Mario Williams: "Bills' personnel doesn't fit Scheme"

[BADOLBILZ]

Insubordination by a nonperformer making close to $20 milliona year - nice!

 

 

It was certainly a worst case scenario for Bills fans.

 

Coach makes a terrible decision to impose his ill-fit scheme........refuses......or is incapable of changing to a more complimentary approach.......and star veteran player quits altogether in protest......even as shamed coach wriggles on the spike and his own free agent value declines.

 

Unless we find out Mario had a kidney removed or something like that before the season there is no excusing his performance.

 

Well, sure they spoke - right after Rex's job interview where he explained to Doug, in front of the Pegulas who would be his new bosses, that Doug doesn't need to worry about Rex keeping the D intact because he, Rex, is a "football guy" not a "scheme guy. Then again right after Rex's pressers where he explained that he told Doug "just get me really great football players, I don't care what they look like"

 

Yeah, right after that, Rex took Doug out back, nudged him in the ribs, and said "it's all BS, you know. Don't spend the money on those overpriced linemen, I need some super-stud space-eating brainiac LBs and an all-star set of DB who can hold coverage for 8 seconds on all-star WR and TEs, but any old space eating hulk will work out on my D-line."

 

Y'all can see that happening, right?

 

Lesson to Bills fans........when a coach that is famous for a particular scheme is brought in and denies that he will be using a particular scheme........he is lying.

 

Schwartz did the same thing when his controversial wide-9 D was brought up in his first interviews after hiring. The results had been spotty at in TN and Detroit.

 

Then he ran it exclusively all season.

 

The follow up question to the next DC should be "what do you say to Bills fans who saw Jim Schwartz and Rex Ryan come in both claiming to not be wed to their systems but then subsequently were?".

[BuffaninATL]

all this stuff about Mario shooting his mouth off makes me think of a different context I have seen elsewhere; these guys are pros making a gazillion $ but at the end of the day, they crave what all successful pros do: to be LED and to respect a coach who is that leader of men. Say all you want about Belicheck but he runs a tight ship and his systems work - plus the players don't talk; at all.

 

Ryan's teams, OTOH, are a loose bunch and are encouraged to speak their minds. How do you think it looks internally when there are no repercussions for poor play, penalties, missed assignments, brain farts? IN Rex's world where he wants to be buddy buddy, the inmates run the asylum. Mario's frustrations are a sign of that. Think of this team as similarity to today's family structure; parents want to be their teenage kids' friends when those kids often need a swift kick in the ass. Family dysfunction = Bills dysfunction.

[BackInDaDay]

thats why they needed a football czar.

 

hopefully at season's end, the owner will hire an experienced football lifer come on board to consult with Rex and his coordinators - for as long as it takes - to understand what Rex's offense, defense and special teams were trying to accomplish at specific times during a game. if Rex didn't have asst coaches or under-grads upstairs logging what was called in real-time, he and his coordinators should be able to use video of the game to identify what personnel groups were on the field, in particular situations, and marry that to the game plans they developed for that week's opponent. in the absence of a log, this should help them reconstruct what the call was. then they can review and grade the effectiveness of the call - as executed by the unit as a whole, and individually.

 

as painstaking a process as this may be, it will expose what their units did well - and what they didn't - in particular situations. at a granular level, it will shed light on which players were responsible for the success or failure of a particular call, and why. this information can then be examined to determine if there are patterns being exposed which might help improve the coaches choices - beginning with the call itself; then the decision on which personnel was assigned to carry out the call; and finally, to how each player executed the call.

 

break the season down - piece by piece.

if, for instance, the defense cannot execute particular calls well, find the reason why. did a player fail because he was placed in conflict by the offense, and didn't know how to respond? in a case like that, they need to examine the defensive call that placed him there. on the other hand, if the player failed because he misread his key, then re-examine how the staff might reinforce his preparation. and so on, and so on.

 

football at this level is not a pick up game in the park.. offenses and defenses - and even special teams - have a multitude of themes, and variations on those themes - all of which constitute a system of calls designed by the coaching staff to attack and defend an opponent where they feel they're vulnerable.. but every call includes explicit directions for each man being asked to execute it. there should be no guess work of where and what you must do.

 

it's imperative that an outside pair of eyes - with no skin in the game - helps Rex and his coordinators reach definitive conclusions on what happened and why, and where to go from here. then any recommendations made to the coaching staff can be coordinated with the owner and GM. this is the big-time.. there's no excuse for not examining every facet of the game for a place to improve. we're in a division with such a head coach, whose teams are prepared each week to take advantage of the weaknesses he and his staff have exposed in hours of analysis. when i say 'prepared', i mean, ready to execute as directed. Rex and his staff have to be as diligent in preparing our guys - but first, they have to address where their system is flawed.

[BuffaninATL]

 

hopefully at season's end, the owner will hire an experienced football lifer come on board to consult with Rex and his coordinators - for as long as it takes - to understand what Rex's offense, defense and special teams were trying to accomplish at specific times during a game. if Rex didn't have asst coaches or under-grads upstairs logging what was called in real-time, he and his coordinators should be able to use video of the game to identify what personnel groups were on the field, in particular situations, and marry that to the game plans they developed for that week's opponent. in the absence of a log, this should help them reconstruct what the call was. then they can review and grade the effectiveness of the call - as executed by the unit as a whole, and individually.

 

as painstaking a process as this may be, it will expose what their units did well - and what they didn't - in particular situations. at a granular level, it will shed light on which players were responsible for the success or failure of a particular call, and why. this information can then be examined to determine if there are patterns being exposed which might help improve the coaches choices - beginning with the call itself; then the decision on which personnel was assigned to carry out the call; and finally, to how each player executed the call.

 

break the season down - piece by piece.

if, for instance, the defense cannot execute particular calls well, find the reason why. did a player fail because he was placed in conflict by the offense, and didn't know how to respond? in a case like that, they need to examine the defensive call that placed him there. on the other hand, if the player failed because he misread his key, then re-examine how the staff might reinforce his preparation. and so on, and so on.

 

football at this level is not a pick up game in the park.. offenses and defenses - and even special teams - have a multitude of themes, and variations on those themes - all of which constitute a system of calls designed by the coaching staff to attack and defend an opponent where they feel they're vulnerable.. but every call includes explicit directions for each man being asked to execute it. there should be no guess work of where and what you must do.

 

it's imperative that an outside pair of eyes - with no skin in the game - helps Rex and his coordinators reach definitive conclusions on what happened and why, and where to go from here. then any recommendations made to the coaching staff can be coordinated with the owner and GM. this is the big-time.. there's no excuse for not examining every facet of the game for a place to improve. we're in a division with such a head coach, whose teams are prepared each week to take advantage of the weaknesses he and his staff have exposed in hours of analysis. when i say 'prepared', i mean, ready to execute as directed. Rex and his staff have to be as diligent in preparing our guys - but first, they have to address where their system is flawed.

 

this is a very good thought process of what would be needed with this team; the first question I had after I read it was "is Rex capable of leading this"? and my answer was a resounding NO.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

hopefully at season's end, the owner will hire an experienced football lifer come on board to consult with Rex and his coordinators - for as long as it takes - to understand what Rex's offense, defense and special teams were trying to accomplish at specific times during a game. if Rex didn't have asst coaches or under-grads upstairs logging what was called in real-time, he and his coordinators should be able to use video of the game to identify what personnel groups were on the field, in particular situations, and marry that to the game plans they developed for that week's opponent. in the absence of a log, this should help them reconstruct what the call was. then they can review and grade the effectiveness of the call - as executed by the unit as a whole, and individually.

 

as painstaking a process as this may be, it will expose what their units did well - and what they didn't - in particular situations. at a granular level, it will shed light on which players were responsible for the success or failure of a particular call, and why. this information can then be examined to determine if there are patterns being exposed which might help improve the coaches choices - beginning with the call itself; then the decision on which personnel was assigned to carry out the call; and finally, to how each player executed the call.

 

break the season down - piece by piece.

if, for instance, the defense cannot execute particular calls well, find the reason why. did a player fail because he was placed in conflict by the offense, and didn't know how to respond? in a case like that, they need to examine the defensive call that placed him there. on the other hand, if the player failed because he misread his key, then re-examine how the staff might reinforce his preparation. and so on, and so on.

 

I don't want to sound as though I'm dumping on your ideas, which are all sound

 

However, that sort of play-by-play analysis is something that quality teams do after every game. There is usually three people on staff called "quality control" (one each for O, D, and ST). These are the guys who are charged with ID'ing patterns and matching up each play called with its success or failure and presenting an operational analysis to the coaches. Some teams go further and employ statisticians who track what plays the team is calling at different down and distance situations as well as their success and failure, so the coaches know if they are falling into predictable patterns. On the best team these QC guys get to work along with the various coaching assistants right after the game on Sunday so that they have their analysis and game film cut-ups ready for the different section meetings on Monday.

 

Interestingly, the Bills Front Office page has an O and ST quality control assistant listed, but no one listed for the D. If Rex isn't utilizing a D QC assistant or someone who fills that role with a different title, that is unacceptable but perhaps he has one just buried under a different title.

 

If Rex didn't have assistants logging what was called in real time, he should be fired, immediately, because that is simply unacceptable in today's game, but I think it's a decent bet he did.

 

Essentially, if our coaches are not capable of the level of honest analysis and hard-eyed assessment, the solution is not to bring in an outside pair of eyes with no skin in the game. The solution is that we need different coaches, who are capable of the level of honest analysis and hard-eyed assessment game by game. Because doing this 1x per year off season doesn't cut it, for a top team it needs to be done after every game and even after the first half I suspect, at least by the organizations that make the best halftime adjustments.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Hopeful

[clearwater cadet]

Maybe marios not the same player he was

[BackInDaDay]

 

I don't want to sound as though I'm dumping on your ideas, which are all sound

 

However, that sort of play-by-play analysis is something that quality teams do after every game. There is usually three people on staff called "quality control" (one each for O, D, and ST). These are the guys who are charged with ID'ing patterns and matching up each play called with its success or failure and presenting an operational analysis to the coaches. Some teams go further and employ statisticians who track what plays the team is calling at different down and distance situations as well as their success and failure, so the coaches know if they are falling into predictable patterns. On the best team these QC guys get to work along with the various coaching assistants right after the game on Sunday so that they have their analysis and game film cut-ups ready for the different section meetings on Monday.

 

Interestingly, the Bills Front Office page has an O and ST quality control assistant listed, but no one listed for the D. If Rex isn't utilizing a D QC assistant or someone who fills that role with a different title, that is unacceptable but perhaps he has one just buried under a different title.

 

If Rex didn't have assistants logging what was called in real time, he should be fired, immediately, because that is simply unacceptable in today's game, but I think it's a decent bet he did.

 

Essentially, if our coaches are not capable of the level of honest analysis and hard-eyed assessment, the solution is not to bring in an outside pair of eyes with no skin in the game. The solution is that we need different coaches, who are capable of the level of honest analysis and hard-eyed assessment game by game. Because doing this 1x per year off season doesn't cut it, for a top team it needs to be done after every game and even after the first half I suspect, at least by the organizations that make the best halftime adjustments.

 

thanks, Hopeful.. i understand that there is a degree of analysis being performed both in and post game, but any such recommendations and actions taken in-game - or even in-season - would have to be performed within the parameters of existing system designs, with whoever's currently on the team to coach it, and whoever's currently on the roster to implement it. this collection of 'operational analysis' helps the staff identify flaws and tendencies on the fly, but even though adjustments may be less limited during prep week than they are in-game.. they're still limited.

 

what i'm suggesting is an end of season review hosted by an outside consultant, that allows Rex and his coordinators to reflect on what they designed, how well they coached it, and how suited the roster was to implement it. let the consultant summarize and document what the root causes were over the course of the year; how the high level coaches perceive their ability to correct it before next season; and what these coaches believe they'll need to make their corrections - staff and/or personnel wise. the consultant then can share this with the owner and GM - to either sign off on it, tweek it, or challenge it as being inadequate.

 

edit - "inadequate", as in, Rex and/or his coordinators must be replaced or demoted.

Edited December 24, 2015 by BackInDaDay

[Vinaccia]

Mario Williams is unprofessional in his behavior. I don't care if he worked well in a 4-3, he makes about a million a game and he should pull all nighters studying and watching greats like Bruce Smith videos learning how to be effective in a 3-4 defense if that's what it takes. For the money he's making, it's his responsibility to do it. He's got the physical gift and talent but he's just lazy to do it. Instead with this attitude he's got, he's getting paid about a million a game to quit on plays, complain, and discourage the whole locker room. What is his coach's response? Complete understanding and states the fan base should know the truth of how players feel. Both should be fired. Both are unprofessional. This team won't be great with either of these overpaid underachievers.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Vinaccia

[Buffalo Barbarian]

It's a mess. This is anarchy.

 

 

Pretty much all the worst parts of the bible

 

Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

[The Jokeman]

Mario Williams is unprofessional in his behavior. I don't care if he worked well in a 4-3, he makes about a million a game and he should pull all nighters studying and watching greats like Bruce Smith videos learning how to be effective in a 3-4 defense if that's what it takes. For the money he's making, it's his responsibility to do it. He's got the physical gift and talent but he's just lazy to do it. Instead with this attitude he's got, he's getting paid about a million a game to quit on plays, complain, and discourage the whole locker room. What is his coach's response? Complete understanding and states the fan base should know the truth of how players feel. Both should be fired. Both are unprofessional. This team won't be great with either of these overpaid underachievers.

This is the first time I've actually heard Mario anything which tells you just how frustrated he is. The guy has been a model citizen up to this point. I think he genuinely hates the Rex defense and that's why we're hearing so much from him. In terms of comparing him to Bruce, Smith was the exception not the rule when it comes to 3-4 DEs as typically it's the OLB who get the sacks in 34s, look back at the great Steeler defenses under LeBeau with guys like Kevin Greene, Gregg Lloyd and James Harrison. Even under Wade Phillips guys like Bryce Paup, DeMarcus Ware etc. Mario is right in what he's expressing most knew it going in this preseason but I think most thought Ryan would adjust his defense to fit the personnel and he didn't. Of course Mario aging and injuries to Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams may have played a part of it too.

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

Title of this should be "Coach doesn't fit the Personnel".

[Gordio]

Marios trying to save himself some cash when he is kicked to the curb in the offseason.

 

B word about Scheme/Ryan so he has an excuse for why his production went down... And he has a point but it's getting ridiculous.

 

Rex needs to put this guy on the bench and keep him there these last two games. Set an example. Jesus.

 

 

Do you disagree with him? If it was just Mario complaining that is one thing. But it is pretty much the whole defense that is complaining. I really don't see how Pegs keeps Ryan on next year. This hire was a disaster of epic proportions. As bad as it has been the past 2 decades, I never seen the players speak out about the current coaching staff like this.

 

Leroi, not intending to call you out on this or anything, but weren't you the poster who was posting "REBORN!" and quite excited about it when you were one of the first to break the news that Ryan would be hired?

 

Again, not intending to call you out ....I was never happy about the hire but a lot of people I respect and who really know their football were very very positive about it, and I talked myself into being OK with it, after hearing the "right words" out of Rex about him not being a scheme guy and all that, and also with liking the Roman hire.

 

So I'm just curious.

 

I have absolutely no idea what in my post you think quoted you, but if you'll identify the part that you think quoted you, I'll clarify anything I can.

 

I'm sure you make great contributions, but I kind of don't usually don't read you unless something catches my eye (I have limited time and I kind of pick and choose) and until you responded to me, I wasn't aware that you'd posted in this thread.

 

 

A lot of people were happy including myself. But this has been a failure & the quicker Pegs gets this bozo out of here the better.

[Captain_Quint]

In your post. You quoted me. But I don't know why. Was it directed at me?

[nucci]

Whoever made the final call on Rex and didn't see this coming should be fired. The fact our front office folks in charge of all personnel and football related ops thought this would work out should be shown the door.

The Pegula's?

[BarleyNY]

Marios trying to save himself some cash when he is kicked to the curb in the offseason.

B word about Scheme/Ryan so he has an excuse for why his production went down... And he has a point but it's getting ridiculous.

Rex needs to put this guy on the bench and keep him there these last two games. Set an example. Jesus.

Mario is trying to keep his value up, but that's okay because it might help the Bills trade him rather than cut him.

[Mr. WEO]

Good luck on your next and final NFL team, Mr. Haynesworth.

[finn]

Mario is an all star. Releasing him would be a huge mistake.

I agree. So many posters say flatly that Rex simply can't be fired. Others (maybe the same) say just as flatly that Mario is as good as gone. Neither has to be true, and in fact the best course is the reverse. It would mean not that the franchise is "starting over" but acknowledging its mistake and moving on. If Ryan is allowed more time to tear apart the defense, then we really will have to start over with what mess he leaves behind. Yet another coach bringing in yet another scheme.

 

It's not too late to recover last year's defensive prowess and build on the progress the offense made this year.

[BarleyNY]

I'm not calling for his head already, but the most disappointing aspect of this entire season is been that Rex and rest of the coaching staff haven't gotten more out of the defense. A big part of the coaching staff's job is to maximize talent and they certainly haven't done that on the defensive side of the ball.

[ctk232]

I'm sorry but any professional NFL coach that attempts to force a scheme and system on a team with the incorrect personnel for the job should not be coaching in this league. Good coaches either build personnel over a year or two to fit and implement the scheme (which wasn't the case since Rex promised immediate results...surprise), or they shape the scheme to fit their current personnel. Even if this involves using a system different from what you've known. Pretty simple to see why our defense went from 4th to 19th or whatever it is this season - not calling for any heads just yet but a pretty piss poor way to start whatever tenure you have here in Buffalo, Rex...

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

I agree. So many posters say flatly that Rex simply can't be fired. Others (maybe the same) say just as flatly that Mario is as good as gone. Neither has to be true, and in fact the best course is the reverse. It would mean not that the franchise is "starting over" but acknowledging its mistake and moving on. If Ryan is allowed more time to tear apart the defense, then we really will have to start over with what mess he leaves behind. Yet another coach bringing in yet another scheme.

 

It's not too late to recover last year's defensive prowess and build on the progress the offense made this year.

 

Mario is as good as gone - we have players we'd rather keep and he's incredibly pricey.

 

And yes - its too late. There are a ton of weak spots and we're going to lose a few more people.

Edited December 24, 2015 by dneveu