Derek Boyko Named Vice President Of Communications

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

bahaha I forgot about that story. Classic.

 

Sounds like Boyko was well thought of by Eagles media

 

@lesbowen

This is really bad news for people who cover the Eagles, and for Eagles fans. Good for Derek, who is from Buffalo.

Oh awesome!

Nevertheless, Berchtold is also Ralph's trash. It would've been better if he was tossed to the curb, but this is still the best news coming out of OBD in a long time.

Don't spin, just win.

Edited February 23, 2017 by 2018 Our Year For Sure

[stony]

I saw Bertchold lay into a volunteer staffer (most likely SJF student) at a night practice because he was walking along the outer edges of the track with his cell phone in hand. After he made a scene, he went back to talking to Jim Kelly with a smirk on his face. He's a bum.

[Malazan]

Now that Berchtold has been demoted...championship?

[billsfanmiami(oh)]

 

Lord.

Ralph Wilson hired Marv. It was Ralph's decision alone. He felt burned by Tom Donahoe and believed he couldn't trust an outsider. So he turned to Marv.

Scott had nothing to do with it.

 

My point is, focus on what ills have confounded this franchise.

 

jw

Where did I insinuate he had anything to do with Marv being hired? I'm talking about the clown show pressers that have been going on for years now. During the initial days of the Mularkey resignation / Marv GM hiring wasn't there a bunch of technological type mishaps delaying the start of the pressers? And seems like I remember them being generally disorganized, and kind of bizarre.

[Just in Atlanta]

First order of business: Give Whaley public speaking lessons.

[YoloinOhio]

First order of business: Give Whaley public speaking lessons.

Toastmasters?

[Helpmenow]

Maybe the VP of communications was also "the VP of leaks."

agree here he was there with Ralph for along time.

[Hammered a Lot]

The PR guy has little to do with creating the perception of the brand. It's established by the play on the field. The Bills haven't been in the playoffs for more than a generation. There is no motto or theme song that is going to alter the reality that that the Bills not only reflect losing but are the embodiment of boring losers. Burrowing into the business side of the business, especially the PR office, and then concluding that it reflects anything meaningful is over-analyzing the business.

 

The Steelers, Pats, Packers, Giants all have identities that originate from their record and performance on the field. It has little to do with administrative bosses who are inconsequential to how the respective teams are perceived by the fans.

 

Rex originally brought a lot of attention and noise at crowded press conferences. The PR staff were ecstatic. When he was unceremoniously dumped the previous brash and bombastic press conferences that were once considered captivating were later considered foolish and intolerable to take.

 

Berchtold staying or leaving or being promoted or demoted means absolutely nothing. It's the product. Always was and always will be.

 

If Pegula wanted him out as soon as he took over he would have gotten him out. It was far down on the owner's thing to do list. There is nothing unusual about the old staffers being replaced by the new staffers when there is new ownership in any business. Sometimes it is summarily done and sometimes it is a phased in approach.

 

Kirby, you are making too much of something that is very small. Don't bother with something so tangential to the operation of the franchise. Instead, how about talking about the Bills using their first pick on Mahomes or Watkins?

👍💯

It actually has worked the opposite there (and in other sports organizations that I've been a part of). The message is crafted by the person in Berchtold's position. The GM, president, owner wait for the talking points from him. They may deviate slightly but he has prepared them prior. That role is the person that puts out the fires as well.

So Scott told Ralph what to say.. !

I can say this, they tried to weed him out once before and couldn't. He held that kind of power. Many others were weeded out at that point (Bill Munson for example). Berchtold was the one guy that was teflon.

Bill Munson still works for the Bills not weeded out. But do tell any info you have. I wonder if the so call "power" is clean or dirty?

[Deranged Rhino]

I will say this, Berchtold is THE voice of everything coming from OBD. People think leak this or that and don't realize that every single message coming from OBD is Berchtold.

 

Yup.

[Kirby Jackson]

The PR guy has little to do with creating the perception of the brand. It's established by the play on the field. The Bills haven't been in the playoffs for more than a generation. There is no motto or theme song that is going to alter the reality that that the Bills not only reflect losing but are the embodiment of boring losers. Burrowing into the business side of the business, especially the PR office, and then concluding that it reflects anything meaningful is over-analyzing the business.

 

The Steelers, Pats, Packers, Giants all have identities that originate from their record and performance on the field. It has little to do with administrative bosses who are inconsequential to how the respective teams are perceived by the fans.

 

Rex originally brought a lot of attention and noise at crowded press conferences. The PR staff were ecstatic. When he was unceremoniously dumped the previous brash and bombastic press conferences that were once considered captivating were later considered foolish and intolerable to take.

 

Berchtold staying or leaving or being promoted or demoted means absolutely nothing. It's the product. Always was and always will be.

 

If Pegula wanted him out as soon as he took over he would have gotten him out. It was far down on the owner's thing to do list. There is nothing unusual about the old staffers being replaced by the new staffers when there is new ownership in any business. Sometimes it is summarily done and sometimes it is a phased in approach.

 

Kirby, you are making too much of something that is very small. Don't bother with something so tangential to the operation of the franchise. Instead, how about talking about the Bills using their first pick on Mahomes or Watkins?

Just telling you what I now (keep in mind I know a good bit about that place).

[K-9]

Now that Berchtold has been demoted...championship?

Yep. Berchtold was the one holding us back all these years. Makes sense when you break it down and see he was the one common denominator in place before all the other common denominators were in place to give rise to all the current common denominators.

[BUFFALOTONE]

You all make far too much out of little, missing the bigger points for the minutia, in my humble opinion.

 

To think that the VP of communications has anything to do with onfield football related or personnel matters, the drought, the carousel of coaches and GMs, the lack of a quarterback, the decision to trade up to draft Sammy Watkins, Trent Edwards starting, Dockery's contract, Marcell Dareus' latest suspension, why they drafted EJ, Doug Marrone's abrupt departure or anything else then I'm terribly sorry for you and you might need to get out of the basement for a spell or two.

 

As with any media relations person in my 23 years covering a pro beat, I've had my differences with Scott. It happens.

But I'm not going to speak ill of him. He treated me with respect and as a professional. And that included even at the more heated times during my early years covering the team.

 

I sincerely wish him the best in his new role, and hope he enjoys the additional time he now will have to spend with his family.

 

jw

Simple and to the point. Not everything has to be a witch hunt. We have sucked for many, many years. It's a leadership issue from the start as with any successful team, organization, company or lemonade stand. You need strong, smart people at the top. The Bills haven't had this for some time. We put band aids on bullet wounds and believe the window dressing is what will carry them over that hump. I give you guys in the press a lot of credit, I don't pretend to know one iota of your craft but it's got to be hard creating narrative for such a debacle day in and day out.

[JohnC]

Just telling you what I now (keep in mind I know a good bit about that place).

I appreciate your knowledge on the innards of the organization. I'm not disputing your knowledge of the inside of the operation. What I have been commenting on is that the side of the operation you are commenting on is less than consequential with respect to the product on the field.

 

What happened to Berchtold is what usually happens when new ownership takes over. As I previously stated sometimes that turnover is done quickly and sometimes it is done in phases. The mere fact that it is being done now is an indication that it wasn't a priority for the new owner and his management team.

 

It was pointed out (I don't know if it is accurate or not) that one of the reasons that Berchtold was a holdover was because of the contract he had which originated with the prior owner. I'm confident that if the new owner felt he needed to go or at least moved to another position when he first took over it would have been immediately done.

 

What is more important to me is the relationship between the GM and the new HC and how each of them reports and have access to the owner. My point on this issue is that the administrative side of the operation has little bearing on the football operation, except for the part that deals with the budget because it is tied into the cap situation. The ancillary offices on the business side of the organization is not something to be too concerned with so far as influencing actual football decisions. (The point that John W made.)

 

In no way should my comments be interpreted as challenging your knowledge of what happened here. Although I am unequivocally saying that it is of little significance.

Edited February 24, 2017 by JohnC

[Manther]

Well, this is positive! Removing the OLD long standing regime is good!

 

Nice surprise for Thursday!

[Fadingpain]

Demoting him is a positive; retaining him is a negative.

 

Keep the ball rolling, Pegula.

 

Lots of dead wood needs clearing over at the House of Rot.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

This is HUGE news. I do not know if people realize the power that Berchtold has had over there for a LONG time. This is very, very interesting.

 

??

bahaha I forgot about that story. Classic.

 

Sounds like Boyko was well thought of by Eagles media

 

@lesbowen

This is really bad news for people who cover the Eagles, and for Eagles fans. Good for Derek, who is from Buffalo.

 

Does Manos become the next GM ?

so he's now in a cube in the basement at OBD, stammering around looking for the guy who stole his stapler?

 

[baskingridgebillsfan]

My take fwiw

1 Part of Prichard's job is preparing Doug Whaley for a press conference . Doug is they ask this you can say ...... or if they ask this then pivot to .........

on the other hand

2. I am still not convinced that Whaley didn't get exactly what he wanted out of the presser. He got the owners to come out of hiding and face the press. He is a smart guy. He knew what he was saying and how it would play.

[GunnerBill]

Berchtold is bad at his job. The Bills media handling strategies have been woeful for as long as I can remember.

 

I was intensely critical of how they handled the last 4 or 5 weeks of the season. From the pre-Pittsburgh leak to the end of season presser and subsequent Pegula interview with JW they got just about every single handling call wrong. It helped the media to push their narrative of dysfunction because it was uncoordinated, patchy and a mess.

 

The leaving Lynn to whistle in the wind that final week was a disgraceful way to treat someone who seems to have been a good foot soldier and well liked here the last two years.

Getting your media right doesn't lead to wins on the football field but it is part of running a good organisation. I'm glad this guy is coming from Philly because the example of how the Bills should have handled the Rex firing is how the Eagles handled getting rid of Chip a week early the year before.

[Wayne Cubed]

Berchtold is bad at his job. The Bills media handling strategies have been woeful for as long as I can remember.

 

I was intensely critical of how they handled the last 4 or 5 weeks of the season. From the pre-Pittsburgh leak to the end of season presser and subsequent Pegula interview with JW they got just about every single handling call wrong. It helped the media to push their narrative of dysfunction because it was uncoordinated, patchy and a mess.

 

The leaving Lynn to whistle in the wind that final week was a disgraceful way to treat someone who seems to have been a good foot soldier and well liked here the last two years.

Getting your media right doesn't lead to wins on the football field but it is part of running a good organisation. I'm glad this guy is coming from Philly because the example of how the Bills should have handled the Rex firing is how the Eagles handled getting rid of Chip a week early the year before.

 

Yup, I said the same thing earlier in this thread. Whaley has to own what he said during the PC but Berchtold should be held responsible for the planning and execution of the PR after Rex's firing. Sending out Lynn first then waiting a week later to send out Whaley. It was awful and painted the organization as dysfunctional.

[May Day 10]

Berchtold is bad at his job. The Bills media handling strategies have been woeful for as long as I can remember.

 

I was intensely critical of how they handled the last 4 or 5 weeks of the season. From the pre-Pittsburgh leak to the end of season presser and subsequent Pegula interview with JW they got just about every single handling call wrong. It helped the media to push their narrative of dysfunction because it was uncoordinated, patchy and a mess.

 

The leaving Lynn to whistle in the wind that final week was a disgraceful way to treat someone who seems to have been a good foot soldier and well liked here the last two years.

Getting your media right doesn't lead to wins on the football field but it is part of running a good organisation. I'm glad this guy is coming from Philly because the example of how the Bills should have handled the Rex firing is how the Eagles handled getting rid of Chip a week early the year before.

 

This sums it up well.

 

The sequence of events from the moment the rex rumors started the morning of the Pittsburgh game to the Pegula damage control 'interviews' were amateurish, unacceptable, and not surprising.

 

I do believe these things have an indirect effect on the on-field product as well. The organization appears to be dysfunctional with self-inflicted and unnecessary errors such as these. It hits the mainstream. NFL media on a National level were hitting the Bills hard on how they forced Lynn to twist in the wind, and that Whaley "thing". These things weigh into decisions NFL personnel make when they look at Buffalo vs Denver, Tennessee, KC, etc... You want a well oiled machine.

 

I also really think the organization.... especially on the PR and Marketing side, really are/were in need of fresh ideas and modernization. This seems like a great step