The Jauron question (and the answer I suspect)

[DazedandConfused]

IMHO, the real question for the Bills in terms of achieving success under Dick Jauron boils down to whether he is going to be able to have an OC implementing the offensive tools the Bills have acquired in order to make an effective NFL O.

 

I am afraid that the answer is that in his career, Jauron has shown no evidence of pulling this off with a consistency anywhere near having an SB competitive team.

 

Thus, my conclusion is that failing having some real world demonstration of him hiring and turning over O control to someone who has a proven record of NFL O success, achieving anything beyond the Bills achieving more than mere adequacy under Jauron is not likely to happen.

 

The problem is that I do not see Ralph easily accepting paying a man an HC salary to not be HC for the Bills. Particularly it would seem to be the case that if Jauron has signed an extension committing Ralph to pay him roughly a million a year through 2012, I see little evidence of Ralph showing a willingness to take the hit that firing Jauron would bring.

 

Again if this is true, then a move by the Bills which would seem to give us any chance at a result beyond mediocrity would be for the Bills to hire an OC of such past success and give him such authority as it is hard for me to see how you do this and maintain Jauron's authority as HC.

 

I think this is the central quandary facing our future results.

 

I see few other options than Ralph simply biting the financial bullet and thanking Jauron for being a stand-up guy but as the odds are to achieve adequacy at best under Jauron (and more likely continued mediocrity after 3 years at 7-9) we need to go in a different direction.

 

However, given the failed effort to gyp Wade out of the last year of his payment and Mularkey seeming to be made so uncomfortable that he resigned its hard to see Ralph demonstrating the character and cajones to cut Jauron lose.

[Bill from NYC]

How does it work? If Jauron gets a job as a defensive backs assistant with another team, does Ralph owe him less money?

[Ramius]

How does it work? If Jauron gets a job as a defensive backs assistant with another team, does Ralph owe him less money?

 

I believe, and i could be wrong, that ralph owes the difference between any new deal and the old one. If dickie is owed $1 million next season, and picks up a DC or DB coaching job for 500K, then ralph only owes him 500K.

[Lofton80]

If DJ stays, he will get someone that no one else wants as his OC. A retread we are competing with no one to sign and we will hear all about his great ideas only to watch Jauron ball take over. The only successful strategy is to turn it all over to a football guy and let him call the shots. So what if it didn't work with TD, give Casserly or Ron Wolf the keys to the car and tell Ralph, Littman and Russ to watch and enjoy.

[silvermike]

Is there any reason for a new team to pay him more than $1 if they're going to pay him less than his current salary?

[Bill from NYC]

Is there any reason for a new team to pay him more than $1 if they're going to pay him less than his current salary?

 

That sir, is a great question.

[Thoner7]

What is a new OC going to do when DICK just over-rules his play calls for terrible ones? Dick has admitted to changing the play call multiple times when asked about these retarded calls that lose games. A new OC wont do anything to improve us because they are all approved/disapproved by DICK.

[DazedandConfused]

What is a new OC going to do when DICK just over-rules his play calls for terrible ones? Dick has admitted to changing the play call multiple times when asked about these retarded calls that lose games. A new OC wont do anything to improve us because they are all approved/disapproved by DICK.

That a big part of the reason it likely does not work to hire an OC with some rep to come here with Jauron. Likely no OC with some rep would take this job unless he was given pretty free reign and the ability to "go over Jauron's head to Ralph if he chooses. However, such a guarantee would so disempower DJ as to make it impossible for him to truly be considered the alpha dog of this team as an HC normally requires. It would simply be setting up a "too many cooks situation" that would almost certainly fail. Like a child who parents do not get along, a kid naturally plays one adult off against the other to get important things like desert first. If you think Mom will say no then ask Dad and vice-versa.

 

I think the only choices may be to fire DJ or to simply stay the course. I find it hard to believe Ralph will eat the bucks after his displays with Wade and MM regarding their leaving the team. If the only choice left is DJ stays then it will be quite insane to expect a result much different than the mediocrity of 7-9. On a good day the Bills would step up and ooze into the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

However, we would do well to do that and an SB is simply a very unlikely wish under DJ.

[BuffaloBill]

How does it work? If Jauron gets a job as a defensive backs assistant with another team, does Ralph owe him less money?

 

 

While it is possible that there is not a clause in the contract most contain language that says any payment the Bills would have to make is reduced by whatever salary he picks up elsewhere. DJ will be luck to land a coordinator role much less a HC job. so his earnings potential is likely to be much lower.

[#67]

Buffalo News is reporting Dick stays on for the next three years per Ralph Wilson.......

[DazedandConfused]

Buffalo News is reporting Dick stays on for the next three years per Ralph Wilson.......

Still not confirmed as best as I can tell but still consistent with Ralph's past MO. Particularly when it comes to paying HCs who no longer work for him he throws nickels around like they were manhole covers.

 

My guess is that DJ stays as contractually Ralph is bound to pay him a million or more for 2 years or as many as 4 if DJ signed the deal which apparently was agreed to when the team was 4-0.

 

I cannot see Jauron showing an ability to hire an OC capable of leading the team beyond adequacy at best (8-8 in good years and 10 or 11 wins in extraordinary years) but to this point the results have been not horrendous but mediocre at best. I also cannot see it being a sustainable situation to hire an OC that any OC with a rep of success should insist on that he gets final say on O calls for the most part.

 

Such an agreement would simply render DJ as a non-HC in the traditional make-up and it is simply a matter of time til a Jason Peters type figures out that if he sucks up to one party he can get the other party overruled.

 

Maybe there is some odd world where DJ actually gets promoted to GM status and a new HC with O chops is hired. Possible and maybe it works. However, it probably doesn't and is simply weird.

 

I think the Bills are hard up between a rock (an HV who has shown no ability to hire a winning OC) and a cheap place (Ralph).

[BillsVet]

Is it any coincidence that DJ coached teams can't do anything offensively? Some idiot will say it's always players, but over the past six seasons he's been a full time HC, no DJ coached team has had an offense which ranked higher than 25th in total yards.

 

Jauron record per PFR

 

Since 2002, he's never been higher than 17th in points scored. And yes, I am removing the 2001 season, which officially was a fluke.

 

The offense is a problem because DJ manages the offense his way, no matter who fills the OC role.

[lacoy38]

IMHO, the real question for the Bills in terms of achieving success under Dick Jauron boils down to whether he is going to be able to have an OC implementing the offensive tools the Bills have acquired in order to make an effective NFL O.

 

I am afraid that the answer is that in his career, Jauron has shown no evidence of pulling this off with a consistency anywhere near having an SB competitive team.

 

Thus, my conclusion is that failing having some real world demonstration of him hiring and turning over O control to someone who has a proven record of NFL O success, achieving anything beyond the Bills achieving more than mere adequacy under Jauron is not likely to happen.

 

The problem is that I do not see Ralph easily accepting paying a man an HC salary to not be HC for the Bills. Particularly it would seem to be the case that if Jauron has signed an extension committing Ralph to pay him roughly a million a year through 2012, I see little evidence of Ralph showing a willingness to take the hit that firing Jauron would bring.

 

Again if this is true, then a move by the Bills which would seem to give us any chance at a result beyond mediocrity would be for the Bills to hire an OC of such past success and give him such authority as it is hard for me to see how you do this and maintain Jauron's authority as HC.

 

I think this is the central quandary facing our future results.

 

I see few other options than Ralph simply biting the financial bullet and thanking Jauron for being a stand-up guy but as the odds are to achieve adequacy at best under Jauron (and more likely continued mediocrity after 3 years at 7-9) we need to go in a different direction.

 

However, given the failed effort to gyp Wade out of the last year of his payment and Mularkey seeming to be made so uncomfortable that he resigned its hard to see Ralph demonstrating the character and cajones to cut Jauron lose.

pat bowlen left 20 million on the table to fire a guy with 2 Super Bowl rings, old man wilson can't part with 4 million to cut loose a lame duck coach. I'm curious what do you think the chances of jauron returning would be had he not signed that deal in october and wilson not be on the hook money wise, would he be retained?? The sad thing is we all no the answer to that, and it makes me sick.

[DazedandConfused]

pat bowlen left 20 million on the table to fire a guy with 2 Super Bowl rings, old man wilson can't part with 4 million to cut loose a lame duck coach. I'm curious what do you think the chances of jauron returning would be had he not signed that deal in october and wilson not be on the hook money wise, would he be retained?? The sad thing is we all no the answer to that, and it makes me sick.

I agree that most of us would vote for Jauron to be gone if only out of the frustration of fans who after we folded with an 0fer showing against division opponents after going 4 and 0. It what a friend of mine compares to be bitten to death by ducks. It was slow and was not pretty.

 

Still regardless of what we would have done in fantasy land where there is no cost to letting DJ go, the problem is that even at fiscal levels which make the likely false assumption that DJ had not signed an extension or that some sort of disaster clause kicked in that allows the Bills to opt-out if we finished below .500. The problem is Ralph has not shown the ability to take even a one season hit for a fired HCs salary as he did with a foolhardy attempt to challenge Wades final year with the NFL and him apparently driving MM out of town when he seemed ready to pay MM to be HC but be stripped of virtually all power and authority.

 

It does make me sad but not sick since I have long been resigned to Ralph not being willing to take much fiscal risk to get players that would have helped this team.