San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 While wading through all the Super Bowl hype, I was reading a piece on Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and recalled how when former Bills coach Mike Mularkey was interviewing for the Buffalo job, he wanted to bring along present day Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt as his offensive coordinator. At the time, Mularkey was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator and Whisenhunt was his tight ends coach. Both served as assistants under Bill Cowher. However then Bills (and former Steelers) GM Tom Donahoe told Mularkey that he wanted Tom Clements, the Steelers quarterbacks coach, not Whisenhunt, to be hired as offensive coordinator. Mularkey, of course wishing to be offered the Bills job acceded to Donahoe's request and asked Clements, not Whisenhunt to join him on his Buffalo staff. This was common knowledge and was published in the Buffalo News. Kinda makes you wonder what might have been. FYI, Tom Clements is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLocke Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 While wading through all the Super Bowl hype, I was reading a piece on Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and recalled how when former Bills coach Mike Mularkey was interviewing for the Buffalo job, he wanted to bring along present day Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt as his offensive coordinator. At the time, Mularkey was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator and Whisenhunt was his tight ends coach. Both served as assistants under Bill Cowher. However then Bills (and former Steelers) GM Tom Donahoe told Mularkey that he wanted Tom Clements, the Steelers quarterbacks coach, not Whisenhunt, to be hired as offensive coordinator. Mularkey, of course wishing to be offered the Bills job acceded to Donahoe's request and asked Clements, not Whisenhunt to join him on his Buffalo staff. This was common knowledge and was published in the Buffalo News. Kinda makes you wonder what might have been. FYI, Tom Clements is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. This is just more evidence Donahoe was a control freak as much as his supporters said otherwise. 31-49 in 5 seasons with the paraody in the league today it's almost an accomplishment having that bad of a record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyDingo Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Big deal. In 5 years the guy made one bad decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Even IF this was true, which I've seen no evidence of it being, Whisenhunt would have done no better here being saddled with Bledsoe, a green JP and that truly Offensive Line. You all would have run him out of town just as quick as Mularkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Even IF this was true, which I've seen no evidence of it being, Whisenhunt would have done no better here being saddled with Bledsoe, a green JP and that truly Offensive Line.You all would have run him out of town just as quick as Mularkey. Whoa Simon, Firstly I mentioned this was published in the Buffalo News. Are you're saying that I'm a liar? And secondly, I'm not running anyone out of town, not even Dick Jauron (I realize I'm in the minority there). I'm in favor of stability and not in favor of yet another staff overhaul. Your knee jerk reactions are amusing...and disturbing. You're saying that Whisenhunt would have failed anyways due to the personnel here and that the front office would be too stupid to recognize his talent and possibly promote him. And you also managed to call me a liar and call Bills' fans here a lynch mob. Good job Simon. Good intelligent feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I don't remember this going down like that. What I remember is that Donahoe wanted Whisenhunt, but that either the Steelers wouldn't let him go or quickly promoted him so that he couldn't go or Whis wanted to stay in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure Whis was option #1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 I don't remember this going down like that. What I remember is that Donahoe wanted Whisenhunt, but that either the Steelers wouldn't let him go or quickly promoted him so that he couldn't go or Whis wanted to stay in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure Whis was option #1. You're right JR. Here's an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07010/752517-66.stm And here's the excerpt: "A similar situation occurred in 2004 when Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey was hired as the Buffalo Bills' head coach. Mularkey wanted to hire Whisenhunt, then the Steelers' tight ends coach, as his offensive coordinator in Buffalo. Cowher, though, also wanted Whisenhunt as his coordinator. The Steelers would not let Whisenhunt, who was under contract, leave. Instead, they allowed Mularkey to take Tom Clements, their quarterbacks coach, with him as coordinator in Buffalo." The story I had read in the Buffalo News had Donahoe preferring Clements but this story supports your recollection. Thanks for thoughtful and intelligent feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Whoa Simon, Firstly I mentioned this was published in the Buffalo News. Are you're saying that I'm a liar? No, I'm suggesting that just because something might have been published in the Buffalo News does not necessarily make it true. Speaking of disturbing knee jerk reactions. You're saying that Whisenhunt would have failed anyways due to the personnel here and that the front office would be too stupid to recognize his talent and possibly promote him. And you also managed to call me a liar and call Bills' fans here a lynch mob. Good job Simon. Good intelligent feedback. Are you saying that Mularkey wasn't run out of town after one bad season? Are you seriously suggesting the same thing wouldn't have happened to Whisenhunt? And are you saying that the Bills' front office recent history is one that is not characterized by a lengthy string of stupid decisions? Whatever you say..... Mularkey wanted to hire Whisenhunt, then the Steelers' tight ends coach, as his offensive coordinator in Buffalo. The Steelers would not let Whisenhunt, who was under contract, leave. So in order to fit your preconceived notion, you basically just made up some bullshlt about Donahoe that you might have remembered some hyperbolic columnist speculating upon years ago. Very thoughtful and intelligent, but at least you're not a liar. Before you go around ragging on other people maybe you should check yourself first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 and then he would have left to become a Head Coach for the Arizona Cardinals Whats the point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 While wading through all the Super Bowl hype, I was reading a piece on Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and recalled how when former Bills coach Mike Mularkey was interviewing for the Buffalo job, he wanted to bring along present day Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt as his offensive coordinator. At the time, Mularkey was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator and Whisenhunt was his tight ends coach. Both served as assistants under Bill Cowher. However then Bills (and former Steelers) GM Tom Donahoe told Mularkey that he wanted Tom Clements, the Steelers quarterbacks coach, not Whisenhunt, to be hired as offensive coordinator. Mularkey, of course wishing to be offered the Bills job acceded to Donahoe's request and asked Clements, not Whisenhunt to join him on his Buffalo staff. This was common knowledge and was published in the Buffalo News. Kinda makes you wonder what might have been. FYI, Tom Clements is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. echhhhhh... Even pete carroll couldnt do anything with the wooden indian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 "Are you saying that Mularkey wasn't run out of town after one bad season? Are you seriously suggesting the same thing wouldn't have happened to Whisenhunt? And are you saying that the Bills' front office recent history is one that is not characterized by a lengthy string of stupid decisions? Whatever you say....." Actually you're wrong Simon. Mularkey was coach for two seasons not one. When Marv took over he decided to retain Mularkey. Mularkey initially accepted the third year (at a press conference) but then had a change of heart and resigned. So no, he was not run out of town after one season. He coached two years and decided to resign. As for commenting on the Bills' front office decisions, I don't remember commenting on that. I'm as critical of them as anyone but I did say "Kinda makes you wonder what might have been." I have no idea if he would have been run out of town or if he would have been identified as a candidate to succeed Mularkey. It was food for thought. I do know that they don't always make bad decisions (promoting Polian from scout to GM) but regardless, it was just an attempt to present some background, some food for thought. I did not editorialize on their competency. "No, I'm suggesting that just because something might have been published in the Buffalo News does not necessarily make it true...So in order to fit your preconceived notion, you basically just made up some bullshlt about Donahoe that you might have remembered some hyperbolic columnist speculating upon years ago. Very thoughtful and intelligent, but at least you're not a liar." Nor was I fictionalizing as you suggest. I did read a story which suggested that Donahoe insisted on Clements and actually if you search around on this board and others you'll find other posters who shared my impression, probably because it was published. I wasn't making anything up. As for the veracity of any written report, none of us ultimately know how accurate these stories are. Alright Simon, sorry if i got defensive but your response to my original (and subsequent) post didn't seem appropriate to me. No big deal. Peace bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 and then he would have left to become a Head Coach for the Arizona Cardinals Whats the point? Good question. What is the point of any of these posts? Ninety nine percent of what is discussed on this board is conjecture, speculation, hypothetical/academic discussion. It's what sports fans do. No one has a gun to your head forcing you to participate. I thought it was an interesting discussion. I'm sorry you thought differently and felt the need to express that. Sorry dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 "Are you saying that Mularkey wasn't run out of town after one bad season?Are you seriously suggesting the same thing wouldn't have happened to Whisenhunt? And are you saying that the Bills' front office recent history is one that is not characterized by a lengthy string of stupid decisions? Whatever you say....." Actually you're wrong Simon. Mularkey was coach for two seasons not one. Actually no I'm not wrong. I know how long Mularkey coached here; he had one very good season and then was run out of town after one bad season. And the semantic rationalizations about him being "allowed" to stay are flat out silly. If you were on this board at that time you know he was run out of town. And if Whisenhunt had been here at the time he'd have been run out right with him. No big deal. Peace bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Sorry dude. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Simon, maybe we have a semantic difference. Here's the story of Mularkey resigning after initially stating he would stay for his third year. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...ey-future_x.htm No, I wasn't on this board back then. But I was born in 1961, lived in Buffalo from 1967- 2002 and have been a huge Bills fan for as long as I first knew what a football was. In addition I was a sports producer at a local network affiliate for two years and have published two books on football as well as freelance pieces for national sports publications. I guess you can say he was run out of town. Certainly his children didn't enjoy their time here so I guess public sentiment perhaps might have caused him to change his mind and decide to leave. On the other hand, I would say he was not run out of town for this reason. It was his decision. We only have journalistic reports to support this and none to refute that so it's all we have to go on. He stepped down. He was not fired or pressured into resigning. Ralph and Marv and he announced that he was staying. I would agree that the Bills fans tried to run him out of town. But to me getting run out of town means that it was not his decision. I guess we just view it differently. People have also tried to run Dick Jauron out of town but it hasn't happened. He wants to stay as does ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I would agree that the Bills fans tried to run him out of town. It wasn't just the fans either. Ralph has a history of poisoning relationships with his employees and it's a fair guess this was no different. Aside from firing his mentor and dumping half his staff, he also cut Mularkey's legs out from under him by not allowing him to properly discipline Moulds when that ass quit on his team in the middle of a key division game because he wasn't getting the ball enough. Mularkey left about as voluntarily as Ferdinand Marcos did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 It wasn't just the fans either.Ralph has a history of poisoning relationships with his employees and it's a fair guess this was no different. Aside from firing his mentor and dumping half his staff, he also cut Mularkey's legs out from under him by not allowing him to properly discipline Moulds when that ass quit on his team in the middle of a key division game because he wasn't getting the ball enough. Mularkey left about as voluntarily as Ferdinand Marcos did. Are you suggesting that Mike has a closet full of expensive shoes? I think most of what you say is spot on. The only place I might quibble is I think Marv was ready to play peacemaker in that situation, and Mike could have stayed, had he wanted to. My thinking is that Marv didn't want to have to hire a new head coach as job #1, that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Are you suggesting that Mike has a closet full of expensive shoes? I think most of what you say is spot on. The only place I might quibble is I think Marv was ready to play peacemaker in that situation, and Mike could have stayed, had he wanted to. My thinking is that Marv didn't want to have to hire a new head coach as job #1, that year. His choice of head coach supports your theory. Wilson retaining him after this season supports a number of other theories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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