Great Article on Bills/Whaley by John Kryk

[Scott7975]

you quote one fact from the article and get it wrong. He was 30-34 as GM, which isn't all that bad.

Averages to 7.5-8.5. Not good either. Not even average. Especially when you are against the cap.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Scott7975

[GG]

 

Yet that is exactly what is happening now.

 

How is that happening now?

[jeffismagic]

 

How is that happening now?

 

It was notable that, the day before the "formal" interview that would include Whaley and former director of player personnel Jim Monos, the Pegulas invited McDermott to join them for dinner on their yacht in Boca Raton, Fla.

He had the Pegulas at "hello." He impressed them so much, that as Kim drove McDermott to the airport after the next day's six-hour session, she was already telling him to have his wife (who had been invited to Boca Raton as well, but couldn't make the trip) call her for information about housing and other essentials in Western New York.

Whaley's virtual disappearance from public view after McDermott's arrival wasn't a coincidence. It was a fulfillment of a condition of McDermott's employment.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

Just read that. So Pegulas' become spellbound by Sean when they interview him. They had no desire to get rid of Whaley or the scouts before. But because they want Sean they decide to not only make him the coach but also the GM. Now Sean can pick the players as GM even though he has no front office experience.

This is not a carefully considered plan. This is Pegula hippety hoppy decision making on full display again.

[GG]

 

It was notable that, the day before the "formal" interview that would include Whaley and former director of player personnel Jim Monos, the Pegulas invited McDermott to join them for dinner on their yacht in Boca Raton, Fla.

He had the Pegulas at "hello." He impressed them so much, that as Kim drove McDermott to the airport after the next day's six-hour session, she was already telling him to have his wife (who had been invited to Boca Raton as well, but couldn't make the trip) call her for information about housing and other essentials in Western New York.

Whaley's virtual disappearance from public view after McDermott's arrival wasn't a coincidence. It was a fulfillment of a condition of McDermott's employment.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

Just read that. So Pegulas' become spellbound by Sean when they interview him. They had no desire to get rid of Whaley or the scouts before. But because they want Sean they decide to not only make him the coach but also the GM. Now Sean can pick the players as GM even though he has no front office experience.

This is not a carefully considered plan. This is Pegula hippety hoppy decision making on full display again.

 

And you were probably one of the posters who was gushing about an old Yahoo article how everything came together when Marrone was hired, followed by the Rex hiring, etc.

 

If you believe the third hand accounts about Pegulas becoming infatuated with McD, then you also have to believe the stories about Whaley being on thin ice for the last 2 years. It also paints a fresh perspective on Polian's reluctance to be involved with the Bills if Whaley remained.

 

Now if you want to go down the rabbit hole of comparing McD to Jauron, in this draft alone there's ample evidence that McCoach is more in tune with the roster needs, because he hasn't yet drafted an undersized one-year wonder with a top 15 pick, hasn't overdrafted a mouthy safety in top 10, hasn't reached in the first round for the 3rd best OL on a mediocre NC team.

 

Every single pick this draft made a lot of sense, if they were of the mind that there was no QB worthy to waste a 1st rounder on. They added a pick in another deep 2018 draft. They are building the core, and will have lots more flexibility when the cap eases next year. You know, strategically thinking ahead.

[jeffismagic]

 

And you were probably one of the posters who was gushing about an old Yahoo article how everything came together when Marrone was hired, followed by the Rex hiring, etc.

 

If you believe the third hand accounts about Pegulas becoming infatuated with McD, then you also have to believe the stories about Whaley being on thin ice for the last 2 years. It also paints a fresh perspective on Polian's reluctance to be involved with the Bills if Whaley remained.

 

Now if you want to go down the rabbit hole of comparing McD to Jauron, in this draft alone there's ample evidence that McCoach is more in tune with the roster needs, because he hasn't yet drafted an undersized one-year wonder with a top 15 pick, hasn't overdrafted a mouthy safety in top 10, hasn't reached in the first round for the 3rd best OL on a mediocre NC team.

 

Every single pick this draft made a lot of sense, if they were of the mind that there was no QB worthy to waste a 1st rounder on. They added a pick in another deep 2018 draft. They are building the core, and will have lots more flexibility when the cap eases next year. You know, strategically thinking ahead.

 

 

What I see is coach draft and lots of picks thrown away to fill needs. Drafted players with lower upside and looking for plug and play to get through the year.

 

I would prefer a real GM be hired here who has a longer vision and a plan to try to win a Superbowl, not just filling needs for the next year.

[GG]

 

 

What I see is coach draft and lots of picks thrown away to fill needs. Drafted players with lower upside and looking for plug and play to get through the year.

 

I would prefer a real GM be hired here who has a longer vision and a plan to try to win a Superbowl, not just filling needs for the next year.

[dave mcbride]

 

So other than that, how was the play Mrs Lincoln? Of course the Yankees are a model franchise if you throw out the 15 years of George Steinbrenner's insane period.

 

Cowboys are more dysfunctional. Raiders are. Browns are. The only reason that Bills & Sabres seem to be right now is that Pegulas are still washing away the stink of Wilson's tenure. Pegulas' biggest problem up to now is that they've he's been too trusting of people who have run their franchises, and I think they're belatedly finding it out now. It's not like they bought two well run franchises that were plug & play from day one.

To repeat, I was not a Yankees fan then. I'm talking about *teams I actually rooted for*. The old Yankees weren't my problem. The Bills have always been my problem. As to my larger point about the Yankees teams that I have rooted for: are they not among the best run and most stable organizations in sports?

 

The Bills cycle through coaches and GMs like there is no tomorrow, and all they do is lose. But that's irrelevant anyway: I don't root for the Cowboys or Raiders. The Cowboys are hardly dysfunctional either - they have been to the playoffs something like 10 times in the past 15 years.

Edited May 2, 2017 by dave mcbride

[Gugny]

To repeat, I was not a Yankees fan then. I'm talking about *teams I actually rooted for*. The old Yankees weren't my problem. The Bills have always been my problem. As to my larger point about the Yankees teams that I have rooted for: are they not among the best run and most stable organizations in sports?

 

The Bills cycle through coaches and GMs like there is no tomorrow, and all they do is lose. But that's irrelevant anyway: I don't root for the Cowboys or Raiders. The Cowboys are hardly dysfunctional either - they have been to the playoffs something like 10 times in the past 15 years.

 

Six times.

[dave mcbride]

 

Six times.

yeah, but you get my point. Since Parcells took over in 2003, they have had three losing seasons, three .500 seasons, and eight winning seasons (and two 13-win seasons).

[Gordio]

This is not fair.

 

Brandon has been the focus of my distaste of this franchise for 10 years now. The bills have made no progress. As an executive of the team, we have seen nothing but a string of awful hires, dysfunction, losing, and embarassment. What do we have now? A team who cant decide if they are rebuilding or making a run to a possible wild card berth, with bad contracts and an in-place rookie coach looking for a gm.

 

The pegulas need to wake up and find a president of football ops with experience and a clear vision to build a winning program from the top down. Unfortunately, the pegulas seem to have usurped brandon as the "guy who gets to play with the toys", so it will take pegula to completely wake up and realize he needs help and (non russ brandon) in order to see success on the field.

 

 

What is funny is my friend who has dealings with the Sabres/Bills said when Pegs took over he was all set to fire Rusty but Rusty somehow weaseled his way out of it. Said Rusty sold out a lot of good people from both organizations to Pegs to save his own skin. Even went as far as saying Rusty was the driving force behind Pegs dismissing Ted Black from the Sabres, a longtime friend of Pegs. Now shame on Pegs for taking the advice of this sleezy used car salesman but it paints a pretty good picture how manipulative good old Rusty could be.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Gordio

[Fan in Chicago]

 

 

I truly hope the Whaley "dead man walking" period was the last episode in a dysfunctional tale and we"ll have an organization moving forward we can be proud of.

Unlikely until Brandon is still around. But again, I would love to be proven wrong.

[GG]

yeah, but you get my point. Since Parcells took over in 2003, they have had three losing seasons, three .500 seasons, and eight winning seasons (and two 13-win seasons).

 

Again, if you ignore a decade worth of Jerrah's distractions, it's a tightly run ship. Many franchises go through growing pains upon ownership transfers, and people forget that Pegulas inherited a franchise that was run by Ralph Wilson, not the Maras or Rooneys.

[dave mcbride]

 

Again, if you ignore a decade worth of Jerrah's distractions, it's a tightly run ship. Many franchises go through growing pains upon ownership transfers, and people forget that Pegulas inherited a franchise that was run by Ralph Wilson, not the Maras or Rooneys.

I'm talking specifically about the teams I'm a fan of. The Bills are a mess, and have been since Ralph decided that he didn't want to pay Butler the going rate before the 2000 season.

[K-9]

Mostly incorrect. And Kryk is one of the good ones.

[Rico]

 

 

What is funny is my friend who has dealings with the Sabres/Bills said when Pegs took over he was all set to fire Rusty but Rusty somehow weaseled his way out of it. Said Rusty sold out a lot of good people from both organizations to Pegs to save his own skin. Even went as far as saying Rusty was the driving force behind Pegs dismissing Ted Black from the Sabres, a longtime friend of Pegs. Now shame on Pegs for taking the advice of this sleezy used car salesman but it paints a pretty good picture how manipulative good old Rusty could be.

Thanks once again for the intel.

[GG]

I'm talking specifically about the teams I'm a fan of. The Bills are a mess, and have been since Ralph decided that he didn't want to pay Butler the going rate before the 2000 season.

 

I understand the qualifier. But you also can't ignore the periods of dysfunction many franchises went through before they stabilized things.

[dave mcbride]

 

I understand the qualifier. But you also can't ignore the periods of dysfunction many franchises went through before they stabilized things.

You need to understand: I actively root for Cowboys dysfunction. In my mind, the world is a better, more functional place when the Cowboys are dysfunctional. I only care about my guys. Screw the rest!

[Gordio]

Thanks once again for the intel.

 

 

No problem, it is laughable at all the information that is out there & continues to be reported that people still believe that RB has had nothing to do with the football side of things for the past 10 years or so.

[Cash]

Whaley's tenure as GM, has been consistently undermined, by circumstances largely out of his control.

 

...

 

He was by no means faultless, and I rather suspect that the issues with RFA tenders in the last two years, are one of the things that the Pegulas didn't like especially, although that is speculation.

 

Great post! I agree on most of it. I'm not a staunch Whaley defender, and I've made peace with his termination, but I do think he got a bit of a raw deal. I really think we had a legit talented team the last 4 years that was mostly derailed due to coaching - and Whaley (unlike most GMs) wasn't allowed to hire either coach. Brandon hired Marrone, allegedly over Whaley's objections, and the Pegulas hired Rex, allegedly over Whaley's objections.

 

Now, Whaley deserves blame for the EJ pick, and probably wouldn't have signed TT in the first place if Rex hadn't been hired, so no credit to him there. And the Sammy trade was a terrible move (IMO) at the time and looks equally bad in hindsight. How much of that is on Whaley though, and how much on Brandon? Maybe it's Whaley's fault that he wasn't willing or able to tune out the marketing guy, or stump hard enough for his coaching pick and convince the owner to side with him. Maybe he's a really good scout who needs to work on his "influencing people" skills. I don't know.

 

But I do know that Kryk's article makes some great points at the end re: Overdorf and Brandon. A lot of people in this thread and elsewhere have justified Whaley's firing with a "bottom line" argument - we were 30-34 with him as GM, didn't make the playoffs, so he has to go. Fair enough, but under that logic, Overdorf and Brandon should've been fired before Whaley was even brought on as assistant GM, much less full-on GM. Brandon is technically not involved in football operations anymore, but it seems clear to me that he has the ear of Pegula, and can influence a lot more decisions than I'd like. (The number I'd like: zero.) So in that respect, maybe this Sean McDespot move is a good one: he'll hire a GM who's subservient to him, and insist on every move being one that he likes, regardless of what Brandon via Pegula says.

 

Overdorf just has to go, though. I don't care if the cap problems aren't his fault. I don't care if he's not involved with the poor RFA tendering. I don't care if he's actually great at his job and everything is someone else's fault. He is replaceable. And he's been one of the few constants throughout many front office changes. We need a fresh start here.

[Rico]

 

 

No problem, it is laughable at all the information that is out there & continues to be reported that people still believe that RB has had nothing to do with the football side of things for the past 10 years or so.

Yes, pollyannas can be very naive.