Do we have any idea of Brandon's take on Jauron?

[trapezeus]

obviously Marv was GM when Jauron was brought in and then Brandon was made the head of the GM team after Marv left. As a GM, does Brandon want to bring his guy in and is just waiting for ralph to give them the go ahead, or does he really think jauron is the guy that makes the difference?

Just curious if we know what the backroom discussion is or have theories on it.

[Pinkerton Security]

obviously Marv was GM when Jauron was brought in and then Brandon was made the head of the GM team after Marv left. As a GM, does Brandon want to bring his guy in and is just waiting for ralph to give them the go ahead, or does he really think jauron is the guy that makes the difference?

Just curious if we know what the backroom discussion is or have theories on it.

well when i talked to him, he said jauron was an a**-clown..

seriousness now...i have no idea, it seems somewhat rare that i see any interviews with him or even any responses in the press of his

[bigbub2352]

I wrote in a couple of threads today about an interesting theory i heard on WGR55 yesterday
they had there roundtable discussion about the Bills and one of the topics they discussed which was very interesting point of veiw was:
Everyone knows why DJ should be fired they wanted to look at why he is still here!
Paul Hamilton Jerry Sullivan Howard Simon Jeremy White and Schop and the Bulldog had some interesting comments on this
They were saying that maybe Russ is using him as a scapegoat for this season cause he is not Russ's guy and that they are basically rebuilding even though nobody at OBD will admit it
that the moves like cutting Rhodes Walker were financial
also that they are in full rebuilding mode now and that they kept DJ on to start it and when they fire him at the end of the season to use him as an excuse for the downfall and not the jobs that the front office is doing
interesting
Also how soft DJs camp is and how it could be related to the injury bug that has hit us hard over his tenure here
http://audio.wgr550.com/schopp-&-the-bulldog.htm
i dont know exactly which one it is but i was listening around 5pm

[trapezeus]

i'd buy that theory that they'll let DJ take the fall for a bad performance....modrak really needs to go. too many god awful drafts the last 10 years. we just don't get many impact players. and those that we do, we don't hve the coaching to make winners to keep competative people happy here.

Brandon and Co, aren't blameless, and they know the fans are screaming more for the heads of the coaches than for them. but we also are keenly aware that the FO has made bad coaching picks and sold them as good ones 3 times in a row. They have to get a name and they have to win immediately next year. it's as clear as day.

[elltrain22]

both of these idiots need to be shown the mf'ing door. Like yesterday.

[RockStar36]

I don't think Brandon has any opinion on Jauron. From what I can tell, he is just in charge of filling the Ralph and selling tickets.

He noticed that the decision to keep Jauron was an unpopular decision and ticket sales might fall, so he signed TO and got the sales back up.

[bigbub2352]

I don't think Brandon has any opinion on Jauron. From what I can tell, he is just in charge of filling the Ralph and selling tickets.

He noticed that the decision to keep Jauron was an unpopular decision and ticket sales might fall, so he signed TO and got the sales back up.
Exactly!
TO was nothing but a marketing ploy
I still think corey mace is on the practice squad last yr and this yr to sell more tickets in canada lol(sarcasm)
but really there only motivation was selling tickets otherwise if they were actually going for it this year you dont trade peters you pay him and walker would still be on the RT side those moves were all financially based

[trapezeus]

it is frustrating that they try gimmicks and it fills seats. it isn't that hard to cut deadweight and bring in people. the fact Modrak is unchanged all these years....that's just incompetence or modrak has some pictures he wants to share.

This team has missed so many first round picks in the last 10 yers, it's awful. none of the good teams have this constant missing of picks.

Ralph took TD and got burned for 4 years. as a response he made a drastic change to not go outside. I wonder if he looks atthe lsat 5 years and says, "****, i got burned....i have to dramatically change and not trust people on the inside."

There are some studs from the 90's teams that he could have as advisers on a GM selection. Last year, stealing pioli would have sold even more seats at the ralph.

You're telling me that the stadium wouldn't have sold out in minutes if in February they fired Jauron and the FO, moved Brandon back to a glorified marketing position and then lured Pioli in with a huge pay package and said, "prove to the world thatyou were the genius...not belichick."

You could have doubled my season ticket package, i'd have been all in. i'd have taken off every monday so i could attend those home games.

Put out a winner, and raising prices isn't an issue. Put out duds and marketing ploys and of course we hate paying more for the same crap team.

[Dr. Lecter]

TO was a Jauron decision, according to Sal.

[bigbub2352]

TO was a Jauron decision, according to Sal.
I remember reading that too
also WGR said yesterday i believe it was Schop and the Bulldog that they had no plans to meet with TO and Drew Rosenehaus was in buffalo at OBD and brought up TO and they were like ok we will sign him,
dont know the truth to that but Hamilton confirmed it to i beleive
then Schop was like this is how we recruit FAs?
it was on the roundtable
RW was brilliant in striking fear in his fanbase and knows no matter what we are too scared not to support them cause they will become the ARGO's

[RockStar36]

TO was a Jauron decision, according to Sal.

That might actually be worse. The FO wasn't involved at all? What the hell are they doing then?

[Dr. Lecter]

Hamilton is good on hockey, not as much on football.

I do think that Brandon has done some good things. He has dumped Marv's bad FAs. He extended Evans and Mcgee. I like the last two drafts for the most part (Maybin a question and so is Hardy). The Bills lost Peters, but that is as much on Peters and Parker as anything.

The idea of re-building the middle of the line with Wood, Levitre and Hamgartner is a great one. They have more attitude and are more physical than the previous crew of Fowler, Dockery, Preston, etc.

[Dr. Lecter]

That might actually be worse. The FO wasn't involved at all? What the hell are they doing then?

It was a Jauron idea, might be a better word.

[Mudflap1]

Didn't Sal report that everyone is on notice at OBD that their jobs are on the line? If so, then I expect nothing less than Brandon, Guy, Modrak, as well as Jauron to be shown the door if the season is a failure. However, I also buy into the theory that the FO guys may throw Jauron under the bus as the sacrificial lamb to try to save their own jobs.

[ddaryl]

It was Brandon who put together the extension and brought it up to Ralph for apporval last year.

I doubt he admits his fault.. He was trying to get a cheaper deal to make his boss happy and that was the real influence for the premature extension. Brandon thoughts were if Jauron kept winning (we started 5-0) he would cost more to sign at the end of the season.

Same old crap keep the HC position cheap.

[trapezeus]

to me in the last ten years, the only draft that was decent was the 2007 draft. Edwards, lynch, poz, schouman. And again, if we had bonafide starters ahead of edwards, poz and schouman, these guys would have been great depth and would have been able to acclimate to the game. Edwards would have been such a stud backup. Poz, if he was on a good defense and was allowed time to slide into the position would prbably better served and if we had a better TE for schouman, he would have been a good 2nd TE that other teams don't know to lock onto and he takes the butch rolle role.

in another thread i showed how pathetic the 2008 class is. 2005 ain't much. Parrish sucks, everett was a minimal contributor before his accident, duke preston couldn't even snap the ball properly in nonshotgun formations, erik king a DB played one year for the bills and is now on the lions, justin geisginer, one year with bills, lionel gates, out of the league in 2007 but only played 1 year for the bills.
2006- we know the first round was average at best, no second pick, took youboty who never lived up to expectations, ko simpson was awful, kyle williams was a good pick and keith ellison, a player that would be a great backup for a week or two is our exposed LB of the week, and terrance pennington is out of football.

Ouch!

[EDS]

Brandon is a local guy, has a nice family and all, so you hate to see him get the axe, but the best thing for the Bills is probably a full house cleaning of the front office and coaching staff.

[bflojohn]

If this franchise dumps the 2009 season down the drain, heads are likely to roll. Ralph already called everyone involved in this conversation, Brandon and Jauron to Detroit for a "pep talk" prior to the season. The scenario could play out where Brandon is stripped of the Quasi GM duties, Jauron is shown the door and a new regime is in place as early as the bye week this year!

[trapezeus]

what GM's are out there next year in that event?

I know this would never happen, BUT Parcells apparently is out of miami this year because he hates the celebrity nature of the ownership that is taking shape. He's been a part of the other AFC East teams, why not close the loop?

Or will ralph go the cheap route and hit the billszone.com/fanzone message board and look for someone. If so, Ralph, i'm willing to do it for a cool $500,000 a year. Call me!

[Mudflap1]

Well, there are a couple guys out there that would like dual duties as coach and GM. They probably aren't likely to come to Buffalo, but they are out there. Shanahan, Cowher, Holmgren, possibly Gruden come to mind. I don't think Holmgren is going to leave his native West Coast at this point. I don't think Shanahan or Cowher would come here. I also don't think the dual duty idea is a good one. It doesn't seem to pan out.

How about looking at some of the best personnel departments out there and plucking an up and comer from there? For instance, the Eagles, Steelers, Titans, Chargers, and Giants all seem to draft pretty well. Let's get one of the personnel guys from there. I left out New England because Pioli already left.

[Ginger Vitis]

How about looking at some of the best personnel departments out there and plucking an up and comer from there? For instance, the Eagles, Steelers, Titans, Chargers, and Giants all seem to draft pretty well. Let's get one of the personnel guys from there. I left out New England because Pioli already left.

The Atlanta Falcons hired Tom Dimitroff the Patriots Director of College Scouting after the 2007 season to be there GM and the early returns are that was a good hire..I agree the most reasonable and best option is to cherry pick any of the organizations you mentioned for our next GM

[trapezeus]

spot on mudflap. the dual thing doesn't work...

i think with TD, we took a guy from a successful organization. we just got the least impactful guy. It seems that cowher was the reason those teams did well. And that the offense was capable despite mularkey not because of him.

so they really have to completely vet out the guy they get. are we picking up a real deal GM who has been critically important to the teams success, or is this guy just a guy who came along for the ride from someone else's work.

I wonder if Polian's son is someone that would want to be GM...i realize it takes a lot for Bill, his son and ralph to come to terms, but his son can get out of Bill's limelight, come to an area he grew up in and loves (he comes to buffalo quite regularly) and restore some greatness. He obviously has been trained by one of the best and knows player development.

It makes too much sense if only we can get past the actual politics of ralph and the polians.

[ddaryl]

Holmgren does not want dual duties. He gave up dual duties mid way thru his Seahawks tenure because it was too much to handle

[Mudflap1]

How about this? Ralph should have shedded his ego 10-15 years ago and not let Bill Polian leave...

I have to say, while Tom Donahoe did a crappy job, I liked the idea of what the Bills did by hiring a guy like Tom Donahoe. It's what they need to do now. They just found the wrong guy. Same with Tom Modrak. Go out and find someone that has been integral to a team's continued success, bring him in, make him the GM, and let him make the moves. Tom Dimitroff at Atlanta is the 100% perfect example to go by. Here is a guy who was under the shadow of Belichick and Pioli, but was given the chance and has a done a really nice job, both with trades (Tony Gonzalez, a guy the Bills couldn't get), drafts (Matt Ryan, among others), free agency (Michael Turner), and picking out a head coach (Mike Smith).

Ralph needs to get on the phone with Arthur Blank and take some notes.

[Mudflap1]

Holmgren does not want dual duties. He gave up dual duties mid way thru his Seahawks tenure because it was too much to handle

Partially true, maybe. Holmgren gave up dual duties because they were taken away from him. Paul Allen came to him and said "we're not doing so hot with you doing two jobs, let's bring in a FO guy and you stick to coaching, OK?" The alternative was for Holmgren to be fired.

That being said, I don't think Holmgren is that keen on getting back into coaching, and if he was, it would be with the 49ers, his native hometown team.

[BuffaloRanger]

Guy and Modrak have to be a part of any house cleaning. No playoffs in 10 years? Those guys can't keep getting a free pass. Besides Ralph they are the one constant in this decade of disgrace.

Gruden would be a better move then any possible FA pickup they could make next offseason.

But Ralph has never considered the HC a vital position.

[yordad]

obviously Marv was GM when Jauron was brought in and then Brandon was made the head of the GM team after Marv left. As a GM, does Brandon want to bring his guy in and is just waiting for ralph to give them the go ahead, or does he really think jauron is the guy that makes the difference?

Just curious if we know what the backroom discussion is or have theories on it.I am pretty sure Brandon is afraid of a strong head coach.

[HHURRICANE]

obviously Marv was GM when Jauron was brought in and then Brandon was made the head of the GM team after Marv left. As a GM, does Brandon want to bring his guy in and is just waiting for ralph to give them the go ahead, or does he really think jauron is the guy that makes the difference?

Just curious if we know what the backroom discussion is or have theories on it.

He's the one who jumped the gun on the extension. He's probably sweating his job.

[yordad]

He's the one who jumped the gun on the extension. He's probably sweating his job.I would like to see a guy who can be GM and coach hired. One with a proven track record. Someone like Mike Holmgren who was 12 points shy of being the only head coach in history to win the Superbowl with 2 different teams.

He is the type of guy Ralph puts his trust in, character wise.