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JAURON'S JUICE ON THE RISE?
As the Buffalo Bills embark on their search for a new General Manager, it appears that coach Dick Jauron will emerge from the process with greater influence.
It's a far different circumstance than what Jauron faced seven years ago in Chicago. After Jerry Angelo was hired as G.M., it was an open secret in league circles that Angelo wanted to get his own coach.
A 13-3 season in 2001 delayed Angelo's plans for two additional years. Eventually, however, Jauron was out.
But Jauron has the Bills on the right track, and he already has final say over the team's personnel. He'll likely also have a strong voice in hiring of the successor to Marv Levy, who stepped down after two years on the job.
Per Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News, Jauron's current role makes it less likely that the team will look outside of the organization for a replacement. But Gaughan throws an intriguing name into the mix -- Bears director of college scouting Greg Gabriel.
Gabriel is a Buffalo native, and he's a veteran scout who has drawn solid reviews for his work in shaping last year's NFC champs. If he's willing to defer to Jauron, and if he can convince Jauron that he's sincere in this regard, Gabriel could have a chance at the gig.
And if Gabriel is otherwise willing to not rock the front-office boat, the organization would benefit from his perspective as the 2008 draft approaches.
But if Gabriel won't be getting final say over personnel in Buffalo, the Bears would have to be willing to let him walk. And that's probably not likely to happen.
I doubt he had final say in anything anyway - but clearly his input was not complete crap. The only PBers Buffalo's scouting dept. has drafted in the past 4 years are...well Schobel, Peters and Moorman, but I believe they were all drafted (or brought in undrafted) more than 4 years ago. I actually like what I've read of this guy over anything in-house. Plus, it could be a good connection in bringing in someone like Briggs or Ayabendejo.
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