The Mentality at One Bills Drive

[thewildrabbit]

It took almost 7 full years of losing to the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson would hire Chuck Knox

 

1977 3-11 Coach Jim Ringo is fired and replaced by Chuck Knox. In addition an era comes to an end as O.J. is traded to the San Francisco 49ers for draft picks as the Bills began to rebuild.

1978 5-11

1979 7-9 Jim Haslett was named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

1980 won ills on Dec. 30, 1985, the Bills were suffering from back to back 2-14 seasons and fan interest was at an all-time low. Polian had beDivision, 11-5 The Bills begin the 80's by doing something they failed to do in the 70's; beat the Miami Dolphins.Bills got their season started with a 17-7 win, as Bills fans rushed the field and tore down the goal posts. beaten 20-14 by the Chargers in the Divisional Playoffs at San Diego.

1981 10-6 Wild card, beat Jets first playoff game and lost to Bengals in next.

 

correction

1982 * strike year* Chuck Knox quits to go to Seattle, He would later be replaced by assistant Kay Stephenson.Chuck Knox called Buffalo "the coaches graveyard"

1983 8-8

1984 2-12

1985: After finishing with the worst record in the NFL the Bills select DE Bruce Smith with first overall draft pick. However the Bills would stumble out of the gate again losing their first 4 games before Coach Kay Stephenson is fired, and replaced by assistant Hank Bullough. Under Bullough the Bills would not fair much better winning just 2 of 12 while posting a 2-14 record for the second year in a row.

*Polian was General Manager in Buffalo from 1986-1993. "When Bill Polian was promoted to general manager of the Buffalo Ben with the Bills since August 2, 1984. He was originally hired as director of pro personnel, where he impressed Bills Owner Ralph Wilson by telling then-coach Kay Stephenson "We were 2-14 on merit--we have the worst personnel in the NFL". On February 7, 1985, Bills general manager Terry Bledsoe suffered a heart attack and Polian was named along with, director of scouting, Norm Pollom, to handle contract negotiations in Bledsoe's absence. Polian was instrumental in the signing of Bruce Smith to his first NFL contract. This impressed the Bills' hierarchy enough to warrant a promotion to GM, after the firing of Bledsoe, in 1985.

 

Polian proceeded to build an NFL powerhouse. In 1986, Polian got USFL star Jim Kelly to finally come to Buffalo. He next hired Marv Levy to replace Hank Bullough as head coach.

 

On February 4, 1993, after the Bills had appeared in their 3rd straight Super Bowl, Bill Polian was fired as general manager. Polian wasn't fired because he wasn't doing a good job, he was fired because he didn't get along with treasurer, Jeff Littmann, for reasons unknown to all except those close to owner Ralph Wilson, Littmann and Polian himself.

The way the Bills were able to make it to the Super Bowl in the 90's and get so darn good was the fact that Ralph Wilson found a football genius in Bill Polian and promoted him to GM. If you look back at the late 80,early 90 Buffalo Bills they had some pretty darn smart talent evaluators with that team in Polian, John Butler and A J Smith.

 

Just think if the Bills had NOT fired Bill Polian and instead promoted him to president here in Buffalo,how many super bowls would the Buffalo Bills have gone to, and won?

 

 

Anyway to the point of this post.

Ralph Wilson has a history of promoting from within the organization unless the team is certifiably horrid. It took 7 years of losing against the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson hired a "name" coach outside the organization in Chuck Knox. Knox did manage to get the bills into the Playoffs for a few years even against Don Shula.

 

The Bills already face another Don Shula Dolphin type dynasty in Bill Belichick and the Patriots in the AFC East and we just don't know yet on how good Tony Sparano can be with Parcells pulling the strings as the Dolphin president.

 

The 2008 Buffalo Bills are about to be swept in the division with Tom Brady out all year and the Bills with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL.

I'd say something drastic is called for if this team ever wants to climb out of mediocrity...but that's me.

[Peace Frog]

I had commented on this very thing earlier. Until Ralph hires a proven GM, this team will remain a coaches graveyard.

[Tcali]

It took almost 7 full years of losing to the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson would hire Chuck Knox

 

1977 3-11 Coach Jim Ringo is fired and replaced by Chuck Knox. In addition an era comes to an end as O.J. is traded to the San Francisco 49ers for draft picks as the Bills began to rebuild.

1978 5-11

1979 7-9 Jim Haslett was named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

1980 won Division, 11-5 The Bills begin the 80's by doing something they failed to do in the 70's; beat the Miami Dolphins.Bills got their season started with a 17-7 win, as Bills fans rushed the field and tore down the goal posts. beaten 20-14 by the Chargers in the Divisional Playoffs at San Diego.

1981 10-6 Wild card, beat Jets first playoff game and lost to Bengals in next.

 

1982 Chuck Knox quits to go to Seattle, He would later be replaced by assistant Kay Stephenson.Chuck Knox called Buffalo "the coaches graveyard"

1983 8-8

1984 strike year 2-12

1985: After finishing with the worst record in the NFL the Bills select DE Bruce Smith with first overall draft pick. However the Bills would stumble out of the gate again losing their first 4 games before Coach Kay Stephenson is fired, and replaced by assistant Hank Bullough. Under Bullough the Bills would not fair much better winning just 2 of 12 while posting a 2-14 record for the second year in a row.

 

*Polian was General Manager in Buffalo from 1986-1993. "When Bill Polian was promoted to general manager of the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 30, 1985, the Bills were suffering from back to back 2-14 seasons and fan interest was at an all-time low. Polian had been with the Bills since August 2, 1984. He was originally hired as director of pro personnel, where he impressed Bills Owner Ralph Wilson by telling then-coach Kay Stephenson "We were 2-14 on merit--we have the worst personnel in the NFL". On February 7, 1985, Bills general manager Terry Bledsoe suffered a heart attack and Polian was named along with, director of scouting, Norm Pollom, to handle contract negotiations in Bledsoe's absence. Polian was instrumental in the signing of Bruce Smith to his first NFL contract. This impressed the Bills' hierarchy enough to warrant a promotion to GM, after the firing of Bledsoe, in 1985.

 

Polian proceeded to build an NFL powerhouse. In 1986, Polian got USFL star Jim Kelly to finally come to Buffalo. He next hired Marv Levy to replace Hank Bullough as head coach.

 

On February 4, 1993, after the Bills had appeared in their 3rd straight Super Bowl, Bill Polian was fired as general manager. Polian wasn't fired because he wasn't doing a good job, he was fired because he didn't get along with treasurer, Jeff Littmann, for reasons unknown to all except those close to owner Ralph Wilson, Littmann and Polian himself.

 

The way the Bills were able to make it to the Super Bowl in the 90's and get so darn good was the fact that Ralph Wilson found a football genius in Bill Polian and promoted him to GM. If you look back at the late 80,early 90 Buffalo Bills they had some pretty darn smart talent evaluators with that team in Polian, John Butler and A J Smith.

 

Just think if the Bills had NOT fired Bill Polian and instead promoted him to president here in Buffalo,how many super bowls would the Buffalo Bills have gone to, and won?

 

 

Anyway to the point of this post.

Ralph Wilson has a history of promoting from within the organization unless the team is certifiably horrid. It took 7 years of losing against the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson hired a "name" coach outside the organization in Chuck Knox. Knox did manage to get the bills into the Playoffs for a few years even against Don Shula.

 

The Bills already face another Don Shula Dolphin type dynasty in Bill Belichick and the Patriots in the AFC East and we just don't know yet on how good Tony Sparano can be with Parcells pulling the strings as the Dolphin president.

 

The 2008 Buffalo Bills are about to be swept in the division with Tom Brady out all year and the Bills with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL.

I'd say something drastic is called for if this team ever wants to climb out of mediocrity...but that's me.

excellent job

[Albany,n.y.]

A correction & an addition:

Correction: 1982 was the strike year (4-5 record, I attended the 1st post strike game on my birthday), in 1984 the Bills went 2-14.

Addition: 1979-Bills become only team in NFL history to lose the top pick in the entire draft to the CFL. Chuck Knox was quite PO'd at Ralph for that one.

[BobDVA]

I like the team we have, albeit I believe we are a couple players short. We only lost a couple games this year that was not a result of bad Quarterback play and lost three games by bad play calling. I do not want to start over and wait another three years to have hope again.

 

I am not a Trent Edwards fan, not since I witnessed the arm strength in Cleveland last year, However, I like most everyone else bit the first four games this year. We just have to have hope that he gets over his brain freeze, stage fright, whatever it is and gets back to managing the game and give us a chance.

 

Just like Trish, the last woman I really loved, Bill Polian is not comimg back. I got over Trish, you people need to get over Polian. I want to be with Mila Kunis, that isn't going to happen, and Bill Cower coaching and GM of the Bills is not going to happen either.

[WellDressed]

excellent job

 

 

At what copy and pasting from wikipedia??

[Sisyphean Bills]

A correction & an addition:

Correction: 1982 was the strike year (4-5 record, I attended the 1st post strike game on my birthday), in 1984 the Bills went 2-14.

Addition: 1979-Bills become only team in NFL history to lose the top pick in the entire draft to the CFL. Chuck Knox was quite PO'd at Ralph for that one.

Hard-ball is fantastic.

[BLZFAN4LIFE]

The 2008 Buffalo Bills are about to be swept in the division with Tom Brady out all year and the Bills with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL.

I'd say something drastic is called for if this team ever wants to climb out of mediocrity...but that's me.

 

I've got to agree with you. The current state of this franchise is absolutely disgusting. Anyone who thinks that this team, under Dick Jauron, is just a couple of draft picks, a FA or two, and another year of experience away from contending for the playoffs is either sorely delusional or shares the IQ of JP Losman.

 

The 5-1 record to start the season, as it turns out, was merely a mirage. Those 5 teams that we beat are now sitting with a combined record of 19 - 52. That's a .365 win percentage and Seattle and Jax were significantly short-handed due to injuries and suspensions when we faced them. Since the 5-1 start, Dick & Co. have gone 1-7 with 4 STRAIGHT HOME LOSSES. Home losses to the Jets, Browns, 9ers, and Dolphins. I'm supremely confident that Dick will continue this trend and be a polite and gracious host to the Patriots, and end the season with a 5th straight home loss, 0-6 in the division, and a 6-10 record. And in the face of this catastrophic collapse, there are people on this board who think that keeping Dick Jauron is the right thing to do. Others say that our young players will be more experienced next year, so with the addition of a few good draft picks and FA additions we will be fine.

 

I do think that there is enough talent on this team right now to compete for the division title. But, under the leadership of Dick Jauron, it's all for naught. The NFL Network is running a lot of Cowboys footage ahead of tonight's Dallas-Baltimore game. I saw a great quote from Jimmy Johnson. It was during the training camp following their first Superbowl win (27). He was very guarded against the team being complacent following that victory so he was running a very tough camp. He was kicking their butts. He challenged EACH player to be better as an individual so that the team would be better as a whole. Quote " Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a person as if he were where he could be and should be, and he will become what he could be and should be".

 

Ask yourself this, Do you see this being Dick Jauron's philosophy? Dick with his soft training camps, back to work on Wednesday, indoor practices, don't destroy your feature back by giving him 25 touches, golly, it's tough to win in this league, and pathetic, apologetic post-loss press conferences. I've had enough of this bum and he's got to go. If he stays, then next year at this time, the same hopeful, delusional, supporters will be singing the same song, who do we draft?, who do we bring in?, we'll really get 'em next year.

 

Fire Dick and bring in either Cower, Billick, or Schottenheimer, they will kick some butt and get this club into the playoffs.

Keep the status quo, and once again, one of the greatest and most loyal fan bases in all of pro sports will be short-changed.

[jester43]

It took almost 7 full years of losing to the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson would hire Chuck Knox

 

1977 3-11 Coach Jim Ringo is fired and replaced by Chuck Knox. In addition an era comes to an end as O.J. is traded to the San Francisco 49ers for draft picks as the Bills began to rebuild.

1978 5-11

1979 7-9 Jim Haslett was named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

1980 won Division, 11-5 The Bills begin the 80's by doing something they failed to do in the 70's; beat the Miami Dolphins.Bills got their season started with a 17-7 win, as Bills fans rushed the field and tore down the goal posts. beaten 20-14 by the Chargers in the Divisional Playoffs at San Diego.

1981 10-6 Wild card, beat Jets first playoff game and lost to Bengals in next.

 

1982 Chuck Knox quits to go to Seattle, He would later be replaced by assistant Kay Stephenson.Chuck Knox called Buffalo "the coaches graveyard"

1983 8-8

1984 strike year 2-12

1985: After finishing with the worst record in the NFL the Bills select DE Bruce Smith with first overall draft pick. However the Bills would stumble out of the gate again losing their first 4 games before Coach Kay Stephenson is fired, and replaced by assistant Hank Bullough. Under Bullough the Bills would not fair much better winning just 2 of 12 while posting a 2-14 record for the second year in a row.

 

*Polian was General Manager in Buffalo from 1986-1993. "When Bill Polian was promoted to general manager of the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 30, 1985, the Bills were suffering from back to back 2-14 seasons and fan interest was at an all-time low. Polian had been with the Bills since August 2, 1984. He was originally hired as director of pro personnel, where he impressed Bills Owner Ralph Wilson by telling then-coach Kay Stephenson "We were 2-14 on merit--we have the worst personnel in the NFL". On February 7, 1985, Bills general manager Terry Bledsoe suffered a heart attack and Polian was named along with, director of scouting, Norm Pollom, to handle contract negotiations in Bledsoe's absence. Polian was instrumental in the signing of Bruce Smith to his first NFL contract. This impressed the Bills' hierarchy enough to warrant a promotion to GM, after the firing of Bledsoe, in 1985.

 

Polian proceeded to build an NFL powerhouse. In 1986, Polian got USFL star Jim Kelly to finally come to Buffalo. He next hired Marv Levy to replace Hank Bullough as head coach.

 

On February 4, 1993, after the Bills had appeared in their 3rd straight Super Bowl, Bill Polian was fired as general manager. Polian wasn't fired because he wasn't doing a good job, he was fired because he didn't get along with treasurer, Jeff Littmann, for reasons unknown to all except those close to owner Ralph Wilson, Littmann and Polian himself.

 

The way the Bills were able to make it to the Super Bowl in the 90's and get so darn good was the fact that Ralph Wilson found a football genius in Bill Polian and promoted him to GM. If you look back at the late 80,early 90 Buffalo Bills they had some pretty darn smart talent evaluators with that team in Polian, John Butler and A J Smith.

 

Just think if the Bills had NOT fired Bill Polian and instead promoted him to president here in Buffalo,how many super bowls would the Buffalo Bills have gone to, and won?

 

 

Anyway to the point of this post.

Ralph Wilson has a history of promoting from within the organization unless the team is certifiably horrid. It took 7 years of losing against the Dolphins before Ralph Wilson hired a "name" coach outside the organization in Chuck Knox. Knox did manage to get the bills into the Playoffs for a few years even against Don Shula.

 

The Bills already face another Don Shula Dolphin type dynasty in Bill Belichick and the Patriots in the AFC East and we just don't know yet on how good Tony Sparano can be with Parcells pulling the strings as the Dolphin president.

 

The 2008 Buffalo Bills are about to be swept in the division with Tom Brady out all year and the Bills with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL.

I'd say something drastic is called for if this team ever wants to climb out of mediocrity...but that's me.

the only thing about his ownership that is not a failure is that he hasn't sold the team out of town...yet. it cracks me up that some people want him in the hall of fame.

 

he gets way too much credit, and he's no longer able to make competent decisions with regard to the product on the field,.

[VJ91]

A correction & an addition:

Correction: 1982 was the strike year (4-5 record, I attended the 1st post strike game on my birthday), in 1984 the Bills went 2-14.

Addition: 1979-Bills become only team in NFL history to lose the top pick in the entire draft to the CFL. Chuck Knox was quite PO'd at Ralph for that one.

 

Chuck might have been po'd, but had he signed, Tom Cousineau would have been yet another first round draft choice bust for the Bills. And a year or two later, the Bills traded the rights to Cousineau to Cleveland for draft picks that I think one of which was used for Joe Cribbs. As for Cribbs, after giving the Bills two or three excellent "Thurman-type" seasons, he bolted for the stupid USFL. Had Cribbs stayed in Buffalo, there's no telling where he would have finished up on the all-time rushing and receiving team records. That kid was awesome.

[BADOLBILZ]

Chuck might have been po'd, but had he signed, Tom Cousineau would have been yet another first round draft choice bust for the Bills. And a year or two later, the Bills traded the rights to Cousineau to Cleveland for draft picks that I think one of which was used for Joe Cribbs. As for Cribbs, after giving the Bills two or three excellent "Thurman-type" seasons, he bolted for the stupid USFL. Had Cribbs stayed in Buffalo, there's no telling where he would have finished up on the all-time rushing and receiving team records. That kid was awesome.

 

Without getting exact details, I do know that the Bills traded Cousineau to Cleveland and selected Jim Kelly with the pick.

[BADOLBILZ]

the only thing about his ownership that is not a failure is that he hasn't sold the team out of town...yet. it cracks me up that some people want him in the hall of fame.

 

he gets way too much credit, and he's no longer able to make competent decisions with regard to the product on the field,.

 

I have grown to wholeheartedly agree. The straw for me was the hiring of Dick Jauron a proven LOSER after the Bills just had 6 non-playoff seasons in succession. Having only been a Bills fan since the Chuck Knox era, I had seen mostly success from Ralph's hires, but it all became clear when he allowed this travesty to happen. It was undeniably time for a Chuck Knox type hire at that juncture, not a loser who even the most passive, accepting of Bills fans have to struggle to justify as worthy of a head coaching job, be it the day he was hired, or now 3 years later.

 

Ralph butchered the Polian deal, and he screwed up a pretty good thing with Butler/Smith/Adams, but Donahoe was actually an impressive hire and it really looked like Ralph had landed on his feet. TD had a great track record in Pittsburgh, better in fact than Butler had in Buffalo. Donahoe had been great at stocking the dominant 3-4 defenses in Pittsburgh, routinely outmaneuvering Butler for pass rushing LB talent.

 

But he inexplicably decided to go against what he did best and hired a bad coach who ran a difficult to stock 46 type defense which turned a somewhat painful 3 year rebuild into a near mission impossible. He then followed it up with another bad hire in a non-leader of men in Mike Mularkey after successfully building a dominant 4-3. The bad coaching hires and the difficulty of that type of rebuild undermined Donahoe and he made a number of mistakes trying to overcompensate and play catch-up.

 

If he had just stuck with what he did best and copied the model in Pittsburgh things would have been much better. I absolutely believe the team would be far better off today with him than the complete void of leadership and direction they have now because he had success before and the experience would have made him better.

 

Everyone is talking about having that type of continuity now, but continuity is only important if their is reason to EXPECT a turnaround. Aside from another year of drafting high in each round, and having a young QB who hasn't totally DISPROVEN himself, there isn't much here to look forward to. This isn't 1984, every team in the league has a number of talented players, so having Peters, Lynch, Poz, McKelvin by no means assures this team won't be awful for the foreseeable future.

 

It's time for a change, preferably to a HC with a proven program, but if not, even to a BRILLIANT coordinator because Jauron will only continue to disappoint just like Norv Turner. But it's very unlikely to happen, and so is Ralph EVER getting into the HOF.

[Tcali]

At what copy and pasting from wikipedia??

copying and pasting properly is an art

[Albany,n.y.]

Chuck might have been po'd, but had he signed, Tom Cousineau would have been yet another first round draft choice bust for the Bills. And a year or two later, the Bills traded the rights to Cousineau to Cleveland for draft picks that I think one of which was used for Joe Cribbs. As for Cribbs, after giving the Bills two or three excellent "Thurman-type" seasons, he bolted for the stupid USFL. Had Cribbs stayed in Buffalo, there's no telling where he would have finished up on the all-time rushing and receiving team records. That kid was awesome.

Cribbs was the last pick left in the OJ Simpson trade to SF. He only missed the 1984 season with the Bills, so it was not like he left after 1983 & never came back. He played more than half the 1985 season with the Bills, but didn't want to be here even going as far as to put tape on his locker vertically like a jail cell to indicate he was a prisoner of the Buffalo Bills. He was traded before the 1986 season to San Francisco for a 3rd in 1987 (FB Jamie Mueller) and a 5th in 1988 (Kirk Roach, the barefooted kicker who got injured and never kicked in Buffalo, exiting as a plan B free agent).

[Tcali]

Cribbs was the last pick left in the OJ Simpson trade to SF. He only missed the 1984 season with the Bills, so it was not like he left after 1983 & never came back. He played more than half the 1985 season with the Bills, but didn't want to be here even going as far as to put tape on his locker vertically like a jail cell to indicate he was a prisoner of the Buffalo Bills. He was traded before the 1986 season to San Francisco for a 3rd in 1987 (FB Jamie Mueller) and a 5th in 1988 (Kirk Roach, the barefooted kicker who got injured and never kicked in Buffalo, exiting as a plan B free agent).

Cribbs got fried by playing football for 2 straight years without an offseason break.he was never quite the same after. he had one decent season in SF.

[thewildrabbit]

Cribbs got fried by playing football for 2 straight years without an offseason break.he was never quite the same after. he had one decent season in SF.

I can recall Joe Cribbs,what stands out to me was at the goal line when the bills needed to score he wanted the ball .When a crucial first down needed to be made,he wanted the ball. Its just that he never seemed to make those clutch plays.

[BuffaloBill]

Ask yourself this, Do you see this being Dick Jauron's philosophy? Dick with his soft training camps, back to work on Wednesday, indoor practices, don't destroy your feature back by giving him 25 touches, golly, it's tough to win in this league, and pathetic, apologetic post-loss press conferences. I've had enough of this bum and he's got to go. If he stays, then next year at this time, the same hopeful, delusional, supporters will be singing the same song, who do we draft?, who do we bring in?, we'll really get 'em next year.

 

Fire Dick and bring in either Cower, Billick, or Schottenheimer, they will kick some butt and get this club into the playoffs.

Keep the status quo, and once again, one of the greatest and most loyal fan bases in all of pro sports will be short-changed.

 

 

I guess the hard azz bullhorn and two a days philosophy under Gregg Williams was so much better. The players have to motivate themselves. The coach can cause motivation to degrade but he is not going to pick it up. An effective coach will tap into the players that lead (Levy was a master) and then let them keep the locker room and sidelines on alert.

[bdelma]

I can recall Joe Cribbs,what stands out to me was at the goal line when the bills needed to score he wanted the ball .When a crucial first down needed to be made,he wanted the ball. Its just that he never seemed to make those clutch plays.

Thats BS.

[PromoTheRobot]

I had commented on this very thing earlier. Until Ralph hires a proven GM, this team will remain a coaches graveyard.

And a QB graveyard too.

 

PTR

[thewildrabbit]

Reflecting back over last off season and the changes in the coaching dept it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find that the president of the Buffalo Bills had Jauron hire from within the organization just like he has done for so many years. So the QB coach to OC and the assistant line coach to full line coach and the quality control coach to QB coach. all were promoted by the president and not Jauron IMO.

 

The president being the owner,Ralph Wilson. So Its no wonder then that Ralph Wilson would make that statement that he and Jauron will leave together.