S.I.'s Banks Rates Impact Of New HCs

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Sport Illustrated's Don Banks rated the impact that the new head coaches around the league will have on their teams this season. Even though he listed Dick Jauron next to last in the article, I was pleasantly surprised by what Banks had to say about Jauron:

"Dick Jauron, Buffalo: When new Bills general manager Marv Levy unexpectedly needed a new head coach last winter, he turned to Jauron, whose reputation in league circles remained high even after his Bears head-coaching tenure ended in two losing seasons and his abbreviated stint as Lions boss last year resulted in only one win in five games. Jauron doesn't have a team to contend with, but he should get more out of the Bills than last year's underachieving 5-11 record under Mike Mularkey.

Impact projection: Better off. Plus two wins, to 7-9."

The full article begins on this webpage:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/don_banks/09/05/new.coaches/index.html

Even with all of their youth and the questions that remain to be answered as the team enters the season, IMHO it is not unreasonable to see that the steadying effect that Jauron has had on the team could result in two more victories than last season. If JP Losman can provide the team with better play at the QB position with some consistency over the course of the season and the offensive and defensive lines play well, the team might even be able to exceed that. That remains to be seen, but at least someone in the national media has recognized that the Bills will be a better coached team this season than it was last year.

[YardRat]

It's going to be a bumpy road...new staff, new system, new players. The progress this team may make won't necessarily show up in the win column.

I'll take 7 and 9 for this year if the team plays cohesively and consistently and appears to improve week to week.

[Meathead]

it all is going to come down to jp. thats not necessarily good because he will need a quantum leap from last season to get them in playoff range, but if he can at least continue his talent at hitting the long ball a couple times a game that could give mcgahee and co enough room to stay competitive and then its a matter of how many close ones they can pull off

i would be disappointed in 7 wins because that would likely mean an early elimination from playoff contention. and once that happens my interest for the season goes in the can. the longer they can avoid exceeding 6 losses the longer they remain in the hunt and have the games mean something. thats what i root for

[ICE74129]

it all is going to come down to jp.

Wrong. It comes down to the OL and good playcalling with adjustments. NO QB can succeed behind a crap OL esp with crappy playcalling added on.

[HHURRICANE]

Wrong. It comes down to the OL and good playcalling with adjustments. NO QB can succeed behind a crap OL esp with crappy playcalling added on.

Ice is right. JP was going to struggle last year, and he will struggle at times this year. Things are worse when you have a weak OL. But where things got compounded was MM and his ridiculous play calling. He would put JP is some really stupid positions and by taking your best offensive weapon off the field on 3rd downs you put even more pressue on the kid.

Jauron was a good hire. Look at the choices we had. He was the best of the bunch. Sherman was the only other decent choice and he wanted to be more than coach. Levy knows to be successful you need to let your coordinators do their jobs which Jauron is going to let happen.

This team improved immensly when MM left and Jauron, and his coordinators, showed up.

[Saratoga Slim]

Wrong. It comes down to the OL and good playcalling with adjustments. NO QB can succeed behind a crap OL esp with crappy playcalling added on.

actually you're both right. You're right that JP's not going to have a chance to succeed without decent OL play and good playcalling. But in the end, LBF is right too, as unless decent OL play + good play calling + JP's ability to progress = improvement at the QB position, this offense ain't going to scare anyone.

[ICE74129]

actually you're both right. You're right that JP's not going to have a chance to succeed without decent OL play and good playcalling. But in the end, LBF is right too, as unless decent OL play + good play calling + JP's ability to progress = improvement at the QB position, this offense ain't going to scare anyone.

I don't feel that at all. I think we give JP any semblance of a running game and 3 seconds on average in the pocket, the kid will be fine.

[Jan Reimers]

It wasn't just abysmal playcalling by Mularkey last season. Apparently, the coaches were fighting, the players were unhappy, and the team was in total disarray. Marv, Dick and the new assistants, along with the departure of Adams, Milloy and Moulds, should make the Bills a professional team again.

[TedMock]

actually you're both right. You're right that JP's not going to have a chance to succeed without decent OL play and good playcalling. But in the end, LBF is right too, as unless decent OL play + good play calling + JP's ability to progress = improvement at the QB position, this offense ain't going to scare anyone.

That's pretty much how I feel. I agree with ICE in that it all starts with the o-line. Without that, nothing else works. Second, will the coaches put forth a strategy to use the players strengths? I.E. JP's strengths. The playcalling will be hugely important to his development. Lastly, JP needs to grasp the game if everything else is in place. If the o-line is giving him 3-4 seconds on most plays, and the play-calling is solid, he has to progress mentally. The physical tools are there. The attitude is there. The toughness is there. All we need now is for the game IQ to catch up. It appears that it has started in the right direction. I really like this kid, and I really hope he shows steady progress all year. The first two games are quite the test. He'll struggle, most would. However, he'll either learn and get better, or crumble after that. I'm hoping for the former.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Wrong. It comes down to the OL and good playcalling with adjustments. NO QB can succeed behind a crap OL esp with crappy playcalling added on.
Agreed but JP will need to execute if he gets these things!

[mysticsoto]

It wasn't just abysmal playcalling by Mularkey last season. Apparently, the coaches were fighting, the players were unhappy, and the team was in total disarray. Marv, Dick and the new assistants, along with the departure of Adams, Milloy and Moulds, should make the Bills a professional team again.

And all of that is caused by a bad coach. When you have veterans on the team that don't respect the coach, the team splits up with some doing what the coach says and others doing their own thing. But the vets recognized a terrible coach and the terrible leadership on the team, and although I'm not an advocate of the players not doing what the coach tells them...in this case, I can't blame those veterans - b'cse they were right. Our leadership on the team sucked!

[Mr. Cynical]

"Dick Jauron, Buffalo: When new Bills general manager Marv Levy unexpectedly needed a new head coach last winter, he turned to Jauron, whose reputation in league circles remained high even after his Bears head-coaching tenure ended in two losing seasons and his abbreviated stint as Lions boss last year resulted in only one win in five games. Jauron doesn't have a team to contend with, but he should get more out of the Bills than last year's underachieving 5-11 record under Mike Mularkey.

Impact projection: Better off. Plus two wins, to 7-9."


So basically he said nothing positive about him other than the fact that the Bills are "better off" with him than with Moo-Moo (not exactly high praise given how crappy Moo-Moo was) and his reputation remained high although he didn't do anything as HC to warrant it.

Sounds about right to me.