nick in* england Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 There was some talk yesterday on the British coverage of the NFL about how a coach like Couglin or Parcells coach his teams into good performances with hard discipline and give them the killer instinct. It strikes me now that for the past few years, and very definately this season, the Buffalo Bills have lacked any killer instinct whatsoever. In many cases our gameplay on the whole has not been a complete disaster - rather, our team has crumbled and committed mistakes when it cam to the crunch. Look back over they years and this is a trait of so many Bills teams. Even the great marvel Marv's teams lacked the killer instinct when it got to the big show. We have a history lately of coaches who are great guys (Gregg Williams even turned to being a 'friend' of the players after a dismal 3-13 season). Mularky knows how to get players to like him cos he's one of the guys, but is this approach having any effect? Mike Williams slacks off in preseason. Willis and Travis whine like whores about who gets to start with no reproach. We lose in the 4th to big plays to Jacksonville, despite effectively dominating the game. We lose in the 4th to the Raiders on a big play. We lose in the 4th to the Pats, despite having a decent enough game and being in with a shot to win. Where is the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and drive home a win when you are in a position to do so? The players may be fading, we may be in for another 3 to 5 years of poor Buffalo Bills football, but for gods sake - lets do it with some pride. Let's leave other teams feeling like they have taken a smack in the mouth. That has to lie with the coaching staff... Parcells and Coughlin may not make to many friends on the playing staff - but the boys sure know who is boss and what they have to do to keep a job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Coughlin and Parcells strike me as wo very different types of HCs so while it is clear that MM has failed to produice in his brief stint and TD made a huge mistake in hiring the "note ready to be a primetime HC" Gregg Williams, you suggesty replacing these failures with two very different types of HCs. Both are similar in that they have a clear point of view and the team alters itself to express that approach, thre is a whoelsale difference between the two which overwhelms this similarity or their difference in approach from MM. Coughlin strikes me as a guy who experiences initial success with his team but his "my way or the highway" approach tends to ultimately alienate the team and reverse the early success he had (this is the Carolina story and we may be seeing the beginning of it in NY) as he wears out his welcome. Hallmarks of the Coughlin style were episodes like the one in NC where he issued an edict against his assistants and players wearing sunglasses and seemed to assert his authority with random acts of firing and terror which kept everyone on their toes and demanded that follow the same approach but ultimately led to backbiting and his team doing an el foldo. Parcells on the other hand (anyone who saw the 60 Minutes piece yesterday can correct me with their perspectives as I didn't) seems to get it at the their is now a partnership between the NFL and NFLPA. Individual players may well be spoiled brats, but they have the money to be spoiled if they choose to be and though they sorely need and even want disicipline and need to be on the same page to be successful, he knows that you only discipline players with their permission. Unlike the reign of terror Coughlin mode which produces shorter term discipline but ultimately failure, Parcellls breeds fierce loyalty from his players and gets performance out of idiots like Keyshawn and oldsters like Testaverde because he is loyal to any player who plays hard and puts his teammates first even if a player like Keyshawn simply says stupid egotistic things. There are certainly quick firings in the land of Parcells (witness Quincy Carter), but they do not have the randomness that Coughlin brings and seem to happen against not simply players who take on the HC or violate his edicts, but against players who let their teammates down. Its hard for me to imagine a player taking a swing or even implying he would at Coughlin and being around, but Parcells almost encourgages such behavior to clear the air as long as eventually he and player kiss and make-up and the player is loyal to his teammates. Parcells seems to be able to find public fault with his players by clothing his cutting assessments in jokes and a great sense of humor. Coughlin seems more like a serious death camp type with his random acts of terror. So advocating that the Bills go to a firmer HC makes sense to me, particular given the lack of discipline under GW and MM seen in getting too many penalties. Hpwever, advocating an approach like Coughlin OR Parcells strikes me as two different things to advocate. So which type of HC do you want or do you not see any difference here? There was some talk yesterday on the British coverage of the NFL about how a coach like Couglin or Parcells coach his teams into good performances with hard discipline and give them the killer instinct. It strikes me now that for the past few years, and very definately this season, the Buffalo Bills have lacked any killer instinct whatsoever. In many cases our gameplay on the whole has not been a complete disaster - rather, our team has crumbled and committed mistakes when it cam to the crunch. Look back over they years and this is a trait of so many Bills teams. Even the great marvel Marv's teams lacked the killer instinct when it got to the big show. We have a history lately of coaches who are great guys (Gregg Williams even turned to being a 'friend' of the players after a dismal 3-13 season). Mularky knows how to get players to like him cos he's one of the guys, but is this approach having any effect? Mike Williams slacks off in preseason. Willis and Travis whine like whores about who gets to start with no reproach. We lose in the 4th to big plays to Jacksonville, despite effectively dominating the game. We lose in the 4th to the Raiders on a big play. We lose in the 4th to the Pats, despite having a decent enough game and being in with a shot to win. Where is the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and drive home a win when you are in a position to do so? The players may be fading, we may be in for another 3 to 5 years of poor Buffalo Bills football, but for gods sake - lets do it with some pride. Let's leave other teams feeling like they have taken a smack in the mouth. That has to lie with the coaching staff... Parcells and Coughlin may not make to many friends on the playing staff - but the boys sure know who is boss and what they have to do to keep a job... 55255[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 We need two things. A new GM...TD has two bad coaching choices since his arrival. Does he really need a third strike? And we have consistently passed up the best coaches available to appoint mediocrities who will go with the flow. We go nowhere until we get a new GM and a good coach who knows how to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I'm for Jim Tressel- I think he's the equal of Belichick. Ohio State was being destroyed on Saturday night, and somehow he held things together, and miraculously forced overtime. I think his record speaks for itself- 3 losses since his first season at OSU, and a shining record at Youngstown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 So which type of HC do you want or do you not see any difference here? 55296[/snapback] Like you say - I don't necessarily want them, per se, but rather a type of coach that breeds the killer instinct and loyalty to coach and team and gets results. Parcells is clearly the model, but Coughlin looks good right now too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 There was some talk yesterday on the British coverage of the NFL about how a coach like Couglin or Parcells coach his teams into good performances with hard discipline and give them the killer instinct. It strikes me now that for the past few years, and very definately this season, the Buffalo Bills have lacked any killer instinct whatsoever. In many cases our gameplay on the whole has not been a complete disaster - rather, our team has crumbled and committed mistakes when it cam to the crunch. Look back over they years and this is a trait of so many Bills teams. Even the great marvel Marv's teams lacked the killer instinct when it got to the big show. We have a history lately of coaches who are great guys (Gregg Williams even turned to being a 'friend' of the players after a dismal 3-13 season). Mularky knows how to get players to like him cos he's one of the guys, but is this approach having any effect? Mike Williams slacks off in preseason. Willis and Travis whine like whores about who gets to start with no reproach. We lose in the 4th to big plays to Jacksonville, despite effectively dominating the game. We lose in the 4th to the Raiders on a big play. We lose in the 4th to the Pats, despite having a decent enough game and being in with a shot to win. Where is the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and drive home a win when you are in a position to do so? The players may be fading, we may be in for another 3 to 5 years of poor Buffalo Bills football, but for gods sake - lets do it with some pride. Let's leave other teams feeling like they have taken a smack in the mouth. That has to lie with the coaching staff... Parcells and Coughlin may not make to many friends on the playing staff - but the boys sure know who is boss and what they have to do to keep a job... 55255[/snapback] Or like a Joe Gibbs. He's known as a solid coach that runs disciplined teams. Of course, the Redskins are getting killed by the same types of stupid penalties that are killing the Bills. And come to think of it...Jim McNally had the reputation as an effective offensive line coach, and the penalties we're seeing are way out of proportion to his usual efforts. It starts with the coaches, for sure, and I'm pissed that Mularkey hasn't managed to rein this team's stupidity in (hell, just kicking Fletcher's ass would be a big improvement)...but I can't help wondering if there's something more to the problem than can be answered by a simple "Parcells' teams don't do this" statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Or like a Joe Gibbs. He's known as a solid coach that runs disciplined teams. Of course, the Redskins are getting killed by the same types of stupid penalties that are killing the Bills. And come to think of it...Jim McNally had the reputation as an effective offensive line coach, and the penalties we're seeing are way out of proportion to his usual efforts. It starts with the coaches, for sure, and I'm pissed that Mularkey hasn't managed to rein this team's stupidity in (hell, just kicking Fletcher's ass would be a big improvement)...but I can't help wondering if there's something more to the problem than can be answered by a simple "Parcells' teams don't do this" statement. 55330[/snapback] Look - i am merely hypothesizing that when we inevitably end up with a new HC in a couple of years time, I think we should go with a tougher coach. I'm not saying that Parcells or any other coachs team does this or doesn't do this - but with all the silly penalties and stupid remarks made to the media by our players, it would be nice to see some discipline installed into the team. Don't belittle the point by over simplifying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Look - i am merely hypothesizing that when we inevitably end up with a new HC in a couple of years time, I think we should go with a tougher coach. I'm not saying that Parcells or any other coachs team does this or doesn't do this - but with all the silly penalties and stupid remarks made to the media by our players, it would be nice to see some discipline installed into the team. Don't belittle the point by over simplifying it. 55341[/snapback] I'm not belittling it. I'm just saying that: A) Blaming Mularkey is certainly warranted, but not a panacea. 2) I have an uncomfortable feeling there's more to the penalty problem on this team than coaching, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooligan Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 guys not to burst your bubble or antyhing, but TD is too much of a proud man to go and change the coach so fast. Don't expect a new coach for awhile. Of course unless we get a new GM this summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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