GM Doug Whaley's end of season press conference

[Mr. WEO]

For those of you who, for obvious reasons, still cannot accept that that PC was a disaster for Whaley and the Bills:

 

 

 

 

http://deadspin.com/bills-gms-press-conference-really-couldnt-have-gone-muc-1790691580

[mob16151]

For those of you who, for obvious reasons, still cannot accept that that PC was a disaster for Whaley and the Bills:

 

 

 

 

http://deadspin.com/bills-gms-press-conference-really-couldnt-have-gone-muc-1790691580

Deadspin......nuff said

[Kelly the Dog]

Great post, Folz. Just want to reiterate that.

[Mr. WEO]

Deadspin......nuff said

 

 

What does this even mean? Did you read it and the tweets in the article?

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I guess a lot depends upon your ears. Which of Whaley's statements were "plain shocking"?

 

I heard a lot of reporters acting "plain shocked" about old news, such as the Bills organizational structure which had Ryan and Whaley both reporting in parallel to the Pegulas.

That was announced when Ryan was hired.

 

Despite what some would have you believe, there are all sorts of reporting structures in the NFL including teams which are very secretive about their reporting structure.

The part about the organizational structure and who reports to whom and being shcoked, I'll just say that blows my mind. I remember the very first press conference when Rex was hired, without looking it up, that it was discussed.

 

I wouldn't have structured as so, and thought so at the time, but it is no surprise!

Edited January 3, 2017 by horned dogs

[Kelly the Dog]

The part about the organizational structure and who reports to whom and being shcoked, I'll just say that blows my mind. I remember the very first press conference when Rex was hired, without looking it up, that it was discussed.I wouldn't have structured as so, and thought so at the time, but it is no surprise!

It was laid out very clear, and exactly as they discussed it yesterday.

[The Big Cat]

Think about what Rodak is actually admitting here. The stream of consciousness reporting that Twitter engenders really exposes how stupid, yes STUPID, these people are. If I were Rodak's editor, I'd be ripping him a new one right now.

 

Jesus. Season Five of The Wire is alive and well at OBD!

 

Won't give us the story? No story exists? No problemo, we'll just make one up!

 

That part is bad enough. That he goes on to then BLAME Whaley/OBD for this leap is just beyond phenomenal.

It was laid out very clear, and exactly as they discussed it yesterday.

 

YEAH BUT IT'S CONFUSING BECAUSE THE REPORTERS KEEP SAYING SO

[K-9]

It was laid out very clear, and exactly as they discussed it yesterday.

That's why the pre manufactured outrage is so obvious. The hacks in the room assume their reading audience is ignorant. They bank on it.

[The Big Cat]

The part about the organizational structure and who reports to whom and being shcoked, I'll just say that blows my mind. I remember the very first press conference when Rex was hired, without looking it up, that it was discussed.

 

I wouldn't have structured as so, and thought so at the time, but it is no surprise!

 

The reporting structure has been widely known/understood since early 2015. It boggles my mind that the reporters spent the bulk of the presser doing circles around it when there was PLENTY of non-worn material to discuss.

That's why the pre manufactured outrage is so obvious. The hacks in the room assume their reading audience is ignorant. They bank on it.

 

The Rodak tweet tells you everything you need to know!! It's so painfully obvious what was going on in that room yesterday.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

 

The reporting structure has been widely known/understood since early 2015. It boggles my mind that the reporters spent the bulk of the presser doing circles around it when there was PLENTY of non-worn material to discuss.

 

The Rodak tweet tells you everything you need to know!! It's so painfully obvious what was going on in that room yesterday.

 

 

And of course the MMQB piece also circulating here says that the Bills reporting system (coach and GM both reporting directly to owner) is not unique. But pretending that it is unique is a central point in the hysterical dysfunction narrative...

[Hapless Bills Fan]

 

The reporting structure has been widely known/understood since early 2015. It boggles my mind that the reporters spent the bulk of the presser doing circles around it when there was PLENTY of non-worn material to discuss.

 

This.

 

Renault: Everybody is to leave here immediately! This cafe is closed until further notice. Clear the room, at once! Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds? Renault: I am shocked- shocked- to find that gambling is going on in here! Croupier: [hands Renault money] Your winnings, sir. Renault: Oh, thank you very much. Everybody out at once!

[dave mcbride]

Yes, Whaley is a bit unlikable in press conferences because he answers like a politician. But what did the media want him to say? Yes, my bosses (the Pegulas and Russ Brandon) made some horrible decisions that I didn't agree with but they overruled me. Or I didn't want Rex all along...told you so Terry and Russ. Come on. And if the owner of a company wants someone fired, he doesn't have to ask anyone else. He's the owner.

 

The positive thing to come out of all of this is Russ Brandon will not be involved anymore in the coaching search or the football operations. You want an answer for why this team has missed the playoffs for the last decade at least? It's because we haven't had a real GM, a football guy with full authority to do his job.

 

2006-2007: Marv (former coach) and Russ Brandon (marketing guy that started in baseball, not football) basically become co-GMs. Marv was obviously hired for public relations reasons and because Ralph trusted him (since Donahoe had alienated the fans, media, staff, and Ralph himself). But neither of these guys (despite Marv having been a great coach) were qualified for the position.

 

2008-2009: Marv steps down and Russ Brandon (with no coaching, playing, or scouting experience) becomes the GM and gains Ralph's trust and ear.

 

2010-2013: It is obvious that the franchise needs a football guy in the FO. They promote Nix (again trust issue stemming back to Donahoe) and bring in Whaley, an up-and-comer who is still probably too green to take over a franchise yet on his own. Russ becomes CEO. Nix is there to bring back stability, improve the roster, and groom Whaley to take over. He didn't turn the team around, but did do those 3 things (to an extent). In January of 2013, with Russ having been promoted from CEO to President (above the GM position) and Nix still as the GM, Doug Marrone is hired. This was obviously a Russ choice with the Syracuse ties, etc. And also, during Nix's tenure, Russ was the man who had Ralph's ear and probably spoke for him in the building, especially as Ralph's health continued to get worse. Then in March of 2013, just after the draft, Nix resigns and Whaley is promoted to the position with Marrone, a guy he may have agreed to, but was not his hand-picked option as his coach.

 

2014: ​Ralph dies in March. Brandon takes on de facto owner role. In November, Pegulas buy the team. And in December Marrone quits. Since the Pegulas want to observe the operation before blowing it all up, they lean heavily on Russ Brandon to get up to speed on the team and how the NFL works. Russ has been GM, CEO, President, and de facto owner, plus he was instrumental in the sale of the team to Terry. Whaley has been in his position for only 18 months and of course would want to ingratiate himself to the Pegulas to keep his job. But they are probably listening more to Russ on how things should go.

 

 

2015: Rex is hired. From all accounts, he went in and wowed Russ and the Pegulas. Terry and Kim liked him a lot and Russ was probably seeing a marketing boon (more national coverage, great press conferences, hope for the fanbase). Again, Whaley may have agreed with the decision, but Rex was not necessarily his choice. Even at the time it seemed like a Pegula/Russ choice from the reporting of it. So, again, he has to work with a coach he didn't hand pick. Rex was so eager to prove the Jets were wrong for firing him that he took the job. But if you looked at him in his last year in New York, the guy was burnt out and defeated. I know when you get burnt out at work, how long it takes to get back on track. Maybe Rex needed some time off rather than jumping into the deep waters again. Plus, because of the problems Rex had with his GM(s) in New York, he gets the Pegulas to agree that he will report to them rather than to the GM. Contrary to how most organizations function. So, Whaley is still somewhat treated as a Jr. GM, not fully in control...first under Nix, then Brandon, then with the communication structure with Rex and the Pegulas.

 

2016: ​Season does not go well, no improvement. Rex had a lot of influence over draft and player selection and adding to/changing the coaching staff with no results. The defense is bad (supposedly Rex's specialty). No doubt, especially as the hot seat warmed in the media regarding Rex, Terry and Doug had discussed what is wrong with the team including in the coaching department. But it seems as if they were going to let it play out, do their end of season evaluations, and then most likely fire Rex. Rex saw the writing on the wall, so he asked Terry straight out and in that moment Terry made the final decision then and there (an owner's perogative).

 

Doesn't seem that hard to figure out or believe or understand the decision making process (even if there were some bad decisions that turned out poorly).

 

But, from 2006 to 2016, Russ Brandon was basically GM for four years, CEO for 3 years (over Nix as GM), President and de facto owner for 2 years (over Whaley), and then President and closest advisor to the new owners for two years. His hand was heavy in both of the last two coaching choices (and possibly the last 4 coaching searches going back to Jauron). This guy, who didn't come up through any football ranks, has basically been running this team for the last decade. He may be a great executive, marketer, business man, but he should never have been involved in the football decisions (outside of possibly contracts).

 

The fact that the Pegulas were not afraid to admit Rex didn't work out and to fire him and to now remove Russ from all football decisions and actually hand the keys of the car to Whaley are all positive signs to me that they are trying to correct the problems of the last couple of years. Whaley was under Nix and Brandon for 3 years, GM for 10 months and hadn't even overseen a draft solo when Ralph passed, had to deal with new owners (and again Russ) who maybe weren't ready to let him make all the decisions yet, and he didn't get to hand-pick the coaches he worked with, etc. Let the man do his job and sink or swim on his own merit, where we don't have to guess if it was his decision or Buddy's, or Brandon's, or Ralph's, or the Pegula's.

 

And the fact that the media can't piece the puzzle together for themselves shows how inept they are. They focus (and get angry) about issues that just don't matter that much, like did Doug talk to Terry about wanting to get rid of Rex or why did Terry make that decision without the GM's approval. Who cares. Rex was going to get fired, we all knew it, Rex knew it and there is no way that Doug and Terry were not in agreement over that whether they talked about it or not.

 

Of course Whaley hasn't been perfect and I do believe that for at least the last three years, he has been pretty much in charge of the 53...but you can't say that the roster isn't much more talented than when he arrived. Give him a chance to do his job properly and to make his own decisions (with the Pegulas blessing of course). We might be pleasantly surprised.

Great post! Just read this.The only bit you left out is that the 2013 draft is in all likelihood his. He personally scouted both EJ and Robert Woods (the first two picks) after the college football season had ended, and it was very un-Buddy-like to spend two seconds on west coast players. Whaley has a history with SC players too - he apparently was the guy pushing the Polamalu pick in Pitt. Anyway, EJ is on him. As you said, he's not perfect - no GM is. I personally think that he was fixated on a Big Ben body (he was deeply involved in the 2004 Pitt draft at a high level) and lost sight of even more important issues. EJ has the perfect QB body and arm - he really does. But the other stuff ... That said, I don't fault him for rolling the dice on a QB. It had to be done.

Edited January 3, 2017 by dave mcbride

[Kelly the Dog]

That's why the pre manufactured outrage is so obvious. The hacks in the room assume their reading audience is ignorant. They bank on it.

From reporting on the press conference announcing Rex had been hired...

 

"Not only did the Bills find their coach, who Whaley believes is an upgrade over Marrone, but in a way, the power structure of the front office fell into place. Whaley, Brandon and Ryan will all report to Pegula. Whaley is in charge of personnel, Ryan is in charge of the lineup and Brandon is in charge of business. Compared to the uncertainty of a few weeks ago, the Bills have stabilized their franchise in a hurry."

 

http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2015/01/hiring_of_rex_ryan_helped_bills_gm_doug_whaley_get_on_same_page_with_owner_terry.html

[yungmack]

Reading through some of the posts here, it is evident that I am going to be in a minority here. But saw the entire 38 minute conference and think that given the current state of the Bills, this PC could not have gone any better. A few points:

- He said the Bills are aware of the leaks and will be investigating and shutting it down. Lets not kid ourselves – every organization and entity has a lot of junk being discussed at board and management meetings. The regular employees and shareholders do not and are not privy to those discussions. If there were leaks from such meetings, an outside observer may very well think that company is in disarray and there is discord among board members. That is the reason these meetings are behind closed doors. Ergo, much of the current perception about the Bills stems from random leaks that have happened. The press thiks it is a huge deal but IMHO it really isnt. Especially now that the accountabilities have been clearly laid out.

- Consider that they have just started the coaching hire. Whaley said the structure of the team going forward is unimportant to him and he just cares about winning. What he was implying is that if there is a high profile coach who wants more control of personnel and decisions, Whaley will relinquish some of his personnel power to land that guy. He cannot say anything more about the coaching search as he should not. There was a direct question about Bruce Arians saying that one of his coordinators (I missed the name) has been contacted by the Bills and Whaley confirmed it.

- Pegulas decided to fire Rex. They did not consult with Whaley. What more is there to be said about this ? It was nauseating that the press kept askign the same question again and again in an effort to bait him. He was professional, calm, did not take the bait and repeated his same answer. There was no other one to be given

- I was shocked about how few questions there were about the coaching search. I would not expect the name candidate names but I would have expected the press to ask what the key criteria are likely to be, is there preference for previous HCs etc. Precious few questions about the go-forward plan.

 

The entire line was questioning was to further this going narrative that the Bills are in disarray. Whaley calmly blunted all of that. The press, people on twitter and many of the posters are getting worked up because they didn’t get anything juicy to talk about. To me, this really is laughable how so many people are getting upset about not getting their toys.

 

You are 100% correct. Instead of the PC being about the Bills, the local hack media tried to make it all about them.

[K-9]

From reporting on the press conference announcing Rex had been hired...

"Not only did the Bills find their coach, who Whaley believes is an upgrade over Marrone, but in a way, the power structure of the front office fell into place. Whaley, Brandon and Ryan will all report to Pegula. Whaley is in charge of personnel, Ryan is in charge of the lineup and Brandon is in charge of business. Compared to the uncertainty of a few weeks ago, the Bills have stabilized their franchise in a hurry."http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2015/01/hiring_of_rex_ryan_helped_bills_gm_doug_whaley_get_on_same_page_with_owner_terry.html

Too funny. The hacks are every bit as lazy as their target audience is ignorant.

[4merper4mer]

For those of you who, for obvious reasons, still cannot accept that that PC was a disaster for Whaley and the Bills:

 

 

 

 

http://deadspin.com/bills-gms-press-conference-really-couldnt-have-gone-muc-1790691580

 

I know this is your team's bye week but shouldn't you be happy about getting the #1 seed? You seem salty. There will be plenty of time to come back here and mock us whether or not the Pats win it all and whether or not they get caught cheating again.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

Great post! Just read this.The only bit you left out is that the 2013 draft is in all likelihood his. He personally scouted both EJ and Robert Woods (the first two picks) after the college football season had ended, and it was very un-Buddy-like to spend two seconds on west coast players. Whaley has a history with SC players too - he apparently was the guy pushing the Polamalu pick in Pitt. Anyway, EJ is on him. As you said, he's not perfect - no GM is. I personally think that he was fixated on a Big Ben body (he was deeply involved in the 2004 Pitt draft at a high level) and lost sight of even more important issues. EJ has the perfect QB body and arm - he really does. But the other stuff ... That said, I don't fault him for rolling the dice on a QB. It had to be done.

Corect. EJ always looked the part, he just didn't play it.

[mob16151]

 

 

What does this even mean? Did you read it and the tweets in the article?

Yea it's a circle jerk of media members playing in their own echo chamber.

[eball]

Whaley came across as clueless in this presser.

 

Can't blame the media for beating the **** out of the organization. And not just the BN. The nationality media views the Bills as a laughing stock.

 

Hopefully Whaley and the Bills proves them wrong, but I'm dubious.

 

Wrong. He came across as either hiding something or lying. He is not clueless; he simply did not prepare well for what should have been an expected onslaught of Rex-related questions.

[ndirish1978]

 

Wrong. He came across as either hiding something or lying. He is not clueless; he simply did not prepare well for what should have been an expected onslaught of Rex-related questions.

 

I disagree. i think he came off as having no respect for the reporters and didn't really care to answer their questions. It was clear from the minute he went up there that he was just there to spin and dodge all the questions. I don't think he necessarily needed to prep for avoiding giving any answers.