Sound_n_Fury Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Lots of fun names in this piece! And here's another gem! (sorry, the link's not available anymore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILSON GETS RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB by JERRY SULLIVAN January 11, 2001 Ralph Wilson wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to relinquish most of his customary NFL duties and spend the rest of his career kicking back in the owner's box. All you need to do is examine the title he bestowed on his new hire, Tom Donahoe: president and general manager. For the first 40 years of the Bills' existence, Wilson was the only president. None of the general managers who ran his football operation over the years had the dual title of team president. Not Bill Polian. Not Pat McGroder or John Butler. Wilson is conceding that he lacks the energy to remain as involved in the NFL as he used to be. You can't blame the man. He's 82 years old, and it was time for him to loosen his control of the team and to give an unprecedented level of power to a football man he could trust. He could not have found a better available man than Donahoe, who is respected throughout the NFL and was widely perceived as the best personnel man on the NFL market when Wilson abruptly fired Butler three weeks ago. Wilson took his time doing it. He left Donahoe hanging for more than a week while deciding what to do with Wade Phillips. As recently as Tuesday, Donahoe talked with new Lions President Matt Millen about hooking on with Detroit's staff. It looked as if the best man might slip away from Buffalo. But Wilson got him in the end, and for that he should be commended. You might call it luck, but he has a way of digging up quality GMs. He hired and fired two of the best in Polian and Butler, and he was fortunate that a man of Donahoe's reputation was available when he went looking again. Donahoe is universally admired around the league as a football man. Like Polian and Butler, he is a scout at heart, most comfortable walking the sidelines at some college all-star game, looking for some overlooked prospect. He has never worked anywhere other than Pittsburgh, his hometown. He probably would have remained with the Steelers for life if it weren't for the power struggle with head coach Bill Cowher that led to Donahoe's departure last January. Donahoe has always insisted that money wasn't an important consideration for him. People who know him say it's genuine. He could have gone to Seattle for big money after the Steelers reached the Super Bowl, but he turned it down. He had numerous feelers (New Orleans, Miami and New England) shortly after leaving the Steelers. Detroit and the Jets were interested before Wilson signed him. The expansion Houston franchise talked with him. But he held out for the right job. Donahoe is said to be a devoted family man, and Buffalo was reasonably close to Pittsburgh. It's a Rust Belt city with a blue-collar ethos and abiding affection for its football team. Donahoe was once described as having a great reverence for the Pittsburgh community. People close to him have told him Buffalo would be a perfect fit. "You can't go wrong with the guy," said one league source. One thing Donahoe will recognize is a big salary cap problem. The Bills are an estimated $ 10 million over the projected cap for next season. They have two big-ticket free agents in Eric Moulds and Marcellus Wiley. They have two $ 5 million quarterbacks in Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson. Donahoe is no fool. Regardless of geography, he wouldn't be coming here if he thought the situation was hopeless. He has a massive job in front of him, but he's dealt with this kind of mess before and emerged with a competitive team, a playoff team. With shrewd drafting and wise free-agent moves, he can do it here. He'll have to make some hard decisions. Some highly paid veterans, like Ted Washington and Sam Rogers, will probably have to be let go. He'll have to restructure other contracts to create additional room under the cap -assuming Wilson gives him the money to do it. His most important task will be to bring the coaching up to an acceptable level. It remains to be seen whether Donahoe will clean house. The NFL is filled with his former coaching associates and it wouldn't be surprising if he brought in an entirely new staff. That would be regrettable, because there are some capable coaches on the old staff, mainly on the defensive side. Ted Cottrell deserves to be a head coach in the league. Donahoe isn't likely to accommodate him. But for continuity's sake, he could make Cottrell assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and show the defensive players their accomplishments counted for something. Donahoe has the power now, however. If he chooses to sweep out all the coaches, it's his prerogative. After his bitter fight with Cowher, you can understand if he wants to hire every one of his coaches and be intimately familiar with them all. Whatever the case, the Bills are in for a major face-lift. Donahoe has his work cut out for him, but at least he's the best man for the job. Bills fans should look at it this way: You lost Butler, but you got a comparable GM in Donahoe. Phillips is gone and his replacement is bound to be an improvement. The same goes for a lot of his coaches. So Wilson's luck just might hold. Maybe he stumbled into it, but you could argue that he's better off than he was one month ago where his coaches and GM are concerned. Now if he'll keep his promise and stay out of the way, maybe there's hope for his team after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stussy109 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 as a gm and person he's greta, he fills the seats, brings in money for ralph, puts togetehr "hope" for every season, just doesn't produce in the W column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortured Soul Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I didn't remember Millen wanted to hire him. Oh, the humanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talonz Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 At the time Sullivan was correct....Knowing what he knows now obviously he is singing a different tune.. The Donahoe era for the Bills has been horrible.... Please end it Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 At the time Sullivan was correct....Knowing what he knows now obviously he is singing a different tune.. The Donahoe era for the Bills has been horrible.... Please end it Now 516108[/snapback] And the wind is blowing from the west...no wait...the east...and now it's gusting from the north. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Please send that to Jerry. I'm sure he'd get a laugh out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Please send that to Jerry. I'm sure he'd get a laugh out of it. 516139[/snapback] Not really...all he'll do is sneer that he's a columnist and he reseves the right to change his mind. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Not really...all he'll do is sneer that he's a columnist and he reseves the right to change his mind. PTR 516162[/snapback] Now wait a minute, were we all not excited about TD coming here after what he had done in Pittsburgh. I agreed whole heartely with Sullivan on that column. Kinda like Buffal teams for a guy thought to have great talent to come here and not do so well. Can you say Scotty Bowman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Mom Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Do we need to do a way back machine on stadiumwall.com to see what people here thought about the hiring back then? Tards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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