusion that has been allowed to set in at OBD and could have been avoided if there was a clear plan.

[billsfan1959]

Got it. Although I think the football czar thing is overrated.

Couldn't agree more.

[Big Hurt]

Losing Marrone is no big deal. He is only an average coach. The best thing he did was hiring the two defensive coordinators. The offense under him was a mess: no running game, poor offensive line plays, couldn't improve EJ and had to turn the team to a career backup QB, and the list go on and on. He basically handcuffed Nat Hackett to a point that Nat wasn't allowed to run his own offense. His "personal" attention to the OL turned out to be a horror show. If he was going to stay with the Bills, a lot of fans would have been unhappy.

In terms of the Pegulas being embarrassed by Polian, I think Polian made himself looking like an old fool. He basically admitted that he is too old to do anything too complicated. Do you still want this guy making critical decision for this team? Maybe he can't tie his own shoe laces anymore.

There are other good football guys around. Pegulas have more resource than you can imagine. Don't worry about them. If Sullivan is so smart, why is he still writing for the same newspaper after all these years? Where is his "career" going? This loser missed beating on Ralph and he is trying to start a new chapter with the Pegulas.