Is Russ Brandon to Blame?

[Wayne Arnold]

The one other real constant over the last 10 years has been this team lacking a top NFL football mind at the top of the org chart and until that happens this team will keep going around in circles. While spinning wheels and changing out schemes and players to fit those schemes.

 

Jury is still out on whether or not Whaley is a good enough football mind (at this point I'd say no) but he is a "football mind."

[Kirby Jackson]

well first off, can you get me a job? just so i know how nice i should be in my response

Ha ha, I still have a lot of contacts but don't want to make any promises. I have opened some doors though for members of this board.

[QB Bills]

I blame the lack of a QB.

 

Belichick is Rex with a QB

someone started the tailgate a bit early today, i see

[Wayne Arnold]

Yea, well. When was the last time you saw the team president / marketing guy of those two pro teams in the teams cut room meetings?

 

Was he really on the phone with UDFA's?

 

Just because he's in the room doesn't mean he's telling people what decisions to make.

[K-9]

Thanks K-9

 

I try to stay out of conversations like this but at some point I feel a need to chime in. We all have different opinions of the biggest problem. For me, it is still coaching but I am warming to the idea that the Bills take too many chances on the personnel side. I certainly don't see a problem with how they are running the business.

I agree regarding the personnel side. For years there were simply too many chefs instead of one clear vision. This really started with Levy who knew he was out of his depth and, correctly IMO, sought to delegate so much to others. Problem was who he delegated to and Jauron wasn't cut out for that. I submit Jauron's personal draft choice, Aaron Maybin as exhibit A in that regard. Just too many layers and not enough leadership. Ironically, maybe Brandon should have asserted himself more.

[GunnerBill]

I worked with 4 different regimes in total (3 owners in the NBA) and that was the case in all 4 situations.

When you see war rooms from around the league every team has multiple senior execs in the room. I have neve understood why people think him being in the draft room is unusual or a problem.

 

The cuts meetings I have less to go on, but if Kirby says it is normal then I believe it to be so.

[Kirby Jackson]

I agree regarding the personnel side. For years there were simply too many chefs instead of one clear vision. This really started with Levy who knew he was out of his depth and, correctly IMO, sought to delegate so much to others. Problem was who he delegated to and Jauron wasn't cut out for that. I submit Jauron's personal draft choice, Aaron Maybin as exhibit A in that regard. Just too many layers and not enough leadership. Ironically, maybe Brandon should have asserted himself more.

That era was a nightmare IMO. The Jauron/Modrak/Guy group just made some mistakes. I think that Levy and Brandon were technically the GMs at that point but neither of them ever made a decision. The Dockery and Walker signings jump off the screen to me. If you get the chance to make an average guard one of the highest paid OL in the league you need to jump on that right? That whole period was painful.

[K-9]

When you see war rooms from around the league every team has multiple senior execs in the room. I have neve understood why people think him being in the draft room is unusual or a problem.

 

The cuts meetings I have less to go on, but if Kirby says it is normal then I believe it to be so.

No, I'm pretty sure we are the only team that allows its president to sit in on the draft.

 

As for the cuts meetings, there isn't just one, usually. And in the case of a guy like Freddy Jackson, it behooves the team president to be there in anticipation of the fallout, especially if that fallout involves a team sponsor.

 

Bottom line is the team president may be there simply because he wants to be. Simple as that. You gonna tell him, "No."

Edited September 15, 2016 by K-9

[Nihilarian]

 

Jury is still out on whether or not Whaley is a good enough football mind (at this point I'd say no) but he is a "football mind."

The problem arises is that he was a rookie GM when hired and he has made his share of mistakes in his time as GM. The simple fact that the team still might not have found it's franchise QB is a big problem along with overpaying for offensive stars that could have been found in the draft with one first round pick. The offensive line is another big issue when attempting to devlop young, inexperienced QB's.

[Estro]

We all agree with this. The problem is that people don't understand where to direct their anger. If you don't like the team it falls on the football operations department. It is coaching, scouting and the GM. "A team that we can be proud of" has zero to do with ticket sales, sponsorship sales, marketing, etc... There is a very large lack of understanding around here which is why these conversations arise so often. If people had a better understanding of the job duties within an organization they would better comprehend where to direct their anger.

 

As an example, a lot of people have been mad at Overdorf at different times "because he has been here." Overdorf deals with the cap. IMO, the Bills are really good at cap management. They pay the right people, structure deals in a team friendly manner or in a manner which is needed to get a deal done. There aren't many people in the business better at cap management than Jim Overdorf. If you want a comparison, Mickey Loomis is in charge of the cap in New Orleans. Go take a look at their dead money and ask yourself, "what type of production did the Saints get from those guys?"

 

If we want to sharpen our pitchforks we need to understand the people that we are going after.

Kirby I respect the post, but you're off base IMO.

 

Russ Brandon has a bigger role than ticket sales, sponsorships and marketing. Several people have already posted articles with direct quotes that prove Russ Brandon does much more than report to Pegula about ticket sales and marketing campaigns. He was one of 3 men in the final interviews for both the Rex Ryan and Doug Marrone hires. Both have been failures. He was a GM for 2 seasons and he was awful. He hired Buddy Nix, who brought along Doug Whaley.

 

So like many have said, if you believe having a hand in hiring the past 2 head coaches and the past 2 GM's is simply a ticket sale and marketing campaign role you're very mistaken.

 

I actually think Whaley had a chance to be a good GM but he has been handicapped by a "marketing guy" meddling on the last 2 coaching hires.

 

And I would like to ask why Russ Brandon would be directly quoted by the owner to "not let Rex out of the building" in the presser following Rex's hire if he were simply a marketing and tickets guy? Do you think the "ticket maestro" should be advising the owner on the head coaching hire, under any circumstances?

 

It's laughable to try and ignore the fact that Russ Brandon's fingerprint aren't all over the mess that has been the Buffalo Bills.

[Kirby Jackson]

Kirby I respect the post, but you're off base IMO.

 

Russ Brandon has a bigger role than ticket sales, sponsorships and marketing. Several people have already posted articles with direct quotes that prove Russ Brandon does much more than report to Pegula about ticket sales and marketing campaigns. He was one of 3 men in the final interviews for both the Rex Ryan and Doug Marrone hires. Both have been failures. He was a GM for 2 seasons and he was awful. He hired Buddy Nix, who brought along Doug Whaley.

 

So like many have said, if you believe having a hand in hiring the past 2 head coaches and the past 2 GM's is simply a ticket sale and marketing campaign role you're very mistaken.

 

I actually think Whaley had a chance to be a good GM but he has been handicapped by a "marketing guy" meddling on the last 2 coaching hires.

 

And I would like to ask why Russ Brandon would be directly quoted by the owner to "not let Rex out of the building" in the presser following Rex's hire if he were simply a marketing and tickets guy? Do you think the "ticket maestro" should be advising the owner on the head coaching hire, under any circumstances?

 

It's laughable to try and ignore the fact that Russ Brandon's fingerprint aren't all over the mess that has been the Buffalo Bills.

Like any team president, he is involved in the process. There is no denying that. I worked in multiple situations where the GM & HC reported to the president. Of course they have a say, but not the decision. The owner makes that call. Those guys do not even report to him as in other situations. With that being said he probably has LESS of a say than most other presidents.

 

The only time that he made decisions in his career was between the time that Ralph ceded all power to him and the sale to the Pegulas. Prior, Jeff Littman had to sign off on everything and since the Pegulas. If you have issues with that couple of year period when he was in charge I wont argue that. He empowered the football people to make football decisions in the same manner that an owner does. He was the de facto owner for that 2 year period (or whatever it was). If you think that the problem is the Watkins trade (as an example) Russ can certainly hold blame for authorizing the trade. The player selection though falls 100% on the personnel people.

 

EDIT: He never made a football decision but did authorize the football people to make decisions. Hopefully that makes sense.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Kirby Jackson

[K-9]

Like any team president, he is involved in the process. There is no denying that. I worked in multiple situations where the GM & HC reported to the president. Of course they have a say, but not the decision. The owner makes that call. Those guys do not even report to him as in other situations. With that being said he probably has LESS of a say than most other presidents.

 

The only time that he made decisions in his career was between the time that Ralph ceded all power to him and the sale to the Pegulas. Prior, Jeff Littman had to sign off on everything and since the Pegulas. If you have issues with that couple of year period when he was in charge I wont argue that. He empowered the football people to make football decisions in the same manner that an owner does. He was the de facto owner for that 2 year period (or whatever it was). If you think that the problem is the Watkins trade (as an example) Russ can certainly hold blame for authorizing the trade. The player selection though falls 100% on the personnel people.

EDIT: He never made a football decision but did authorize the football people to make decisions. Hopefully that makes sense.

Yep.

[BillsVet]

It's laughable to try and ignore the fact that Russ Brandon's fingerprint aren't all over the mess that has been the Buffalo Bills.

 

Russ is so far up the chain of command that he's not responsible. That's the defense whenever anyone mentions the guy's name.

 

Well, as you mentioned, Brandon was in the room and contributed to the decisions to hire Nix, promote Whaley, hire Rex, and probably others. Somehow he's still not responsible.

Edited September 15, 2016 by BillsVet

[Kirby Jackson]

 

Russ is so far up the chain of command that he's not responsible. That's the defense whenever anyone mentions the guy's name.

 

Well, as you mentioned, Brandon was in the room and contributed to the decisions to hire Nix, promote Whaley, hire Rex, and probably others. Somehow he's still not responsible.

I don't think that anyone denies the bolded part. We need to be careful of the line between "contributed to" and "is responsible for." I can't think of one situation where the "decision maker" isn't the 1st held accountable. We defined the time that he was the decision maker. Anyone that has an issue with that era should point directly at him. Authorizing the Watkins trade is a prime example. It isn't the player that he was the "decision maker" on but he was the final say on trading a next year's number 1. He had the power to veto that and didn't.

[Malazan]

Like any team president, he is involved in the process. There is no denying that. I worked in multiple situations where the GM & HC reported to the president. Of course they have a say, but not the decision. The owner makes that call. Those guys do not even report to him as in other situations. With that being said he probably has LESS of a say than most other presidents.

 

The only time that he made decisions in his career was between the time that Ralph ceded all power to him and the sale to the Pegulas. Prior, Jeff Littman had to sign off on everything and since the Pegulas. If you have issues with that couple of year period when he was in charge I wont argue that. He empowered the football people to make football decisions in the same manner that an owner does. He was the de facto owner for that 2 year period (or whatever it was). If you think that the problem is the Watkins trade (as an example) Russ can certainly hold blame for authorizing the trade. The player selection though falls 100% on the personnel people.

 

EDIT: He never made a football decision but did authorize the football people to make decisions. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

You don't understand. He's obviously not just responsible for those people...he is telling those people what to do. Do you think the Bills re-signed Brandon Spikes without Russ Brandon being intimately involved in the process? Russ sat down and watched the tape and made the decision. This isn't just a case of the guy running the teams and giving his tacit approval to Whaley making a decision. HE makes the decisions.

 

You guys don't the struggle of us realists having to explain this to you all the time.

[K-9]

 

Russ is so far up the chain of command that he's not responsible. That's the defense whenever anyone mentions the guy's name.

 

Well, as you mentioned, Brandon was in the room and contributed to the decisions to hire Nix, promote Whaley, hire Rex, and probably others. Somehow he's still not responsible.

Horse crap. Everyone defending Brandon has said feel free to ding him for the last 6 years. But too many people take liberty with all 16 years and it's not the case. And where personnel is concerned, it's NEVER been the case as so many mistakenly like to point out.

 

And as team president, are you under the impression he wouldn't contribute to the decisions you mention? Really?

 

You don't understand. He's obviously not just responsible for those people...he is telling those people what to do. Do you think the Bills re-signed Brandon Spikes without Russ Brandon being intimately involved in the process? Russ sat down and watched the tape and made the decision. This isn't just a case of the guy running the teams and giving his tacit approval to Whaley making a decision. HE makes the decisions.

 

You guys don't the struggle of us realists having to explain this to you all the time.

Yes, I do believe Brandon wasn't intimately involved in the process to re-sign Spikes. It's just not how things work.

[Kirby Jackson]

 

You don't understand. He's obviously not just responsible for those people...he is telling those people what to do. Do you think the Bills re-signed Brandon Spikes without Russ Brandon being intimately involved in the process? Russ sat down and watched the tape and made the decision. This isn't just a case of the guy running the teams and giving his tacit approval to Whaley making a decision. HE makes the decisions.

 

You guys don't the struggle of us realists having to explain this to you all the time.

[Malazan]

 

Yes, I do believe Brandon wasn't intimately involved in the process to re-sign Spikes. It's just not how things work.

 

 

I just told you what a struggle it is for us realists to have to tell you this stuff over and over. Brandon not only was intimately involved, they only signed Spikes because Russ went out and scouted him, watched the tape and then told Rex to play a defense where Spikes would be able to contribute. Time to get your head of the clouds and realize that Russ is also the one who was responsible for the 2008 housing market crash, but I guess kool aid drinkers like you just want more kool aid and you don't mind if the team sucks for another 16 years.

[K-9]

 

 

I just told you what a struggle it is for us realists to have to tell you this stuff over and over. Brandon not only was intimately involved, they only signed Spikes because Russ went out and scouted him, watched the tape and then told Rex to play a defense where Spikes would be able to contribute. Time to get your head of the clouds and realize that Russ is also the one who was responsible for the 2008 housing market crash, but I guess kool aid drinkers like you just want more kool aid and you don't mind if the team sucks for another 16 years.

Sorry I missed it initially.

[Hardcore Bills Fan]

I only blame him for not being able to pull the trigger to the #1 over all in the movie Draft Day.