CardinalScotts Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Whaley - "We're not that far away" Didn't Buddy Nix say this 6 years ago? Apparently he taught Doug everything he knows. brought up a good point ...they are hovering around .500 we act like its 4 seasons of 2-12 its annoying The Buffalo News articles today about the Whaley presser read like the posts on TSW, complete with memes. never read the idiots from TBN clueless, classless, childish, unprofessional
The Big Cat Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 I think that Sullen and Bucky have taken him under their wing. I actually just has a pretty lengthy and direct back and forth with Skurski on Twitter.
Rico Posted January 3, 2017 Author Posted January 3, 2017 (edited) 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. I agree with your timeline. The bottom line for that presser though was to humiliate Doug Whaley & make the Bills front office look like a clown show, and from that standpoint, it was a smashing success. The other thing I would add to/emphasize with your timeline (and it can't be stressed enough) is that each and every name you mention has been an unconditional Failure with a capital F. Edited January 3, 2017 by Rico
K-9 Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 "After the events of last week and especially after Whaley’s press conference on Monday, it’s never been more obvious that the Bills—who haven’t been to the postseason since the end of the 1999 season and have finished above .500 only twice over the past 17 seasons—need an organizational plan, a blueprint, of how they will seek to become a winning franchise. They’ve shown no indications that they have one." http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/01/03/nfl-buffalo-bills-terry-pegula-doug-whaley-rex-ryan Right, except for two years ago when the organizational plan was spelled out explicitly at the intro presser and the media gushingly reported on it and without any rancor. Lauded the clarity, actually.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Skurski has really taken a turn for the crotchety. But he's not very good at it. He's got a couple of articles up that I think it's pretty good. Good piece on Aaron Williams and fairly balanced look at the open HC positions and +/- of each team.
mob16151 Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 If my name was Jonah i would be extra careful around someone named Whaley. Thread winner
Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Vic Carucci just reported on Channel 2 news that there will be a committee of four people in the room interviewing each candidate: Terry, Kim, Whaley and Jim Manos
May Day 10 Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Is russ brandon getting his resume out to teams looking to fill a gm/owner position?
TSOL Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Vic Carucci just reported on Channel 2 news that there will be a committee of four people in the room interviewing each candidate: Terry, Kim, Whaley and Jim Manos Well, if the candidates make it through that interview they should send um over here to TBD for the 2nd interview. Start a thread and let US fire away some questions at um.
Rico Posted January 3, 2017 Author Posted January 3, 2017 Is russ brandon getting his resume out to teams looking to fill a gm/owner position? Raiders blew it a couple years ago, President Russ would've had them so close by now.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 Is russ brandon getting his resume out to teams looking to fill a gm/owner position? No just sticking to the "business side" of things. Lets not forget that he is president of the Sabres as well. Raiders blew it a couple years ago, President Russ would've had them so close by now. Well, if the candidates make it through that interview they should send um over here to TBD for the 2nd interview. Start a thread and let US fire away some questions at um. we couldn't do any worse.
timtebow15 Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 Vic Carucci just reported on Channel 2 news that there will be a committee of four people in the room interviewing each candidate: Terry, Kim, Whaley and Jim Manos Let's hope Brandon really was the core of the problem.
timtebow15 Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 He transformed it from a bad roster to an average roster. That's progress... but is he flat-lining at .500? There's been a lot of rumor and speculation that Whaley thinks this is actually a good roster. And hence agrees with the need for a new coach. I haven't seen this from a credible source but it seems believable. We'll see. In my opinion it's a pretty average roster. The teams with good rosters easily beat us the past two years. We only really beat some other average teams and some really weak teams. Plus we used up a lot of cap space; still have QB questions and have an aging roster with a lot of holes to fill. I give Whaley a C or C+ grade so far. Whaley certainly has been humbled in a few major areas and let's hope he's learned from that. The Manuel admission for example. Most evaluators said he was a project that might never correct his accuracy flaws to be a consistent NFL QB and that's exactly what he was. As a GM how could you not have a real plan B, C and D for that player at that position? Instead we were scrambling around with Orton and others and he doesn't seem to like Taylor who has been better than most QBs we've thrown out there the past decade. We can only hope a humbled Whaley learns from his mistakes and takes advantage of his real chance to get it right with less interference than in the past. I just don't think that's going to happen.
Fan in Chicago Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 If my name was Jonah i would be extra careful around someone named Whaley. Utterly priceless !!
Sisyphean Bills Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 Right, except for two years ago when the organizational plan was spelled out explicitly at the intro presser and the media gushingly reported on it and without any rancor. Lauded the clarity, actually. Yep. It should be obvious, but it is possible and actually highly beneficial for people in the entertainment industry to pursue coverage and interactions with media and getting their message and brand out there. Feeding news for free publicity. We see this all the time with actors doing the "morning show circuit" to promote a movie, etc. Whaley failed spectacularly in this regard, unless his message was "The Bills are a dysfunctional clown show!" One can always blame the media, but an interview is a two-way exchange. Whaley's side of it was shockingly atrocious.
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