AP John Wawrow interview with Terry Pegula

[Peter]

 

Throw Rex under the bus. Rex's run D got run over by buses too many times this season. When that wasn't happening, his pass defense was making Fitz look like Brady. Next!

 

Witty line.

 

Yet again, Rex's defense was better than the defense of Svengali Schwartz against common opponents. Rex was the most successful Bills coach in 17 years even with the injuries, suspensions, and QB play.

 

Unless the potential candidate is desperate to become a HC or the Pegulas overpay, I suspect he is going to be troubled by why the prior guy got less than two years and why there were leaks to the media literally minutes before the most important game of the season up to that point that were clearly designed to undermine the coach and his authority with the team.

 

We will see who Doug Whaley is able to hire, whether the guy is in demand, and what the Pegulas have to do to convince the guy to take the job.

 

We shall see . . . .

 

Buddy Nix had names in mind as well. Some of them turned him down for interviews, leaving the Bills to choose between Perry Fewell the interim (and no chance candidate) HC, Leslie Frazier, and Chan Gailey. The organization never admitted Brian Schottenheimer, Jim Harbaugh, et al. turned them down for interviews.

 

This is what happens when the organization employs people who undermine their HC during the season to win the OBD's Survivor show. But continue shilling for the organization.

 

Well said.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Witty line.

 

Yet again, Rex's defense was better than the defense of Svengali Schwartz against common opponents. Rex was the most successful Bills coach in 17 years even with the injuries, suspensions, and QB play.

 

Unless the potential candidate is desperate to become a HC or the Pegulas overpay, I suspect he is going to be troubled by why the prior guy got less than two years and why there were leaks to the media literally minutes before the most important game of the season up to that point that were clearly designed to undermine the coach and his authority with the team.

 

We will see who Doug Whaley is able to hire, whether the guy is in demand, and what the Pegulas have to do to convince the guy to take the job.

 

We shall see . . . .

 

Well said.

 

Well said? Who gives a damn what happened under Ralph Wilson's ownership with Buddy Nix at the helm. Too many Bills' fans are hung up on the past with the 17-year drought in mind as if OBD should operate with that in mind. Pure Foolishness.

[What a Tuel]

The issue here doesn't seem to be the facts as I see them, the real issue creating this story is two-fold:

 

1- Ownership really doesn't give a damn about the media so Whaley blows off questions with canned deflections, these have become so ridiculous that he says with a straight face that he has no opinion on Rex's firing. IMO Pegula gave Wawrow that interview to support Whaley, who he send out to take the flak as a good underling. This really wouldn't be an issue if we had a winning franchise. Belichick and Parcells before him routinely rip on reporters who ask stupid questions, no one called this dysfunctional or irresponsible because the teams were winning. Once Parcells stopped winning, the media got a foothold to tear him down.

 

2- The media in general believes they have a "right" to question everyone on everything. Any time an athlete tells a reporter to screw off there are 20 articles on PFT talking about how that player has a "responsibility" to talk to the media. I call BS. Reporters live in a 24 hour news cycle and now believe part of their job is to create drama to justify their jobs. I keep hearing over and over how they are flabbergasted that the coach reports to the owner and not to the GM. Guess what, like Yorke just said in SF, owners don't get removed. If someone wants to pay billions of dollars for a team, it's their prerogative to run that team however they want. If things work out, then the owners will make money and the fans will be happy. If things don't work out then the owners will not make money and changes will have to be made. What is the point in complaining about the hierarchy of the organization? That the coach and GM both report to the owner is not news, Rex laid that out last year. Why does the media make this such a big deal now? Why did we get treated to a 40 minute discussion about the hierarchy of decision-making instead of asking about what is happening going forward. I'll tell you why, it's because they needed gotcha quotes and they new any football-related questions would just get the same canned answers. When reporters are tweeting that they are glad Dennis Thurman is leaving because he was a boring interview, it's clear the reporters aren't interested in football, they just want people who can generate content and sell a story. How is it that the same people who were calling for Rex's head a week ago can now ask questions about not having continuity with a straight face?

 

Great post. Hits the nail on the head.

[ndirish1978]

Terry clearly does not like the News. He had a very public spat with Bucky over the Sabres.

Link? I'd like to hear more about this?

 

With respect, I disagree.

 

[transient]

Buddy Nix had names in mind as well. Some of them turned him down for interviews, leaving the Bills to choose between Perry Fewell the interim (and no chance candidate) HC, Leslie Frazier, and Chan Gailey. The organization never admitted Brian Schottenheimer, Jim Harbaugh, et al. turned them down for interviews.

 

Uhh, not to speak ill of the dead, but Ralph was cheap with coaches and was known for meddling... whereas the Pegulas, if nothing else, made a big splash with their first hire and let him assemble one of the largest staffs in the league...

[Peter]

 

Well said? Who gives a damn what happened under Ralph Wilson's ownership with Buddy Nix at the helm. Too many Bills' fans are hung up on the past with the 17-year drought in mind as if OBD should operate with that in mind. Pure Foolishness.

 

Yes, well said. He was illustrating the difference between saying you have guys lined up to interview and not having guys lined up or not having anyone particularly in demand in line to interview.

 

Again, I know you do not care what Bedard has to say or others in the national media, but you should if this is the prevailing opinion around the league about Whaley and this job.

 

I also you do not care about season ending press conferences. Press conferences do not win games etc., but we saw what kind of guy Doug Whaley is first hand. You clearly believe that he is great while I think that he embarrassed himself (even without considering his communication problems).

 

Doug Whaley does not inspire confidence. As I mentioned, I do not think this played well with potential candidates and what has happened will negatively impact our ability to get a qualified, in demand coach. It does not help that this job is now rated the worst of the openings . . . even less than Jacksonville (which I find truly embarrassing).

 

I love the Pegulas and have a tremendous respect for them. I do not understand what they see in Whaley or why they chose to listen and go with him.

 

We shall see how it plays out. I hope I am wrong and they are able to hire the latest Bill Belichick even though I suspect it will be someone who is beholden to DW for the job because he had few if any other HC opportunities.

[transient]

The issue here doesn't seem to be the facts as I see them, the real issue creating this story is two-fold:

 

1- Ownership really doesn't give a damn about the media so Whaley blows off questions with canned deflections, these have become so ridiculous that he says with a straight face that he has no opinion on Rex's firing. IMO Pegula gave Wawrow that interview to support Whaley, who he send out to take the flak as a good underling. This really wouldn't be an issue if we had a winning franchise. Belichick and Parcells before him routinely rip on reporters who ask stupid questions, no one called this dysfunctional or irresponsible because the teams were winning. Once Parcells stopped winning, the media got a foothold to tear him down.

 

2- The media in general believes they have a "right" to question everyone on everything. Any time an athlete tells a reporter to screw off there are 20 articles on PFT talking about how that player has a "responsibility" to talk to the media. I call BS. Reporters live in a 24 hour news cycle and now believe part of their job is to create drama to justify their jobs. I keep hearing over and over how they are flabbergasted that the coach reports to the owner and not to the GM. Guess what, like Yorke just said in SF, owners don't get removed. If someone wants to pay billions of dollars for a team, it's their prerogative to run that team however they want. If things work out, then the owners will make money and the fans will be happy. If things don't work out then the owners will not make money and changes will have to be made. What is the point in complaining about the hierarchy of the organization? That the coach and GM both report to the owner is not news, Rex laid that out last year. Why does the media make this such a big deal now? Why did we get treated to a 40 minute discussion about the hierarchy of decision-making instead of asking about what is happening going forward. I'll tell you why, it's because they needed gotcha quotes and they new any football-related questions would just get the same canned answers. When reporters are tweeting that they are glad Dennis Thurman is leaving because he was a boring interview, it's clear the reporters aren't interested in football, they just want people who can generate content and sell a story. How is it that the same people who were calling for Rex's head a week ago can now ask questions about not having continuity with a straight face?

Have they established an exact timeline when Rex first heard the rumor they started about him getting fired before the Steelers game, yet?

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Yes, well said. He was illustrating the difference between saying you have guys lined up to interview and not having guys lined up or not having anyone particularly in demand in line to interview.

 

Again, I know you do not care what Bedard has to say or others in the national media, but you should if this is the prevailing opinion around the league about Whaley and this job.

 

I also you do not care about season ending press conferences. Press conferences do not win games etc., but we saw what kind of guy Doug Whaley is first hand. You clearly believe that he is great while I think that he embarrassed himself (even without considering his communication problems).

 

Doug Whaley does not inspire confidence. As I mentioned, I do not think this played well with potential candidates and what has happened will negatively impact our ability to get a qualified, in demand coach. It does not help that this job is now rated the worst of the openings . . . even less than Jacksonville (which I find truly embarrassing).

 

I love the Pegulas and have a tremendous respect for them. I do not understand what they see in Whaley or why they chose to listen and go with him.

 

We shall see how it plays out. I hope I am wrong and they are able to hire the latest Bill Belichick even though I suspect it will be someone who is beholden to DW for the job because he had few if any other HC opportunities.

 

That was many yesterdays ago so who cares? Ownership has confidence in Whaley and that's what matters at this juncture. We'll see who they get in for interviews this time. It's on him now with no more excuses.

[Peter]

Link? I'd like to hear more about this?

 

 

 

They probably do. I have not been shy about expressing my opinion. I also have wasted an inordinate amount of time on my vacation posting about this. I go back to work tomorrow. I am going to try to not waste my time here going round and round.

 

I will say this. My Dad was a charter season ticket holder. I am a season ticket holder even though I live in Miami currently. By nature, I am a glass is half full kind of guy. That is what kept me going through all of the down times before and after the Super Bowl years (and the Super Bowls). I typically give people (coaches, players, GMs, etc.) the benefit of the doubt. I even defended Doug Marrone until he quit on this team. I love Terry and Kim Pegula and cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for keeping the Bills in Buffalo, the Sabres, and Buffalo in general.

 

Having said all of that, I do not think that I ever have been as down about some of the things that are going on with the Bills as I am now.

 

You guys should be happy. You got what you wanted.

 

Given that Rex apparently was the only impediment to reaching the Super Bowl with our 11-5 roster, we should be competing for Super Bowls for years to come now that the Bills have gotten rid of him.

 

I hope you guys are correct and I am wrong.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Peter

[ndirish1978]

 

You guys should be happy. You got what you wanted.

 

 

Perhaps it would be best to remember we are ALL fans of the same team and are in the boat together? No one "got what they wanted" here. No one WANTED Rex to field an undisciplined underachieving team. No one WANTED to miss the playoffs yet again. No one WANTED to be sitting here looking down the barrel of a hopeless offseason. Some people simply believed that the current head coach was not going to change the culture on this team, as the play-caller on defense was directly responsible for the regression of our best unit and voiced that someone else needed to coach the team.

[transient]

I also you do not care about season ending press conferences. Press conferences do not win games etc., but we saw what kind of guy Doug Whaley is first hand.

 

IMO Whaley comes off as someone who realizes his responsibility is to the organization and not to the media, and if he has to awkwardly fall on the sword instead of revealing the nature of sensitive internal conversations to the media then he's willing to do it.

 

With respect to your continued defense of Ryan, another year means more devoted resources to a failing coach. Repeatedly comparing Schwartz to Rex 2016 defense is pointless. When they inherited them, one defense got better under one coach, one got worse, and not just a little. Despite the bluster and addition of his guys, it didn't get better. And the kicker in all of this is IT WASN'T THE PROBLEM WHEN HE GOT HERE!! Instead of fixing the offense and taking advantage of the window with a dominant defense, he closed the window.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Did Wawrow post the "even more" he was promising in his tweets?

 

Not yet.

[Peter]

 

Perhaps it would be best to remember we are ALL fans of the same team and are in the boat together? No one "got what they wanted" here. No one WANTED Rex to field an undisciplined underachieving team. No one WANTED to miss the playoffs yet again. No one WANTED to be sitting here looking down the barrel of a hopeless offseason. Some people simply believed that the current head coach was not going to change the culture on this team, as the play-caller on defense was directly responsible for the regression of our best unit and voiced that someone else needed to coach the team.

 

There are people who posted incessantly and started multiple anti Rex threads.

 

Yes, they got what they wanted. Rex is gone. The scapegoat is gone and already under the bus.

 

Doug is the last man standing on the football side.

 

God speed Doug. We shall see whether you have the same fate as Darcy after Lindy was fired.

IMO Whaley comes off as someone who realizes his responsibility is to the organization and not to the media, and if he has to awkwardly fall on the sword instead of revealing the nature of sensitive internal conversations to the media then he's willing to do it.

 

With respect to your continued defense of Ryan, another year means more devoted resources to a failing coach. Repeatedly comparing Schwartz to Rex 2016 defense is pointless. When they inherited them, one defense got better under one coach, one got worse, and not just a little. Despite the bluster and addition of his guys, it didn't get better. And the kicker in all of this is IT WASN'T THE PROBLEM WHEN HE GOT HERE!! Instead of fixing the offense and taking advantage of the window with a dominant defense, he closed the window.

 

That is one of the reasons why I point out that PFF rates the Eagles defensive starters above the Bills players. I would not bring up Schwartz but for the fact that his name is incessantly brought up here by others.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

IMO Whaley comes off as someone who realizes his responsibility is to the organization and not to the media, and if he has to awkwardly fall on the sword instead of revealing the nature of sensitive internal conversations to the media then he's willing to do it.

 

With respect to your continued defense of Ryan, another year means more devoted resources to a failing coach. Repeatedly comparing Schwartz to Rex 2016 defense is pointless. When they inherited them, one defense got better under one coach, one got worse, and not just a little. Despite the bluster and addition of his guys, it didn't get better. And the kicker in all of this is IT WASN'T THE PROBLEM WHEN HE GOT HERE!! Instead of fixing the offense and taking advantage of the window with a dominant defense, he closed the window.

 

This, fundamentally.

 

It fascinates me that some are fixated on the idea of Whaley "throwing Rex under the bus". Whaley had no need to do any throwing. He didn't even have to give a little push.

 

Rex publically threw himself under the bus, by taking a top-5 D and turning it into a D that can't stop a nosebleed, much less Jay Ajayi. That might have passed on the idea of "many injuries to key players, including top 2 draft picks" if his game management had been sharp. Pegula gave Rex all the rope he wanted - hiring his brother, changing assistants, firing Roman the week after a horrid defensive performance. I've heard that Rex was known to be salivating over Shaq Lawson (someone said Lawson is Rex's sons fraternity brother) and lobbied heavily for Reggie Ragland (a player in the mould beloved by Buddy Ryan), so it doesn't seem like much of a stretch that he had a lot of influence in a draft board that used its top 3 picks on D and pushed DB and WR off to the 6th round. He was given everything he wanted that the team could control (can't control injuries and suspensions). But still, we're seeing stupid penalties, 10 men on field, strange game management (challenges, failures to challenge, time outs).

 

Don't you guys think that the Pegulas, who spent big to buy the Bills, are at least as engaged and knowledgeable about football as most of the fans here? If we can see it, they can see it, they didn't need Whaley and they didn't need no stinkin' bus.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

Not yet.

Yes he did. The first thing available had only four paragraphs. He said much more to come and a few minutes later the whole article was available.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

That is one of the reasons why I point out that PFF rates the Eagles defensive starters above the Bills players. I would not bring up Schwartz but for the fact that his name is incessantly brought up here by others.

 

With all respect, I think PFF ratings are to be taken with a large grain of salt. I haven't looked under the hood at how they rate defensive starters, and I don't have a subscription, but when I looked at how they rated offensive players and especially OLmen a few years back I thought it had some of the same flaws as ESPN's "total QB rating", to wit heavy dependence on some subjective judgements, weighted and brewed up with "proprietary" algorithms.

Yes he did. The first thing available had only four paragraphs. He said much more to come and a few minutes later the whole article was available.

 

Darn, then! I was hoping for another good Wawrow article.

[yungmack]

The issue here doesn't seem to be the facts as I see them, the real issue creating this story is two-fold:

 

1- Ownership really doesn't give a damn about the media so Whaley blows off questions with canned deflections, these have become so ridiculous that he says with a straight face that he has no opinion on Rex's firing. IMO Pegula gave Wawrow that interview to support Whaley, who he send out to take the flak as a good underling. This really wouldn't be an issue if we had a winning franchise. Belichick and Parcells before him routinely rip on reporters who ask stupid questions, no one called this dysfunctional or irresponsible because the teams were winning. Once Parcells stopped winning, the media got a foothold to tear him down.

 

2- The media in general believes they have a "right" to question everyone on everything. Any time an athlete tells a reporter to screw off there are 20 articles on PFT talking about how that player has a "responsibility" to talk to the media. I call BS. Reporters live in a 24 hour news cycle and now believe part of their job is to create drama to justify their jobs. I keep hearing over and over how they are flabbergasted that the coach reports to the owner and not to the GM. Guess what, like Yorke just said in SF, owners don't get removed. If someone wants to pay billions of dollars for a team, it's their prerogative to run that team however they want. If things work out, then the owners will make money and the fans will be happy. If things don't work out then the owners will not make money and changes will have to be made. What is the point in complaining about the hierarchy of the organization? That the coach and GM both report to the owner is not news, Rex laid that out last year. Why does the media make this such a big deal now? Why did we get treated to a 40 minute discussion about the hierarchy of decision-making instead of asking about what is happening going forward. I'll tell you why, it's because they needed gotcha quotes and they new any football-related questions would just get the same canned answers. When reporters are tweeting that they are glad Dennis Thurman is leaving because he was a boring interview, it's clear the reporters aren't interested in football, they just want people who can generate content and sell a story. How is it that the same people who were calling for Rex's head a week ago can now ask questions about not having continuity with a straight face?

Good stuff.

[ganesh]

Rex was fired because his team was ill-disciplined and there was no improvement on it in year 2. His defense became worse...Three 200 yard rushers, plenty of mistakes and provided no support to an offense that was suffering from significant injuries and lack of depth. His defense was supposed to take control and have TT be a game manager. His defense failed and showed a significant regression in year two, especially when Rex was given the freedom to cut the folks that did not fit his system. Injuries to Shaq and Ragaland did not help, but that is the nature of the Not For Long League.

With respect, I disagree.

Which part do you disagree? Rex lost his defense. It is one of the worst defense statistically. Giving up 3 200-yard rushing games.. How do you accept that. He was goingt o build a bully...which he failed

[Chandler#81]

Everything Whaley said, canned or not. was reinforced with Pegs phone interview with Warrow. Rex asked to speak with terry in private and came out of that meeting without a job. 'If its gonna happen let it be now'. Rex even supported AL to take over.

That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. The 'journalists' were on a witch hunt -even mocking DW when he wouldn't give answers that supported their crusade. Disgusting. They alone, are giving the Bills a bad name.

[eball]

Everything Whaley said, canned or not. was reinforced with Pegs phone interview with Warrow. Rex asked to speak with terry in private and came out of that meeting without a job. 'If its gonna happen let it be now'. Rex even supported AL to take over.

That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. The 'journalists' were on a witch hunt -even mocking DW when he wouldn't give answers that supported their crusade. Disgusting. They alone, are giving the Bills a bad name.

 

I agree 100%, but Whaley didn't do himself any favors with the "I haven't thought about it" b.s. Whaley could have stifled the torch/pitchfork crowd if he'd have just come out and said something like this:

 

"Terry Pegula made the decision to fire Rex Ryan. Terry and I have talked consistently over the course of the season about the team's performance, but at no time did he ask me if I felt the coach should be retained or fired. Rex reported to Terry, not to me. I will support whoever the head coach is, and I believe I supported Rex to the best of my ability. We're all disappointed it came to this, but my focus now is on finding the best coach to lead this team forward. Questions?"

 

It amazes me how poor these guys are at stuff like this.

Edited January 3, 2017 by eball