Good article on Bills front office purge

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

But that is the whole point. The front office structure needed to change. And the reason that Whaley wasn't "allowed to pick his own coach" was because the man has not at any point(in interviews, with draft strategy, with the type of players that were brought in) established a vision for what a team of his would look like. Don't you think they have had those conversations with him? If he had a convincing answer or plan, they would have let him execute it. They did not want to fire him. They had to.

 

From Doug's own mouth has always come the idea that he is in charge of acquiring the players and the coach will coach him. And that philosophy sucks and is pretty much evident as the root of any dysfunctional issue with this team since Whaley/Marrone Year 1. It goes beyond Whaley because this mantra was regurgitated from Russ Brandon's mouth also any time he would talk about "the 53." That's why Rex and Roman appealed to them so much; because they thought that they could just feed them great players and they could plug and play them into his multi-hybrid schemes on offense and defense. It was clear from the Watkins trade, when Whaley quoted his Pittsburgh mentor Bill Nunn that if you like a guy so much you go get him despite the cost, that Whaley was in over his head as GM and that he hadn't a real clue as to build a team.

 

It's not Whaley's fault. He was a player acquisition guy in Pittsburgh but he was not in the inner circle of decision making. They brought him here and he mentored under another career scout in Buddy Nix along with Brandon and Overdorf(3 guys that have no success in the league as a top administator) and we really expected him to become a great visionary manager.

 

This is kind of what i see. What did whaley want? Did he want to build around EJ? Or was he stuck with him?

 

Does he want to be a run first team? Or would he like to air it out?

 

He always seemed to be clashing with HC's because he didn't want to put a team together based on their philosophy. But what is his philosophy? I know finding the QB is the most important piece. And he did a really crappy job at it. Even complaining about "QB purgatory"

 

If he wanted to bottom out and get his QB near the top of the draft, he should never have traded up for watkins. Should've probably either traded down or stood pat. And gone for winston/mariota in 2015. Instead we go into that draft with 0 1st rounders and EJ Manuel.

[BrooklynBills]

Agree. Lombardi says some interesting things but he is basically just a puppet of BB. He was dreadful in Cleveland.

He had one year highlighted by getting a 1st round pick for Trent Richardson. Hard to say he was dreadful when he was allowed to run one draft with a prior GMs scouting info.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

 

One of those places was the NFL's Personnel Development Committee, which includes former Bills GM and Hall-of-Famer Bill Polian. Polian, fellow Hall-of-Famers Ron Wolf, Tony Dungy, John Madden and other committee members submitted a list of candidates that was distributed to all of the owners of teams searching for a new coach. McDermott's name jumped out at the Pegulas and they promptly made him the first of four candidates they would interview.

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/

You had me at hello. Pegullibles strike again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyrP-pwDa

Did you not say above they hired him before a formal interview, then you show us an article saying they had a formal interview....you expect us to believe as evidence an article that said they had him them at hello. Did the Pegulas not interview other candidates? Does the fact that all those experts on the committee consider him an quality candidate totally escape you? You crusade and schtick are getting very tiresome and annoying. Time for the mods to step in and do their jobs.

https://theringer.com/nfl-buffalo-bills-gm-doug-whaley-fired-sean-mcdermott-d87e027bae86-d87e027bae86

 

"Good for the Bills. They may finally have a chance to catch the Pats. Not because Whaley was bad at his job, but rather because he was picking players, not building a team. Being a GM in the NFL is not like being a fantasy football owner. There has to be an understanding of the essentials needed for a team to succeed. And when the head coach and GM don’t agree on those essentials, there is chaos, followed by losing.

As Nantz told me years ago, no one cares who the GM is; if you’re winning, they care about only the head coach and quarterback. Now all the Bills need under Uncle Sean’s direction is a QB."

Thanks for posting this it was informative.

[BrooklynBills]

 

A Carucci article from a few days ago.

 

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

 

If there is any truth to that article..it is actually pretty scary the way he was selected.

 

Especially considering how bad they were burned by their love at first sight routine with Rex.

You realize that the Pegula's rejected the NFL's help last time when Rex was hired, probably at the behest of Brandon.

[oldmanfan]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

You have absolutely no idea this is valid. Posts like this should not be allowed.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

 

His first draft seemed to signify that he wants players who care about the organization and winning, not paycheck players who just show up. Also he seemed to target players who have a good history with leadership, as well as avoiding players with red flags.

 

More of a vision than Rex Ryan probably ever had...?

Edited May 4, 2017 by dneveu

[C.Biscuit97]

He had one year highlighted by getting a 1st round pick for Trent Richardson. Hard to say he was dreadful when he was allowed to run one draft with a prior GMs scouting info.

Oh, I think he is great on his podcast and says some very interesting things. But again, it's always easier to criticize than actually do. He drafted Mingo At 6 and had an all time awful draft. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/draft.htm

[teef]

can we never use the term, "had me/him/them at hello" ever, ever again?

[nucci]

How do you leap to a conclusion like this? What is your source? No way do I believe that the Pegulas have just blindly handed over the team to McDermott. Nobody would run their business that way, especuially people as successful as the Pegulas are in the business world.

Where is the evidence the Pegula's are not running their sports teams this way?

[Thurman#1]

Top 10 scoring, back to back rushing leader without a franchise qb.

 

 

 

Cracks me up.

 

When people talk about defensive or offensive ranking, they mean yards. Period. It's how this is judged.

 

Until Buffalo does well in scoring for a year. Then suddenly Bills fans change how they evaluate everything. And it will change back if we score poorly but make a lot of yards.

 

Offences are ranked by yards for good reason. Yards figures are much less affected by defence and STs than is scoring. Yards better isolates how well the offence itself is doing. Scoring is affected a ton by field position. Not to mention that defences and STs sometimes actually score points (and the Bills were top ten in that department last year).

 

And the offence had the 11th best average drive start in the league. While leaving the defence the 23rd best average drive starts. Which meant the defence helped the offence while the offence left the D in bad situations.

 

 

 

 

In any case, yeah, we've had a very good run game the last two years, during which we've had bad defences. We've whipsawed back and forth between different offensive and defensive schemes during Whaley's term, and it has killed us. And isn't it possible that that's exactly what the article is about? That Whaley didn't have a vision on team building and so he just brought in players and picked coaches who had their own visions, meaning the team had little or no continuity.

[CommonCents]

You have absolutely no idea this is valid. Posts like this should not be allowed.

I think he is alluding to the article from BN that detailed Kim and Terry meeting with Sean the night before the schedule interview took place. It's not getting much play now but if this hire blows up in their faces that paragraph is going to be one of the most talked about.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about it, while hoping McD is the right guy and things finally move forward I am very concerned they didn't learn anything from the Rex mistake.

Meeting with the owners for dinner without Whaley and Russ? Did anyone else get a preemptive one on one with the owners?

 

At this point maybe we can all agree it's just best to close our eyes and hope for the best.

[DrDawkinstein]

Between the "structure" Great Leader Pegula has setup, and the constant turnover in coaching staff, Whaley never had a chance.

 

We might be ok since it looks like McD is getting all the power and will hire his own GM, but...

 

1. That's ass-backwards

2. Great Leader Pegula said in his presser that he is sticking with the flat structure so the HC and GM will continue to report directly to him.

 

If #2 stays true, we'll continue with this lack of accountability and bickering that has plagued the FO over the last 4 years.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

 

 

Cracks me up.

 

When people talk about defensive or offensive ranking, they mean yards. Period. It's how this is judged.

 

Until Buffalo does well in scoring for a year. Then suddenly Bills fans change how they evaluate everything. And it will change back if we score poorly but make a lot of yards.

 

Offences are ranked by yards for good reason. Yards figures are much less affected by defence and STs than is scoring. Yards better isolates how well the offence itself is doing. Scoring is affected a ton by field position. Not to mention that defences and STs sometimes actually score points (and the Bills were top ten in that department last year).

 

And the offence had the 11th best average drive start in the league. While leaving the defence the 23rd best average drive starts. Which meant the defence helped the offence while the offence left the D in bad situations.

 

 

 

 

In any case, yeah, we've had a very good run game the last two years, during which we've had bad defences. We've whipsawed back and forth between different offensive and defensive schemes during Whaley's term, and it has killed us. And isn't it possible that that's exactly what the article is about? That Whaley didn't have a vision on team building and so he just brought in players and picked coaches who had their own visions, meaning the team had little or no continuity.

 

I think you can look at efficiency ratings and see that we weren't a terrible offensive unit. YPG has a 14 yard difference between us at 16th and GB at 8th. Those 14 yards per game aren't the difference between a win and a loss.

 

Points per play - buffalo is pretty good there (8th in the NFL).

13th in 3rd down% - not bad all things considered.

3rd in the NFL in giveaways.

7th in RZ TD scoring % --> this could be why we are higher in PPG than YPG in leaguewide rankings

Edited May 4, 2017 by dneveu

[Bills Fan in MD]

That was an outstanding piece. Thanks for posting it.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

can we never use the term, "had me/him/them at hello" ever, ever again?

you had em when you said

 

can we never use the term, ever again

[CanadianFan]

This article adds NOTHING NEW. No New Info NOR ANALYSIS.

 

I've said this before - the current power sharing structure in Buffalo isn't working because it creates conflict. GM and HC are NOT working on the SAME TEAM. If Pegulas had been serious about keeping Whaley, they would have let him hire the new HC. Whaley, to his own fault, didn't argue for this. Instead, Pegs hired a guy they like, whether he fits with A) the team or B) can work with Whaley. It's the same mistake they made the first time with Rex.

 

IF you wanted Whaley and new HC to work together, why didn't you make sure they had similar philosophies on the team, type of players, and that they liked each other in the first place? Instead, they picked a guy they "liked". Now you got this mess.

 

So with the new GM, they have GOT to do 2 things:

 

1) make sure this GM and Smiling Assassin share the same vision for team and type of player

2) put them on the same team - aka one works for the other. I don't give an ass if its HC working for GM or the GM works for HC. Let them manage conflicts themselves and resolve things. Otherwise, every meeting they will end up playing arbitrator between HC and GM. Without qualifications to make judgement on football.

[dubs]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

 

I think everyone here knows that McDermott is an unknown. That's pretty obvious. The conclusion that you are jumping too is a little premature. Just because he's young and hasn't had this role before, doesn't mean that he won't be successful or that the Bills won't be successful.

 

Just as likely is that the Pegula's are looking to hire a GM that's a good fit with SMcD. I think that makes a lot of sense. I can't promise that it will work, but I am not going to discount that it's possible and that the team is at least moving in a direction that makes more sense than it was a few years ago.

[DrDawkinstein]

 

 

 

Cracks me up.

 

When people talk about defensive or offensive ranking, they mean yards. Period. It's how this is judged.

 

It's a crappy way to judge and I've never liked it. Yards dont win games.

[C.Biscuit97]

 

I think everyone here knows that McDermott is an unknown. That's pretty obvious. The conclusion that you are jumping too is a little premature. Just because he's young and hasn't had this role before, doesn't mean that he won't be successful or that the Bills won't be successful.

 

Just as likely is that the Pegula's are looking to hire a GM that's a good fit with SMcD. I think that makes a lot of sense. I can't promise that it will work, but I am not going to discount that it's possible and that the team is at least moving in a direction that makes more sense than it was a few years ago.

I used to be the biggest homer on this board and try to defend everything the Bills did. But honestly, what other NFL franchise would give this much power to a 1st time head coach?

 

It's a crappy way to judge and I've never liked it. Yards dont win games.

Yeah, just using yards in a vacuum is a silly way to judge success. Kyle Orton was known as a qb that could move the ball between the 20s but struggles to get it in the endzone. If you can't score tds, who cares how many yards you had?

 

Additionally, stats like 3rd down % and red zone % are very important as well.

[4_kidd_4]

can we never use the term, "had me/him/them at hello" ever, ever again?

I'm OK with this, as long as we can still use "Pegullibles". Gold, Jerry! Gold!