Failed Expectations, Rex Ryan is not a leader of men

[Maury Ballstein]

INteresting

[Bill from NYC]

It must irk Terry Pegula that the NY Jets hired some senior NFL advisers who prompted that owner to hire a new GM-HC, and the Jets went from 4-12 last year to now 4-2 while winning with the #1 defense in the league, and with Fitz at QB. This new owner needs to stop listening to Ralph Wilson's advisers / cronies / henchmen because this is a different time, and needs a new beginning, If nothing else Terry Pegula must know its not all about just making money, and selling tickets. Like he said, if he wants to make money he would just drill another well.

 

Its all about winning games and putting top quality talent on the field, and sidelines. This team needs to compete against the very best NFL head coach, and QB in the league. In order to do that they must find the proper man at the top, and its not an oil & gas man or a marketing guy at the top of the football operations chart! This franchise needs a Bill Polian type at the top of the flow chart.

Great points here.

 

Left to his own devices, Brandon brought us Marrone and his group of amateurs. I never was a fan of his. I liken Brandon to a fancy, rich version of a barker at a circus or carnival.

 

As for Whaley, I tend to be not so impressed. When he traded SO much to get Watkins, I was furious. I have admittedly felt mixed emotions since, but it strongly appears that my initial instincts were correct. He gave away the store in order to draft a receiver for EJ Manuel (another gem) to throw to.

 

Yeah, if the Bills fail to make the playoffs, it's time to bring in another GM.

[ALF]

It looks like Rex does not have the right players to execute his complex defense. Like trying to put a square peg into a round hole.

 

Offense has just too many injuries.

 

Kromer needs more time with a healthy OL . If Glenn and Richie do not re-sign, it will be back to square one.

 

Players need to focus and and not have dumb penalties, a coaching problem.

 

I don't care for Rex antic's with his coin toss captains, low class imo . Refs don't seem to like bully image.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Well, this is a fresh idea for a thread. I was just thinking that we needed another fire Whaley thread too.

[fansince88]

We all bought into hype. unfortunately Rex is not a top tier coach. a lot of hype and bluster. When it is time for the team to perform, Rex fails the team.

So here is what everyone that has this philosophy is saying....Rex is no Doug and Roman is no Hackett! Really? Is that the difference? NO! Here is what we were lacking on Sunday in London, Henderson, Miller, Taylor,Watkins, Karlos Williams, and Kyle Williams. We have also been without our OL coach.

Im all for giving it the season before I say Rex sucks. In 5 -6 weeks of a healthy team the people that are complaining could be saying wow this Rex guy really knows his stuff. People say this team is incorrigible but I say we have not seen the team since week 1 due to the weekly injuries.

Against the Giants we put in Boobie and street trash. Against the Titans we had same RB situation and Bacarri Rambo. And if memory serves me right no Goodwin and Sammy. Against the Bengals no TT and once again our RB and WR core was shot. Then last week. Get healthy is job 1. Then if we don't turn things around I will jump on the wagon. Not until then

[JohnC]

Great points here.

 

Left to his own devices, Brandon brought us Marrone and his group of amateurs. I never was a fan of his. I liken Brandon to a fancy, rich version of a barker at a circus or carnival.

 

As for Whaley, I tend to be not so impressed. When he traded SO much to get Watkins, I was furious. I have admittedly felt mixed emotions since, but it strongly appears that my initial instincts were correct. He gave away the store in order to draft a receiver for EJ Manuel (another gem) to throw to.

 

Yeah, if the Bills fail to make the playoffs, it's time to bring in another GM.

Bill, The people who failed the Pegulas with the hire of Rex are the same people who hired him: Themselves! You don't need a formal committee of outside consultants for advice. They had access to a lot of NFL people who were willing to give them good advice.

 

The Rex hire made no sense. You don't have to be a NFL insider to know that Rex was fired from the Jets and that his record was less than mediocre. He left a team that was in shambles. The team he was coaching was spiraling down----far from moving in an upward trajectory. The dour HC that departed the scene outperformed the loquacious HC who was entering the scene. How much sense does that make?

 

The Pegulas allowed themselves to be impressed in an interview setting. Instead of doing their own due diligence based on a candidate's record they fell for the glib salesmanship of a mediocre HC. They paid $1.B for a franchise and they hired a self-promoting huckster to lead their team. To make things even worse they gave Rex a rich long term deal and included authority to circumvent the GM to bring whatever issues he had directly to the owners. In other words the owners empowered the undisciplined HC and undercut the authority of their own GM.

 

You get what you get---you get what you deserve. When you hire mediocrity don't be surprised when you get mediocrity.

[Steve Billieve]

The problem with the argument "Rex ruined our defense" is that there is absolutely no way to measure whether or not poor execution rather than gameplan is at fault. This defensive line is supposed to be elite to the point where they can get to the QB without all blitzing. They did it last year, quite often, despite what people think. Now when Rex decides to experiment and drop these guys into coverage a few times, then he is automatically at fault for supposedly messing up the entire rest of the defensive gameplan without any scrutinization of the players whatsoever. I'm not exactly sold that there wouldn't have been regression if Schwartz was still here.

Yep. I'm sure a little upset with Rex right now, but when you have a really good year with a unit it's a little foolish to expect improvement instead of regression to the mean. Our defense has definitely had its moments so far this year, and the offense has put them in more than a couple tight spots.

 

You have to give a coach longer than 7 games to implement their systems etc etc. It would be inconceivable if he was gone after this year, end of year 2 is the soonest he could get canned, and I think that would take a real stinker, like 2-14.

[BarleyNY]

Rex's shtick is a lot of fun when his team is doing well, but gets pretty old pretty quick when they're not. It is what it is. He was smart when he dialed it back in NY when things weren't going well. I suspect he will be here for quite some time to come though. Anyone thinking that firing him due to his span of 7 games as HC is justifiable should maybe just take a step back. I don't agree with everything he has done, but he's a good coach and nothing positive would come from firing him anytime soon. It would not help the perception of the team and it would not help the reality of it. The worst thing a team can have is incompetence in its front office and coaching ranks, but the second worst is constant turnover which often looks just like the former.

Edited November 1, 2015 by BarleyNY

[Boatdrinks]

Bill, The people who failed the Pegulas with the hire of Rex are the same people who hired him: Themselves! You don't need a formal committee of outside consultants for advice. They had access to a lot of NFL people who were willing to give them good advice.

 

The Rex hire made no sense. You don't have to be a NFL insider to know that Rex was fired from the Jets and that his record was less than mediocre. He left a team that was in shambles. The team he was coaching was spiraling down----far from moving in an upward trajectory. The dour HC that departed the scene outperformed the loquacious HC who was entering the scene. How much sense does that make?

 

The Pegulas allowed themselves to be impressed in an interview setting. Instead of doing their own due diligence based on a candidate's record they fell for the glib salesmanship of a mediocre HC. They paid $1.B for a franchise and they hired a self-promoting huckster to lead their team. To make things even worse they gave Rex a rich long term deal and included authority to circumvent the GM to bring whatever issues he had directly to the owners. In other words the owners empowered the undisciplined HC and undercut the authority of their own GM.

 

You get what you get---you get what you deserve. When you hire mediocrity don't be surprised when you get mediocrity.

 

Ridiculous post. And just which excellent, winning head coach who's team was on the upswing was available to be hired? Belichick? If being fired from a previous job as HC was a disqualifier, most NFL coaches wouldn't have their jobs. These guys are all recycled, in case you haven't noticed. To infer that two immensely successful business people like the Pegulas didn't do their due diligence on a coaching hire is so unlikely, it's sheer idiocy. They were looking for a long term hire to stabilize the team and get it out from under it's pattern of a new HC every two years. That's about the average during this playoff drought. They felt that Ryan was the man for the job, obviously. I also doubt that they are jumping to irrational conclusions / decisions after just 7 games. Especially with the amount of injuries that the Bills have, the last couple games looked like a preseason lineup.

As for the organizational structure, they saw the problem of a convoluted hierarchy within the team. They also knew that Ryan had issues with the GM of the Jets that let talent get away, and failed to bring in talent on Offense, particularly at WR. So Rex reports directly to the owners. I don't see any problem with that. They inherited Whaley, perhaps they aren't completely sold on him. As for Ryan, he is their guy. That probably means he isn't going anywhere for awhile, at least three seasons barring complete disaster. I don't think 3-4 qualifies. Most HC 's have had good years and bad. Teams don't usually let them go after their best seasons. Even the great Belichick had a sub .500 career record ( fits your definition of a mediocrity) before a certain QB named Brady showed up. You don't have to be an NFL insider to have heard of him. The Pegulas apparently know that is just how the NFL works. They wanted a higher profile " name" HC , not some first time hot coordinator or one of the faceless uninspired hires of the Wilson regime. They are likely to give it time to play out, the team has been unstable in that department for decades.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

@bcredmosquito asks: Any chance Rex is fired after the season if things really fall apart (6-10 record or worse) or does he still get another year?

 

Theyre paying Rex around $5.5 million a year over five. The Pegulas have piles of money, but theyre not going to eat that sort of cash. Besides, Terry isnt one to make hasty decisions about his employees. He proved that when he stuck with Darcy Regier as the Sabres general manager well beyond his expiration date.

 

Ryan brought credibility to the organization at a desperate time. He helped sell the most season tickets in franchise history. Hes the face of the franchise and a guy with a solid track record as a defensive coach. Theres still hope for this season and if they flame out, he can use injuries and bad quarterback play as an excuse.

That doesnt mean Rex is on a permanent honeymoon. He needs to win soon or hell wear out his welcome with the Pegulas. But if anyone gets tossed into the volcano if they dont make the playoffs this season, itll be Whaley.

 

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/10/29/mailbag-despite-disarray-ryan-isnt-going-anywhere/

Yes, fire the guy who brought all this talent in for Rex to misuse. That would be so Billsy.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Rex is a good coach. It's his first year and he had to bring in his own QB to get this team anywhere near to competitive. What would have been the alternative? Jim Schwartz that couldn't win as a head coach despite having a good franchise QB? I don't understand how people can turn on a new coach to this franchise that hasn't even coached half a season with the team.

 

Its the Defense. We see what was an elite D last year turned into a ball-less pile of slush this year and we want change.

[dwight in philly]

i bought into rex, and havent totally given up yet, but a trivial thing bothers me about him. the fact that lends itself to rex being a B-S-er. i remember when he said he was going to buy a home "where it snows the most". as it turns out, rex bought a home in nashville, not sure if he bought one here, probably rents. if anyone saw the HBO "real sports" story on him recently, it was mentioned about his recently purchased home in nashville. so, i think rex says stuff , and kinda blows lots of smoke out of his a$$.

[Beef Jerky]

What Rex says doesn't matter... That is the problem most of you people have with this. Everyone that complains about Rex talks about the things he says like that affects any aspect of NFL football.

[Utah John]

Rex Ryan did what no other team's offensive coordinator managed to do the past two years: neutralize the Bills' D-line. Amazing incompetence and arrogance that he knew how to fix what clearly wasn't broken.

[Beef Jerky]

Rex Ryan did what no other team's offensive coordinator managed to do the past two years: neutralize the Bills' D-line. Amazing incompetence and arrogance that he knew how to fix what clearly wasn't broken.

You sure about that I remember the most recent team Raiders neutralized them... Also the Pats haven't had any trouble either... But yea keep making up stupid ****.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Beef Jerky

[JohnC]

Ridiculous post. And just which excellent, winning head coach who's team was on the upswing was available to be hired? Belichick? If being fired from a previous job as HC was a disqualifier, most NFL coaches wouldn't have their jobs. These guys are all recycled, in case you haven't noticed. To infer that two immensely successful business people like the Pegulas didn't do their due diligence on a coaching hire is so unlikely, it's sheer idiocy. They were looking for a long term hire to stabilize the team and get it out from under it's pattern of a new HC every two years. That's about the average during this playoff drought. They felt that Ryan was the man for the job, obviously. I also doubt that they are jumping to irrational conclusions / decisions after just 7 games. Especially with the amount of injuries that the Bills have, the last couple games looked like a preseason lineup.

As for the organizational structure, they saw the problem of a convoluted hierarchy within the team. They also knew that Ryan had issues with the GM of the Jets that let talent get away, and failed to bring in talent on Offense, particularly at WR. So Rex reports directly to the owners. I don't see any problem with that. They inherited Whaley, perhaps they aren't completely sold on him. As for Ryan, he is their guy. That probably means he isn't going anywhere for awhile, at least three seasons barring complete disaster. I don't think 3-4 qualifies. Most HC 's have had good years and bad. Teams don't usually let them go after their best seasons. Even the great Belichick had a sub .500 career record ( fits your definition of a mediocrity) before a certain QB named Brady showed up. You don't have to be an NFL insider to have heard of him. The Pegulas apparently know that is just how the NFL works. They wanted a higher profile " name" HC , not some first time hot coordinator or one of the faceless uninspired hires of the Wilson regime. They are likely to give it time to play out, the team has been unstable in that department for decades.

The notion that Rex Ryan was going to be a be a long-term hire who was going to stabilize this franchise is an absurdity. He left the Jets in a shambles. He had a losing record. The HC who departed Buffalo outperformed him when they went head to head. Of course he is not totally at fault for the Jets chaotic situation but he certainly was very involved with the team and the decisions that were made. The team dramatically regressed under his tenure. And you argue about long-term stability! That's not what his record portends!

 

I agree with you that the Pegulas' were looking for a high profile name when they hired the bombastic Rex. That's one of my main source of criticisms. They hired someone who was exceptional at promoting himself while in reality they were hiring someone who didn't have an impressive record. Rex's HCing record speaks for itself! It wasn't a record that should have made him an appealing candidate; it was a record that should have disqualified him.

 

Bruce Ariens was not a high profile coach when he was hired by the Cardinals. He has done an exceptional job with them. From a personality standpoint he is nondescript; from a coaching standpoint he is much more substantive than the huckster the Bills recently hired. The new HC in Atlanta is not a high profile personality like our bombastic coach. But without a doubt his team is better coached. The new HC for the Jets, Tom Bowles, is doing much better than the coach he replaced. Not only do the Jets have a better record than with Rex but his team is playing with more discipline and intelligence.

 

The Buffalo Bills are one of the most penalized teams in the league. No one is discounting that the team is battered by injuries. But that isn't the main problem. This team is playing with a lack of discipline and intelligence. If you don't think that coaching matters as to how the team is playing (regardless of the record) then we have a fundamental difference that can't be reconciled. When you have to resort to having your players wear bracelets to play with poise then it has reached an embarrassing level of incompetence.

 

You bring up the point that it is still very early in his tenure. That is what I find to be very troubling. If you want to make a case for your position do not ever mention Rex Ryan to Bill Belichick in the same sentence when making any comparisons to individuals or situations. You sabotage your arguments when you stretch yourself to such a grand level.

Edited November 1, 2015 by JohnC

[CountryCletus]

I think TP felt he had to make big splash. We just made a big splash.

Quite often a turd makes a big splash....

[Nihilarian]

Bill, The people who failed the Pegulas with the hire of Rex are the same people who hired him: Themselves! You don't need a formal committee of outside consultants for advice. They had access to a lot of NFL people who were willing to give them good advice.

 

The Rex hire made no sense. You don't have to be a NFL insider to know that Rex was fired from the Jets and that his record was less than mediocre. He left a team that was in shambles. The team he was coaching was spiraling down----far from moving in an upward trajectory. The dour HC that departed the scene outperformed the loquacious HC who was entering the scene. How much sense does that make?

 

The Pegulas allowed themselves to be impressed in an interview setting. Instead of doing their own due diligence based on a candidate's record they fell for the glib salesmanship of a mediocre HC. They paid $1.B for a franchise and they hired a self-promoting huckster to lead their team. To make things even worse they gave Rex a rich long term deal and included authority to circumvent the GM to bring whatever issues he had directly to the owners. In other words the owners empowered the undisciplined HC and undercut the authority of their own GM.

 

You get what you get---you get what you deserve. When you hire mediocrity don't be surprised when you get mediocrity.

That bolded statement is very correct in my view, and for various reasons. And you are right as a lot of Bills fans were saying WTF on hiring a man whose team just went 4-12, and who had clearly lost his players in the process.

 

 

In the last years of Ralph Wilson's life he stepped away from the team, and promoted the former team pseudo GM to the role of team president to oversee the entire team in every aspect. Recently "Leroi" let it slip that "Russ has a big part in scouting and the draft process. He is definitely involved."

 

The people in the room advising the Pegula's to choose their own head coach were team president Russ Brandon, and GM Doug Whaley. I do believe that Brandon told the Pegula's that "they would know who to hire" after speaking with all the candidates. They both heard / read that the Pegula's intended to hire Bill Polian as a temporary NFL Czar / adviser, and I think both men felt threatened if a new football czar were to be hired. Whaley in losing his job, and Brandon not allowed to have his hands in the cookie jar of player acquisition. My belief is that Brandon has been a key figure in the scouting / drafting process in all probability since Marv Levy retired from the GM position in 2007.

 

Now, learning that I'd think that both Brandon, Whaley wanted to keep the old status quo going like they had with Ralph Wilson. Thus wanting the new owners to accommodate their choices for hiring coaches, and obtaining players.

 

Does any Buffalo Bills fan really want this new owner selecting his own choice for head coach or Brandon's choice again? Or being in the draft room, and directing the team to draft certain players like Ralph Wilson used to do? Or micromanage the head coaches like Wilson used to do? AFAIK this new owner is a passionate hockey fan, and a TV watching football fan. He really has no NFL acumen on who to hire or what players to obtain for the team.

 

Like I said, I'm so hoping the new owners hire that NFL experienced, knowledgeable football czar or president of football operations after this season.

[Boatdrinks]

The notion that Rex Ryan was going to be a be a long-term hire who was going to stabilize this franchise is an absurdity. He left the Jets in a shambles. He had a losing record. The HC who departed Buffalo outperformed him when they went head to head. Of course he is not totally at fault for the Jets chaotic situation but he certainly was very involved with the team and the decisions that were made. The team dramatically regressed under his tenure. And you argue about long-term stability! That's not what his record portends!

 

I agree with you that the Pegulas' were looking for a high profile name when they hired the bombastic Rex. That's one of my main source of criticisms. They hired someone who was exceptional at promoting himself while in reality they were hiring someone who didn't have an impressive record. Rex's HCing record speaks for itself! It wasn't a record that should have made him an appealing candidate; it was a record that should have disqualified him.

 

Bruce Ariens was not a high profile coach when he was hired by the Cardinals. He has done an exceptional job with them. From a personality standpoint he is nondescript; from a coaching standpoint he is much more substantive than the huckster the Bills recently hired. The new HC in Atlanta is not a high profile personality like our bombastic coach. But without a doubt his team is better coached. The new HC for the Jets, Tom Bowles, is doing much better than the coach he replaced. Not only do the Jets have a better record than with Rex but his team is playing with more discipline and intelligence.

 

The Buffalo Bills are one of the most penalized teams in the league. No one is discounting that the team is battered by injuries. But that isn't the main problem. This team is playing with a lack of discipline and intelligence. If you don't think that coaching matters as to how the team is playing (regardless of the record) then we have a fundamental difference that can't be reconciled. When you have to resort to having your players wear bracelets to play with poise then it has reached an embarrassing level of incompetence.

 

You bring up the point that it is still very early in his tenure. That is what I find to be very troubling. If you want to make a case for your position do not ever mention Rex Ryan to Bill Belichick in the same sentence when making any comparisons to individuals or situations. You sabotage your arguments when you stretch yourself to such a grand level.

It's just a fact about Belichick, though I believe he is head and shoulders above all other coaches. The Pegulas obviously wanted someone THEY were comfortable with long term, hence the 5 year deal. The great 'Tom Bowles" has better players in key spots than last years Jets. Maybe you didn't notice. I'm not trying to reconcile anything, just that pinning all that ails the Bills on coaching is just a convenient excuse. The Falcons have a much better QB than the Bills and it's probably got a lot to do with their winning. If some random coordinator had been hired by the Bills, and the record/ injuries etc were all the same, I'm certain we'd be hearing the diatribe of what an uninspired hire the Pegulas made , and why didn't they hire a name head coach? I don't dismiss coaching, I just believe more in Jimmy's and Joes than X's and O's. Everyone is so willing to give their beloved players a pass.

And tts Todd Bowles BTW.. Hence the quotes

[Nihilarian]

Ridiculous post. And just which excellent, winning head coach who's team was on the upswing was available to be hired?

If the Pegula's had waited another two weeks to hire their HC John Fox would have been available. Fox stepped away from a 12-4 Denver team when John Elway wanted to hire his old friend Gary Kubiak as HC.

 

Plus, they could have had a shot of hiring Dan Quinn away from Seattle after the super bowl. Quinn's Falcons are currently 6-1. Then, why let the Jets hire Todd Bowles who is 4-2 with that #1 defense?

 

Lets face some facts here that the teams CEO is still making the hiring decisions, or manipulating the new owners to do his bidding.