How Did Beane and McDermott “Drain The Swamp” At One Bills Drive So Quickly?

[cd1]

2 hours ago, Soda Popinski said:

Easy.   When he interviewed with the Pegulas he mapped out his path to success in great detail, i'm 100% sure a big part of that was jettisoning all those people and hitting the reset button.  The Pegulas agreed and the rest is history. 

Pretty silly, actually.

 

Please share a link to information as to how and WHY McDermott would have any knowledge of the workings of R Brandon.

 

Here is a clue - The new owners have been in charge long enough for all of the staff who have been let go, to have actually "hung themselves" through work performance or personality issues.

 

[Soda Popinski]

Just now, cd1 said:

Pretty silly, actually.

 

Please share a link to information as to how and WHY McDermott would have any knowledge of the workings of R Brandon.

 

Here is a clue - The new owners have been in charge long enough for all of the staff who have been let go, to have actually "hung themselves" through work performance or personality issues.

 

Obviously Brandon was not part of that reset button, that was pressed last year after the draft.   That is when all the scouting department/FO was let go.    Brandon had saved himself yet again but I don't think McDermott really cared at all about Brandon as he had no sway over McDermott or Beane's jobs in any kind of way.  

 

McDermott had it spelled out in his contract just who exactly he answered to and how.    Brandon was never a factor in McDermott's plans or the scope of his power within the organization.   Brandon hung himself with his own poor decisions within the building that's what cooked his goose, had nothing to do with McDermott 

[Fadingpain]

40 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This is total speculation, but I'll give what I see as evidence where available.

 

I think when the Pegulas were hired, and then Marrone quit, Russ Brandon and Whaley made a successful "sales pitch" to the Pegulas that a "football czar" was not needed, they had the horsepower and knowhow and connections to run a successful head coaching search, and impressed.  (I recall a media piece at the time quoting Brandon or perhaps the Pegulas about how impressive it was that they had the talent in house to put together a comprehensive search and line up all the interviews so quickly).

 

I think the Pegulas then ran into a number of things that made them go "hmmmm" and lose trust that in Whaley and Brandon they really had top-notch NFL execs in the room.  They may have consulted quietly with an external NFL advisor (maybe Polian, maybe the same help they rejected initially) and received recommendations for cleaning house and building a new culture.  (As I recall, the coaching search quickly turned in a different direction than Whaley seemed to be taking it)

 

For the trainers, team chaplain etc. I think they turned hiring or firing power over to McD as a condition of his coming in, and also gave him approval over the new GM.  Then I think for the scouts and pro personnel staff, Beane stipulated that he would be given total fate control.

 

However, they were still clearly satisfied with the work Brandon was doing.  I think the Pegulas saw something amiss and may have very quietly and under the radar, had some sort of further "football czar" consultation with people they trusted which may have spurred the internal investigation that resulted in Brandon's resignation.

 

 

When were the Pegulas hired, and who hired them?

 

 

[stony]

1 minute ago, Fadingpain said:

When were the Pegulas hired, and who hired them?

 

 

The league hired them after they had their bid accepted?

[BadLandsMeanie]

8 minutes ago, Fadingpain said:

When were the Pegulas hired, and who hired them?

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, stony said:

The league hired them after they had their bid accepted?

Ah ha! Happless slipped up and spilled the beans.

The mystery deepens.

 

Could the bumbling geologist and his glamorous wife be a beard for Jon BonJovi and his investment group??

 

Maybe Russ Brandon started to ask questions and had to be eliminated.

 

[Big Turk]

3 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

One of the most remarkable things about the hiring of McDermott and Beane (to a lesser extent) is how they have eesentiallu completely turned over the entire organization and the football roster as well.

 

if you recall in 2014, when Terry Pegula bought the team very little changed.  Russ was moved to President as PSE but the overall structure seemed very similar (one exception was Rex reporting to TP and not the GM).  Essentially the same decision makers who “tarnished the brand” for year were still employed and in power to make questionable decision.

 

Cut to 2017, when McDermott was hired he immediately made big changes by firing the following long-time employees

 

PR Scott Berchtold (still a “consultant” but powerless”)

GM Doug Whaley 

Jim Monos (Director of Pro Personnel

Buddy Nix (Still was working as a scout)

Whaley’s Entire Scouting Dept

James Trapp (Chaplan)

Paul Lancaster (Director of Engagement)

Michael Lyons (Director of Analytics)

Entire Analytics Staff

Bud Carpenter (Trainer)

Shone Gibson (Trainer)

 

This leaves Jim Overdorff as really the last connection to Ralph Wilson.

 

So here is my question - how did McDermott do it?  It just seems unprecedented that someone could come in an clean house within the span of year - nonetheless a coach and GM.

 

I remember hearing that Marrone was not happy with some of these people and yet he was not successful at getting any of them fired.  He had problems with Whaley but Terry elected to keep him.  I guess what I’m wondering is why was McDermott and Beane able to drain the swamp, whereas Marrone was not able.  

 

It seemed as though the Pegula’s were pretty happy with their staff and yet within a year everyone was fired.  

 

How do you think this went down behind the scenes?

 

 

 

 

The owners bought what he was selling and gave him full reign to make the changes he wanted.

 

So far they look pretty smart this time around after breaking a 17 year playoff drought in the first year when everyone thought they were tanking and building up draft capital to use on getting their franchise QB.

 

Whether they continue looking smart depends in large part on Josh Allen's play.

[FappyTheClown]

Pull the plug to open drain. 

[BuffaloRush]

1 hour ago, NoSaint said:

 

 

A lot of your list is pretty basic for when a new HC/GM come in 

 

The GM, Long time PR guy, and the long time training staff?  That’s pretty basic?

 

These changes were all made when McDermott came on board.  Not even Gruden could get the incumbent GM fired (though he did get him neutered)

Edited May 3, 2018 by BuffaloRush

[Spiderweb]

3 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Ha someone who actually drained the swamp. Interesting. It's weird when people come through on promises. 

You mean in comparison to the guy who brought a worse swamp with him?

[BuffaloRush]

2 hours ago, Spiderweb said:

You mean in comparison to the guy who brought a worse swamp with him?

 

Or people who keeping polluting be swamp?

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

....oddly, Marrone sold himself to Brandon professing major culture change (OBVIOUSLY needed) which got him hired.....change was a given.......problem was Doug employed a militaristic "General Patton" like style while requiring Brandon & Whaley to be present at all team meetings (he held TC meetings after dinner regularly until 9-10PM).......it crimped their "styles" and they turned on him....so the two Top Dawgs would make his life hell, resulting his his $4 mil adios...all three are distant memories.....IMO, McD interviews with Pegula and has the same culture change message....BUT...he laid out a detailed plan and what controls he wanted as well as who he would report to (TP) as explicit conditions of employment as he should....and he has stayed the course while methodically executing it and those in his way.....McBeane was a good GM match as I'm sure he was well aware of McD's "process"....so far so good IMO.....

[DriveFor1Outta5]

Russ Brandon flushed himself down the drain. 

[Pirate Angel]

6 hours ago, TroutDog said:

I agree with 26. But, when Pegula’s originally purchased the team, they specifically stated they were going to leave things as they were, admitting that they were ‘green’. Understandable but, not so shockingly, led to the same result on the field. 

 

When McD was hired, I believe they had realized that a complete overhaul was needed and that this included culture. Ridding an organization of people is one way to very clearly let people know that a new sheriff is in town and they have McD the power to do it. 

 

I, for one, am glad they came to the realization. 

Rex Ryan was a long hard lesson learned #hardknocks

[NoSaint]

3 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

The GM, Long time PR guy, and the long time training staff?  That’s pretty basic?

 

These changes were all made when McDermott came on board.  Not even Gruden could get the incumbent GM fired (though he did get him neutered)

 

When you fire a coach that’s often a situation that sees a new gm hired. Scouting staff is a very basic extension of that. Trainers can go either way. Football guys bring in their own football guys. 

 

Russ was misconduct.... so we’re talking about a PR guy and some analytics folks? The way it went down was weird with Whaley being fired post-draft but the idea of teams doing complete overhauls isn’t really that strange. 

[NewEra]

7 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

Is this something unusual when a team hires a new coach and GM?  No. 

It has been in Buffalo.

[QB12]

Less than a year from now, the truth will slowly begin to emerge, meaning Mr. & Mrs. Pegula are the real ones behind the great purge. Like a wily mob don, they crafted these plans long ago... while on the surface McDermott and Beane are executing it, whether wittingly or non-wittingly remains to be determined. That said, there's nothing wrong with putting your own stamp on your own product. Out with the old, in with the new.

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

Except it is rare...find me one example where a HC came in and got his GM fired within month?  Gruden couldn’t even do that in Oakland, even though he’s essentially coach and GM.  

 

I think you may be starting from an unjustified assumption, and then evaluating the events from that perspective to conclude "rare".  I don't think the HC came in and got his GM fired within a month.

 

I think Whaley was a "dead man walking" from the moment he stepped down from the post-Rex-firing press conference.  He made his boss look bad in public, which is the ultimate sin for a business where PR is part of the game.

 

I think that prior to that press conference, the Pegulas had planned to have Whaley spearhead the HC search (as he said he would during the press conference).  Afterwards, the Pegulas quietly went out and sought advice from experts outside the organization (possibly Polian, possibly someone from the league), hired a search firm to vet candidates, and re-directed the head coach search.

 

As a condition of taking the job, I think McDermott required a "free hand" with the ancillary staff (training, S&C, team physicians, nutrition, chaplain, whoever).  I think the "fix was in" to fire the GM and make a clean sweep of the scouts after the draft, and either McDermott was told he would be given final approval on the GM choice, or they had a short list of GM candidates and they were all acceptable to McDermott before he took the job.

 

But at that point, the Pegulas still had confidence in Russ Brandon to run the business side.  At some point between the McDermott hire and his resignation, he lost their trust. 

 

 

4 hours ago, ddaryl said:

Nope

Yes Beane was not here yet when a lot of it went down, which is where I am not correct on

However i do not agree that somehow Sean was the driver of any of this, and this was just a long time coming and Sean was simply the 1st change.

 

I'm not sure about the "long time coming" but I do believe the Pegulas were the ultimate drivers of most of the changes.

I don't think McDermott has been given as many keys as folks think (things that directly impact the on-field product such as trainers and S&C, likely so)

[BuffaloRush]

55 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

When you fire a coach that’s often a situation that sees a new gm hired. Scouting staff is a very basic extension of that. Trainers can go either way. Football guys bring in their own football guys. 

 

Russ was misconduct.... so we’re talking about a PR guy and some analytics folks? The way it went down was weird with Whaley being fired post-draft but the idea of teams doing complete overhauls isn’t really that strange. 

 

Find me one coach who was hired AFTER a new GM.  It usually works the other way around.  The GM traditionally has a big say with who the coach is.  So, yes it is out of the ordinary

41 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think you may be starting from an unjustified assumption, and then evaluating the events from that perspective to conclude "rare".  I don't think the HC came in and got his GM fired within a month.

 

I think Whaley was a "dead man walking" from the moment he stepped down from the post-Rex-firing press conference.  He made his boss look bad in public, which is the ultimate sin for a business where PR is part of the game.

 

I think that prior to that press conference, the Pegulas had planned to have Whaley spearhead the HC search (as he said he would during the press conference).  Afterwards, the Pegulas quietly went out and sought advice from experts outside the organization (possibly Polian, possibly someone from the league), hired a search firm to vet candidates, and re-directed the head coach search.

 

As a condition of taking the job, I think McDermott required a "free hand" with the ancillary staff (training, S&C, team physicians, nutrition, chaplain, whoever).  I think the "fix was in" to fire the GM and make a clean sweep of the scouts after the draft, and either McDermott was told he would be given final approval on the GM choice, or they had a short list of GM candidates and they were all acceptable to McDermott before he took the job.

 

But at that point, the Pegulas still had confidence in Russ Brandon to run the business side.  At some point between the McDermott hire and his resignation, he lost their trust. 

 

 

 

I'm not sure about the "long time coming" but I do believe the Pegulas were the ultimate drivers of most of the changes.

I don't think McDermott has been given as many keys as folks think (things that directly impact the on-field product such as trainers and S&C, likely so)

 

Fair enoigh, but typically the GM is hired before the coach in most situations.  Don’t pretends it’s typical - it usually doesn’t happen

[stuvian]

I like the fact that the chaplain was fired because God clearly was angry at the Bills and punished us accordingly. Hopefully a new voodoo priestess will set things right. 

 

We didn't drain the swamp because Terry and Kim didn't know how to build a football organization. Beane does. Now that he has their trust he is putting together an organization of people with similar philosophical alignment

[Shaw66]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This is total speculation, but I'll give what I see as evidence where available.

 

I think when the Pegulas were hired, and then Marrone quit, Russ Brandon and Whaley made a successful "sales pitch" to the Pegulas that a "football czar" was not needed, they had the horsepower and knowhow and connections to run a successful head coaching search, and impressed.  (I recall a media piece at the time quoting Brandon or perhaps the Pegulas about how impressive it was that they had the talent in house to put together a comprehensive search and line up all the interviews so quickly).

 

I think the Pegulas then ran into a number of things that made them go "hmmmm" and lose trust that in Whaley and Brandon they really had top-notch NFL execs in the room.  They may have consulted quietly with an external NFL advisor (maybe Polian, maybe the same help they rejected initially) and received recommendations for cleaning house and building a new culture.  (As I recall, the coaching search quickly turned in a different direction than Whaley seemed to be taking it)

 

For the trainers, team chaplain etc. I think they turned hiring or firing power over to McD as a condition of his coming in, and also gave him approval over the new GM.  Then I think for the scouts and pro personnel staff, Beane stipulated that he would be given total fate control.

 

However, they were still clearly satisfied with the work Brandon was doing.  I think the Pegulas saw something amiss and may have very quietly and under the radar, had some sort of further "football czar" consultation with people they trusted which may have spurred the internal investigation that resulted in Brandon's resignation.

 

 

This is a good description of the likely scenario. 

 

I do think then OP is correct.  This was unusual.  If you bring in a Chip Kelly or an Ndy Reid, if he tells the owner the GM hasntongo, fine, I get. But this was a young, rookie head coach.   What happened here, I would guess, was anyoung combination of pre-existing dissatisfaction with Whaley and Brandon and a very positive impression made by McD.