Is Coaching the Real Problem?

[colin]

Mike Martz already has a head coaching job.  Why would he come to Buffalo to be an offensive coordinator?!?

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he's getting canned

[Sisyphean Bills]

he's getting canned

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And your source is what? www.dumpmartz.com?

[finknottle]

he's getting canned

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How about Martz as OC and Billick as DC, best performer gets MM's job after one year?

 

A man can dream, can't he?

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

But how does that prove that these guys would have done any better in Buffalo? With the Bills O-line, can you honestly say that Lewis or Fox would have been any better. I don't see how anyone can know the answer to that other than trying to assume that all players are equal.

 

A common theme I see in all sports are lousey teams that fire the coach, bring in all new players, three years goes by and they fire the new coach and get another and bring in more new players and they are still bad What's the comon thread? The GM! The Bill's were the same way till they brought in BP in the mid 80's. Then we became winners. Mary Levy got canned in KC, then went to Buffalo and goes to four Super Bowls. Did he really get smarter, or did he just have alot better talent? Scotty Bowman was a great coach in Montreal. He comes to Buffalo, becomes coach and GM, and pretty much does nothing. He remakes the team over two or three times with new players, and still does nothing. One difference was in Montreal, he was just the coach. The Giants were terrible for close to 20 years. The early 80's they bring in George Young and they become winners. Same way with the Mets of the mid 80's. They get a good GM and they win the Series

 

While TD may not have picked the coach of the year in GW or MM, I think with good talent around them, they'd be doing alot better. Not to say either that all his player moves were bad. He's made many good ones, but he seems to have a little bit of Dan Snyder in him in that he goes for the glamor players and not enough of the guys in the trenches. And what players sell more seats, the glamor boys! Again TD's moves tend to look better from a marketing point, than a talent point.

 

Does anyone know if TD was critisized for same thing in Pitt? Not getting good interior players??

 

The candidates he passed up:

Marvin Lewis took over the Bengals in 2003 and has since gone 23-19.

John Fox took over the Panthers in 2002.  In 2003 Fox led the Panthers to their first ever NFC title.  In 3+ seasons Fox has tallied a 32-26 record, already passing Donahoe in the win column despite 1 less year on the job

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[BuffaloWings]

Let's also remember that John Fox interviewed the day after he lost the Superbowl to the Ravens. He also was unprepared and probably worn out from prepping for the Superbowl, so he didn't interview well. It's easy to say now that TD made the wrong choice, but at the time Gregg Williams probably blew away every other candidate simply because he was prepared.

 

That said, I've been less than impressed with Donahoe's personnel decisions. He's taken the approach of trying to get bargain basement players and build a team from the scrap heap. Bad idea, as we can see from the performances of the OL and DL. The one thing he should have done in the offseason was pay Pat Williams, which he didn't.

 

I'm willing to give TD & Mularkey another year, but right now, I'm not impressed one bit.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

The bargin Basement idea has worked for New England. But the difference there is, they seemed to again have built from the interior as opposed to TD building with the well known players.

 

Maybe it's based on TD's grandsons football card collection??

 

I really doubt at this point Pat Williams would have made much difference as I think the rest of the D has got old real fast around him.

 

 

Let's also remember that John Fox interviewed the day after he lost the Superbowl to the Ravens. He also was unprepared and probably worn out from prepping for the Superbowl, so he didn't interview well. It's easy to say now that TD made the wrong choice, but at the time Gregg Williams probably blew away every other candidate simply because he was prepared.

 

That said, I've been less than impressed with Donahoe's personnel decisions. He's taken the approach of trying to get bargain basement players and build a team from the scrap heap. Bad idea, as we can see from the performances of the OL and DL. The one thing he should have done in the offseason was pay Pat Williams, which he didn't.

 

I'm willing to give TD & Mularkey another year, but right now, I'm not impressed one bit.

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[BB2004]

I for one have been extremely critical of Tom Donahoe’s personnel decisions more so than the coaching hires, but after watching yesterday’s quality second game that order might have to be switched. Both the Broncos and Cowboys featured plenty of old receivers and several high profile re-treads yet collectively they played like competent football players. Regardless of playing in front of a much better line that allows him to go through his progressive reads, the Dallas version of Bledsoe looked much more disciplined and should I dare say cerebral. He made a lot of good throws in face of stiff pressure, quite often checked down to safety valves, and even threw balls away to avoid the sack. It doesn’t hurt to have a real tight-end like they do, but regardless bumbling Bledsoe looks a hell of a lot better than the version we saw for 3 years. It also appears that Shanahan has finally broken the bucking bronco known as Jake Plummer who in the past was always good for 4 or 5 Buffalo Bill Bledsoe throws a game.

 

Denver’s defensive line featuring a Mike William’s type bust, Courtney Brown, played tremendously disciplined gap defense with well disguised blitzes unlike our throw the kitchen sink schemes. There was one play that really illustrated the coaching thing to me; when Dallas was pinned at their goal line they called a naked bootleg with Bledsoe rolling in the flat and the tight-end peeling off the line. Frankly a great call considering Bledsoe’s mobility, but the rookie Bronco corner never left the tight-end until Bledsoe was forced to cross the line of scrimmage after which he quickly became a wounded zebra for a very fast cheetah. Can anyone imagine Posey or the play maker showing that kind of discipline or understanding of the situation that quickly?

 

The play calling was also great stuff. After the Champ Bailey touchdown, Dallas turns around and calls the exact same play, like he did before, Bailey jumps the route, but this time it allows K. Johnson to find a seam for a wide open touchdown solely because of Bailey’s aggressiveness. Our Notre Dame Lawyer offensive coordinator could learn a thing or two from these football jarheads coaching yesterday’s game.

 

And for all the Moulds gripers 100 years old K. Johnson, Rod Smith, and Terry Glenn sure can still get down field, agreed their lines are better, but neither team has a Willis in the backfield. A lot of balls were thrown to spots on the field, before the receivers got out of their breaks, which illustrates to me confidence in the play called.

   

Which leaves me with the question, is coaching the real problem for the Buffalo Bills?

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I don't the answer to that but I do know that our play calling in crucial situations has been bad at times this season.

[Pass the Pipe]

The bargin Basement idea has worked for New England.  But the difference there is, they seemed to again have built from the interior as opposed to TD building with the well known players.

 

Maybe it's based on TD's grandsons football card collection??

 

I really doubt at this point Pat Williams would have made much difference as I think the rest of the D has got old real fast around him.

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I believe you are correct in that TD is trying to copy the New England approach to things, but as you mention, New England correctly uses free agency to fill holes and provide depth, while building the nucleus threw the draft.

 

Regardless, I think the big problem with TD is he never recovered from the Bill Cowher power struggle and is seeing to it that he doesn't make that mistake again. As a result we have become the victims of his insecurities. The current coach of the Bills should have been either John Fox, Marvin Lewis, or Charlie Weiss, end of story. One would think that Ralph Wilson has been around too long not to understand the importance of a strong coach? If it was a question of giving Lewis and million or two per year extra it would have been money well spent verses what he has pissed away the last 5 seasons in the collective salaries of Gregg Williams and now Mulurkey.

 

I really wonder what decision these fools would make if Jimmy Johnson said he was available for $5 to 6 mil. per year or whatever the Tuna makes in Big D? The answer to this question is probably the same answer to all our current pain!