Ralph's Fault?

[PushthePile]

The feelings towards Jauron are well known amongst Bills fans. In a landslide most posters here are disgusted with the fact that he's still the head coach and many feel the situation is borderline hopeless with him at the helm. As a fan who still holds some hope in this coaching staff, I'm not going to even try and defend his record. He has made alot of mistakes and should be held accountable for them. I also believe that the manner of which his situation was handled has alot to do with the resounding dislike of him. At the beginning of the 2008 season the team had high hopes and the fans expected results. Looking back expectations were probably too high. A very young team with talent, coming off a injury riddled 7-9 season and a soft schedule ahead. Going into the year Jauron was a coach who many felt was a reasonable coach of the year canidate. Like all coachs, he had a handful of questionable playcalls but in general most felt the team played hard for him. It was right here on this board that many threads gave him credit for what the team had accomplished despite all the injuries. After a 5-1 start and playoff hopes alive and well, we started to hear talk of a new contract. Again, many here liked the idea and get it done posts followed. Then the collapse came and the front office remained silent. The coaching staff and players both struggled and subsequently a fanbase starved for playoffs grew angry. Despite the media pushing for answers about the contract, all we got was silence. I believe that an already angry fanbase grew angrier and angrier as time passed. Still no answer. By the time December 30 came around sentiments towards the organization as a whole were volatile. I honestly believed he was done myself. I think most here had been worked into a such a frenzy by the whole ordeal that it was borderline impossible to keep him. Well we kept him and an already angry fanbase exploded. My question is how much did Ralph's nonsense contribute to Jauron's hatred? How different would things have been if the FO showed a confidence in the coaching staff right off the bat? I believe a public announcement during the teams slide would have gone along way. Again, I'm not saying he is without fault. I'm curious as to what others opinions are in regards to the possiblity that Ralph poored gas onto the situation. We have seen owners temper angry fans with a show of support towards a coach. Ralph IMO did the opposite. He made us believe that Jauron's status was going to be dictated by the teams immediate results. By doing this he made a fanbase fire hungry and didn't deliver. I believe the FO left Jauron out to dry. Thoughts? How much did Ralph contribute to the hatred of Jauron?

[Hossage]

I am too emotionally spent to agree with you in detail.

[BillsVet]

There's another way to look at this. And a positive one I might add: It took Chicago 5 years to get rid of DJ. It'll only take us 4.

[PushthePile]

There's another way to look at this. And a positive one I might add: It took Chicago 5 years to get rid of DJ. It'll only take us 4.

You are probably right. On the otherhand most thought it would be 3.

[Fingon]

Paragraphs

[PushthePile]

Paragraphs

Nope. One big mess of words.

[Fingon]

Nope. One big mess of words.

MY EYES!

 

[TheLynchTrain]

Nope. One big mess of words.

 

you suck

[PromoTheRobot]

I think we are all forgetting the Bills were 5-1 when Dick got his extension. No one, including me, thought it was a bad move until the Bills suddenly tanked, as if on cue. After seeing the Sabres screw the pooch several times I was pleased the Bills were taking action. No one on this board thought the Bills would lose nearly every game after the deal was made. That joke was just too sick even for snakebit Buffalo fans. So please lay off Ralph just a little for extending Dick when did.

 

PTR

[Ramius]

I think we are all forgetting the Bills were 5-1 when Dick got his extension. No one, including me, thought it was a bad move until the Bills suddenly tanked, as if on cue. After seeing the Sabres screw the pooch several times I was pleased the Bills were taking action. No one on this board thought the Bills would lose nearly every game after the deal was made. That joke was just too sick even for snakebit Buffalo fans. So please lay off Ralph just a little for extending Dick when did.

 

PTR

 

We still don't know this for sure. Either way, things may have gone a bit smoother is the bills didn't play their dumbass "did he or didn't he get the extension" game with the fans.

[Captain Quint]

I agree with you that this whole "Fire Jauron" mess could have been avoided if Ralph would have just done what every other team in the league does and announce it when it happens. Regardless of how the season ended, nobody could reasonably think that he was going to be fired (and consequentially let down when it didn't happen) if Ralph had come out and announced the extension when it happened.

[DrFishfinder]

We have seen owners temper angry fans with a show of support towards a coach. Ralph IMO did the opposite. He made us believe that Jauron's status was going to be dictated by the teams immediate results. By doing this he made a fanbase fire hungry and didn't deliver. I believe the FO left Jauron out to dry. Thoughts? How much did Ralph contribute to the hatred of Jauron?

What could Ralph have done after the extension was announced and the nose dive began? The extension looked like the correct thing to do at that point. No one forsaw the horrific tanking that started next game, as if on cue. I think that anything Ralph would have said at that point would have incited the fans even further. "Heckuva job Brownie" comes to mind.

 

In retrospect, Ralph would have been better off waiting until the end of the season before he made any public statement regarding DJ's contract status. Who knows....Jauron might have been fired on 12/28/08.

[PromoTheRobot]

We still don't know this for sure. Either way, things may have gone a bit smoother is the bills didn't play their dumbass "did he or didn't he get the extension" game with the fans.

Get real. How exactly would announcing Dick's extension early changed anything? Seriously. The crap storm is generated by the media and boards like these, and it would have been the same crap storm either way. In fact the only difference would have been seeing everyone go from "Great Job, Ralph!" to "How can you be so dumb, Ralph?" in the course of 6 weeks.

 

PTR

[Captain Quint]

What could Ralph have done after the extension was announced and the nose dive began? The extension looked like the correct thing to do at that point. No one forsaw the horrific tanking that started next game, as if on cue. I think that anything Ralph would have said at that point would have incited the fans even further. "Heckuva job Brownie" comes to mind.

 

In retrospect, Ralph would have been better off waiting until the end of the season before he made any public statement regarding DJ's contract status. Who knows....Jauron might have been fired on 12/28/08.

 

What he could have done was either wait until the end of the season to extend him or fire him (like you said), or he could have publicly announced it when he extended him. The whole uproar could have been avoided because it's tough for someone to reasonably call for someone's head when they know definitively that he was just extended.

 

If you remember, the extension was never actually announced. It was rumoured from week 6 through the end of the season, then it was 'announced'.

[Captain Quint]

Get real. How exactly would announcing Dick's extension early changed anything? Seriously. The crap storm is generated by the media and boards like these, and it would have been the same crap storm either way. In fact the only difference would have been seeing everyone go from "Great Job, Ralph!" to "How can you be so dumb, Ralph?" in the course of 6 weeks.

 

PTR

 

Doubtful. Of course there would have been some idiots calling for him to be fired, but not nearly as there were. I can't think of a time when a coach was extended half way through a season, then fired at the end of that season.

 

Fans would have criticized Ralph for sure, but at least there wouldn't have been the "was he or wasn't he" debate going on, which infuriated people even more once the official announcement came out.

[PushthePile]

Get real. How exactly would announcing Dick's extension early changed anything? Seriously. The crap storm is generated by the media and boards like these, and it would have been the same crap storm either way. In fact the only difference would have been seeing everyone go from "Great Job, Ralph!" to "How can you be so dumb, Ralph?" in the course of 6 weeks.

 

PTR

I honestly do think that Ralph's silence did have an effect on the fans. I'm not saying the difference would have been night and day but the fashion in which news is delivered is sometimes just as important as the news itself. If the FO comes out during the teams skid and supports the coach, many fans would begin preparing for a continuation of Jauron. Of course anger and dissapointment would still be present but I think at a lower level. Our FO did the opposite and further riled up an already irritated fan base. The horrible mismanagement of this extension, just made a bad situation far worse IMO.

[PushthePile]

The correct way for a professional FO to handle a situation like this, is to go the route Jerry Jones and the Cowboys took with Wade Phillips this year. Did it completely make up for fan dissapointment? Absolutely not. It did however give the media, fans, and coach an answer. Ralph signed him to an extension and then immediately showed zero support. You cut a coach's balls off when you pull moves like that. Buffalo is second to Oakland as worst place you'd want to coach IMO.

[rockpile]

I honestly do think that Ralph's silence did have an effect on the fans. I'm not saying the difference would have been night and day but the fashion in which news is delivered is sometimes just as important as the news itself. If the FO comes out during the teams skid and supports the coach, many fans would begin preparing for a continuation of Jauron. Of course anger and dissapointment would still be present but I think at a lower level. Our FO did the opposite and further riled up an already irritated fan base. The horrible mismanagement of this extension, just made a bad situation far worse IMO.

 

 

I cannot read your posts anymore if YOU cannot be bothered to hit the f**king return key and make a new paragrah.

 

I know that breaks your heart, but some of us have vision problems.

[billsfreak]

The feelings towards Jauron are well known amongst Bills fans. In a landslide most posters here are disgusted with the fact that he's still the head coach and many feel the situation is borderline hopeless with him at the helm. As a fan who still holds some hope in this coaching staff, I'm not going to even try and defend his record. He has made alot of mistakes and should be held accountable for them. I also believe that the manner of which his situation was handled has alot to do with the resounding dislike of him. At the beginning of the 2008 season the team had high hopes and the fans expected results. Looking back expectations were probably too high. A very young team with talent, coming off a injury riddled 7-9 season and a soft schedule ahead. Going into the year Jauron was a coach who many felt was a reasonable coach of the year canidate. Like all coachs, he had a handful of questionable playcalls but in general most felt the team played hard for him. It was right here on this board that many threads gave him credit for what the team had accomplished despite all the injuries. After a 5-1 start and playoff hopes alive and well, we started to hear talk of a new contract. Again, many here liked the idea and get it done posts followed. Then the collapse came and the front office remained silent. The coaching staff and players both struggled and subsequently a fanbase starved for playoffs grew angry. Despite the media pushing for answers about the contract, all we got was silence. I believe that an already angry fanbase grew angrier and angrier as time passed. Still no answer. By the time December 30 came around sentiments towards the organization as a whole were volatile. I honestly believed he was done myself. I think most here had been worked into a such a frenzy by the whole ordeal that it was borderline impossible to keep him. Well we kept him and an already angry fanbase exploded. My question is how much did Ralph's nonsense contribute to Jauron's hatred? How different would things have been if the FO showed a confidence in the coaching staff right off the bat? I believe a public announcement during the teams slide would have gone along way. Again, I'm not saying he is without fault. I'm curious as to what others opinions are in regards to the possiblity that Ralph poored gas onto the situation. We have seen owners temper angry fans with a show of support towards a coach. Ralph IMO did the opposite. He made us believe that Jauron's status was going to be dictated by the teams immediate results. By doing this he made a fanbase fire hungry and didn't deliver. I believe the FO left Jauron out to dry. Thoughts? How much did Ralph contribute to the hatred of Jauron?

I would only disagree in one area, they weren't coming off a soft schedule into a difficult one, but vice versa. Before the 2008 season started they had one of the top two easiest schedules based on 2007 records. In 2007, based on 2006 records they had one of the toughest.

[billsfreak]

To be honest, it was more shameful the way it was handled keeping Jauron than the retaining of him actually was. The fact that whether or not he had an extension or not was a top secret issue and nobody in the organization commenting on it was a pathetic joke for a professional organization. Things like this, are a major reason why this franchise is one of the biggest jokes in professional sports.