Is Chan Gailey calling out Buddy Nix and his players?

[Michael82]

I didn't realize what Gailey said until I heard them playing clips from the press conference on WGR this morning. Read these quotes and tell me he wasn't calling out Ryan Fitzpatrick, plus the defense and basically telling Buddy Nix that he doesn't have talent and needs to do his job better.....


On how much the fake punt changed things --- "If you're a good football team, you have to overcome those things and we're not."

Does it come down to talent at some point? --- "I hate to admit that, because we got NFL players. I hate to say that's it. I want to say that with the players that we got, umm, I think we can be a RESPECTABLE football team. I don't know if we can be good right now, but we can be respectable."

On Ryan Fitzpatrick --- "At times, he misses some things he hit earlier in the season. I see that as well. I think he would say the same thing. Then I see him make a great throw right on the money down the sideline to Stevie on the go. I think it boils down to a consistency factor. I don't know what that is, because we were very consistent in the first part of the year."

On why the defensive blitzes don't work --- "That's always the question. If you think you can cover them, then you can blitz more to try to get pressure. If you don't think you can cover them 1-on-1, if you're struggling to cover 1-on-1, then you can't blitz. You got to try to sit back and hopefully the front 4, the 4-man rush will get there. That's always the question you ask yourself. Can your 4-man rush get enough pressure on there or do you have to blitz? We don't have that answer."

Do you feel like you got a demoralized team? --- "I think that umm, they are down, yes. I hate to go all the way to demoralized, but I think they are down. I think they don't have any confidence right now. I think we are fighting that right now as a football team. I don't think there's any question about that. I thought we were making progress after the last two football games. I did. I thought we were making some progress. Then we just played awful today."

[Ed]

Good stuff. I at least appreciate Chan's honesty. He's not really trying to hide anything or make lame excuses.

[Michael82]

Good stuff. I at least appreciate Chan's honesty. He's not really trying to hide anything or make lame excuses.
That's what I like about him. Dick Jauron would have said, they are trying and we just can't excute or something else lame.

[justasportsfan]

he should blame himself for the talent he has since he picked Fitz just like Jauron picked Trent.

We need corners who can win one on one. We had corners that did well in the zone D.

[better days]

I don't really think Chan is calling out Nix. Both Buddy & Chan said the Bills need 3 years time to get better players when they were hired.

[mysticsoto]

he should blame himself for the talent he has since he picked Fitz just like Jauron picked Trent.

We need corners who can win one on one. We had corners that did well in the zone D.

Did he have a better alternative than Fitz?

[Albany,n.y.]

That's what I like about him. Dick Jauron would have said, they are trying and we just can't excute or something else lame.
So you're having more fun watching a team coached by a guy with a 31% win percentage than you did watching a team coached by a guy with a 42% win percentage.
Sorry, but I find it difficult to like anything about a coach who is losing close to 70% of the games he is coaching no matter how nice & honest he is in his press conferences.
I'd rather have a guy like Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick who say nothing in their press conferences, get surly when they lose & win Super Bowls.

[Forward_Lateral]

he should blame himself for the talent he has since he picked Fitz just like Jauron picked Trent.

We need corners who can win one on one. We had corners that did well in the zone D.

You'd rather see Thigpen in there?

[Johnny Bugmenot]

I want to say that with the players that we got, umm, I think we can be a RESPECTABLE football team. I don't know if we can be good right now, but we can be respectable.

A money quote right there. If your coach comes out and says that this team doesn't have the talent to be good, there is a serious problem. But then again, dumping your best players on injured reserve is all his fault.

[justasportsfan]

Did he have a better alternative than Fitz?



My point is that WGR is reading too much into what Gailey said that he might be sending a message to Nix about needing more talent because Chan himself put Fitz on a pedestal. Chan has pretty much made his bed at the qb position.

[TigerJ]

I still like Gailey. I think he's straight up honest about what's happening. I agree they still need better talent, but with the team they have they still should be executing better than what they are, and he admitted that.

[Albany,n.y.]

A money quote right there. If your coach comes out and says that this team doesn't have the talent to be good, there is a serious problem. But then again, dumping your best players on injured reserve is all his fault.
Houston is down to their 3rd QB, a 5th round rookie, lost their best defensive player & have had their best RB & WR miss games & all they do is keep winning.
Injuries are a part of the game but somehow it's always the Bills coaches who can never come up with the answer to overcome them. Every year this team gets devastating injuries and every year the fans use them as excuses for losing. The only excuse is that from the top down, this is a bad organization. We need a new owner, GM, coach & better players. Oh yeah-we could probably get a better water boy too.

[justasportsfan]

You'd rather see Thigpen in there?


huh? I never said that. I for one was all for giving Fitz an extension. With the way he played early in the season no one could argue that he didnt deserve that extension. Just saying that Gailey can't tell Nix he needs some talent at some positions that Chan himself picked.

[better days]

Houston is down to their 3rd QB, a 5th round rookie, lost their best defensive player & have had their best RB & WR miss games & all they do is keep winning.
Injuries are a part of the game but somehow it's always the Bills coaches who can never come up with the answer to overcome them. Every year this team gets devastating injuries and every year the fans use them as excuses for losing. The only excuse is that from the top down, this is a bad organization. We need a new owner, GM, coach & better players. Oh yeah-we could probably get a better water boy too.

Well, this goes to show what good players with good coaching can do. The Texans have a lot of talent & getting Wade to coach the defense made all the difference for that team.

[Michael82]

A money quote right there. If your coach comes out and says that this team doesn't have the talent to be good, there is a serious problem. But then again, dumping your best players on injured reserve is all his fault.
Exactly! Good post.

[TedMock]

I don't have a problem with Gailey. He can only coach what he has and quite frankly, I think he sucked everything he could out of them early on. This team lacks overall talent. Plain and simple.

I would like for them to pick a system, stick with it, take their lumps and plug in guys that fit. Getting a new coach every few years = getting a new system every few years = having players that don't fit the new system = having to find players that do = having some players that fit and some that don't every year = not being able to successfully run the system = getting a new coach = getting a new system...

It's this endless circle and it sucks. Coaching is definitely part of the problem. I'm not suggesting otherwise. I am especially sour on Edwards like everybody else. I just cannot stand the thought of going through it all again and having to be patient all over again with new staff, etc. I would even be willing to suffer through next year if I were comfortable that we literally had to re-tool the entire team to get the right pieces in place. I'm just not 100% confident in that. I do think that Nix and Whaley are capable of doing that, but I do not think that they entirely run the show. I think there are too many non-football guys and an owner who have too much input.

Let's face it - ALL systems work. All offenses and all defenses can win with the right talent. We have seen base 34's, base 43's, cover-2's, zone blitz schemes, defenses built from the inside-out, defenses built from the outside-in, etc, etc, etc all win in recent years. All have had success. All had talent. We need talent. There's no other magic formula. Good players have come to Buffalo and looked bad because there's no talent anywhere else around them. Bad players have left Buffalo and miraculously became good players because they have talent around them. Talent helps the confidence of the individual and those around him. More talent = more confidence. Confident players believe in themselves and eachother. Confident teams play with purpose and attitude. Those are the teams that win.

I'm off my soapbox now. I just don't see any other way about it than to simply get better players. Everything else will fall into place.

[Night Train]

I believe he's been doing this for a while, Mike.

This isn't the first post-gamer where he questioned the depth and the limitations of this roster. Basically alluding to the thought that he can't win with 2nd-3rd stringers all over the roster, instead of front line talent.

Could be a direct shot at the beancounters also, in addition to Nix. He doesn't like being sent onto the field with a weak roster.

[bf1]

I was never a fan of Jauron and I like Chan, but the Jauron bashing has to stop. Jauron was working with the same level of talent as Chan has and put up better records. Bumbling Nix has been a failure. Besides Darius (a gimme reward for sucking), Nix had done absolutely nothing to improve the talent level of the team. Whether or not his hands are tied... Nix has done nothing.

[Historian]

If we lose to the fish again...I think it'll be time to go to the bullpen.

:D

[better days]

I was never a fan of Jauron and I like Chan, but the Jauron bashing has to stop. Jauron was working with the same level of talent as Chan has and put up better records. Bumbling Nix has been a failure. Besides Darius (a gimme reward for sucking), Nix had done absolutely nothing to improve the talent level of the team. Whether or not his hands are tied... Nix has done nothing.

Jauron should be bashed into perpetuity on this board. He was responsible for the crap the Bills drafted in the 1st rnd while he was in Buffalo.

Nix has drafted well & also has acquired good players such as Urbick & Pears from other teams trash bin.

[Lone Stranger]

We have the option of keeping Gailey for a few more years and giving him time to develop his team, OR, getting new guy in who will turn over the roster again and cause another 3 year cycle of depravity.(Keep in mind he fact that nobody wants to come here under the current administration.)

Not much of a choice.

[EDS]

Jauron should be bashed into perpetuity on this board. He was responsible for the crap the Bills drafted in the 1st rnd while he was in Buffalo.

Nix has drafted well & also has acquired good players such as Urbick & Pears from other teams trash bin.

Please provide evidence of this "good drafting" you speak of.

[better days]

Please provide evidence of this "good drafting" you speak of.

Let's wait another year or two, but Dareus is a STUD for one & anyone that did not see that on Sunday does not watch football or if they do, they don't know what they are watching.

[BertSquirtgum]

Buddy better not be ****ing sleeping at 12:00 am when free agency starts.

[EDS]

Let's wait another year or two, but Dareus is a STUD for one & anyone that did not see that on Sunday does not watch football or if they do, they don't know what they are watching.

Dareus is most likely going to be a stud, and was the right pick, but he was the 3rd overall pick in the draft and was a no brainer. Plus, the guys picked before him (Newto and Miller) and after him (Green, Peterson. Jones, etc.) have been studs too.

2010 draft looks like crap as we close in on the end of their second year.

[Albany,n.y.]

Let's wait another year or two, but Dareus is a STUD for one & anyone that did not see that on Sunday does not watch football or if they do, they don't know what they are watching.
With Cam Newton, Von Miller & Dareus sitting at the top of the 2011 draft, a kid in his mother's basement could have made that pick.
The draft mistakes Nix made inn 2010 will haunt this team for years.

[bf1]

Let's wait another year or two, but Dareus is a STUD for one & anyone that did not see that on Sunday does not watch football or if they do, they don't know what they are watching.

Dareus is a ***** gimme for absolutely sucking the year before with 4 wins. Something any armchair GM can do. ***** literally. Buddy shouldn't get credit for that! What has he orchestrated? Nada.

[better days]

With Cam Newton, Von Miller & Dareus sitting at the top of the 2011 draft, a kid in his mother's basement could have made that pick.
The draft mistakes Nix made inn 2010 will haunt this team for years.

Yeah well in the not too distant past, Ngata was there for the picking & the Bills did not take him.

There were a number of people on this board that advocated taking a WR or DB over Dareus. So it looks like we have a number of kids on this board sitting in their mothers basement that are not as smart as you think.

[better days]

Dareus is a ***** gimme for absolutely sucking the year before with 4 wins. Something any armchair GM can do. ***** literally. Buddy shouldn't get credit for that! What has he orchestrated? Nada.

Well it's too bad the Bills didn't draft Nagta a few years ago instead of Nada, if they had this would be a MUCH better team today.

Dareus, Ngata, Williams, now that would have been a DL.

[YardRat]

When you lose 6 in a row, everybody needs to be called out. There isn't anybody in the entire organization that couldn't be doing a better job.

[mysticsoto]

Dareus is a ***** gimme for absolutely sucking the year before with 4 wins. Something any armchair GM can do. ***** literally. Buddy shouldn't get credit for that! What has he orchestrated? Nada.

If that's the case, then we should've had a gimme when we drafted OT Mike Williams years ago. There are no gimmes in drafting players...

[mysticsoto]

With Cam Newton, Von Miller & Dareus sitting at the top of the 2011 draft, a kid in his mother's basement could have made that pick.
The draft mistakes Nix made inn 2010 will haunt this team for years.

The draft mistakes made under Jauron were continuous - how many of Jauron's flops do we even have on the team anymore...and for being a 1st rder, McKelvin has been somewhat of a flop too. He's a decent slot CB but for a 1st rder, he's nowhere close to what he should've been.

Though I didn't like the Spiller pick, alot of the others were decent picks for Chan/Nix and this year's draft looks alot better.

[trapezeus]

to be fair to nix, there were a number of players he apparently went after who choose not to sign with the bills. they had the OT from atlanta playing them. they apparently went back to the GB practice squad for QB help. Apparently there is something that makes players weary of playing on this team.

I can't figure out what that one thing that has been here all along is making people weary about working for the Bills.

[bf1]

If that's the case, then we should've had a gimme when we drafted OT Mike Williams years ago. There are no gimmes in drafting players...

That way of thinking is true to some extent. But if you have the #4 pick (because the team sucked the year before on your watch) and you get a #4 who performs like a #4, you should not be given genius level credit for the pick. If Bumbling Buddy wasn't drunk on the old moonshine on draft day and traded down and got 2 or more contributing players with the #4 pick, then I'd give him credit.

[better days]

to be fair to nix, there were a number of players he apparently went after who choose not to sign with the bills. they had the OT from atlanta playing them. they apparently went back to the GB practice squad for QB help. Apparently there is something that makes players weary of playing on this team.

I can't figure out what that one thing that has been here all along is making people weary about working for the Bills.

Well, BOTH Atlanta & Green Bay are excellent organizations. Why would anyone in their right mind want to leave either of those teams to come to Buffalo if given a choice?

[better days]

That way of thinking is true to some extent. But if you have the #4 pick (because the team sucked the year before on your watch) and you get a #4 who performs like a #4, you should not be given genius level credit for the pick. If Bumbling Buddy wasn't drunk on the old moonshine on draft day and traded down and got 2 or more contributing players with the #4 pick, then I'd give him credit.

Well, I would rather have one GREAT player which Dareus will be for the next decade or better than two "contributing" players myself.

GREAT players are not easy to come by, especially BIG FAST players. Contributing players are a dime a dozen.

[mysticsoto]

That way of thinking is true to some extent. But if you have the #4 pick (because the team sucked the year before on your watch) and you get a #4 who performs like a #4, you should not be given genius level credit for the pick. If Bumbling Buddy wasn't drunk on the old moonshine on draft day and traded down and got 2 or more contributing players with the #4 pick, then I'd give him credit.

Trading down is something arm chair GMs love to talk about. Not as easy to do in real life when you have to make a deal with another team and another team has to WANT to pay the price and trade away picks for yours.

Truth be told we needed either Dareus or Von Miller. At the time, it appeared we needed Dareus more - as Merriman looked good in TC. That didn't work out as expected and we are having a terrible season b'cse of it. No pass rush means teams can do what they want with us, and us playing from behind means we have to rely on Fitz' arm which frequently leads to interceptions. A real pass rush will change this.

I'm not saying Nix is genius level, but I'm not going to condemn him for making what so far seems like decent picks in '11 - certainly much better than the Maybins/Whitners that were drafted by the previous administration.

Quite frankly, I think the formula for us to win is the following: Get a pass rusher OLB in 1st rd next yr (and is any are available in FA or by trade, I'd look into it). Then draft better some better CBs who can go one on one and draft a few OT/OG maulers that can make holes for Freddy next year. Defense improves by default with a pass rush and better secondary. Offense improves by a) relying on our pro-bowl level back and b) not having to rely on Fitz' arm so much. We need to become a team that wants to run, other teams know we want to run, but they still can't stop it!!!

[jamze132]

The key to winning in the NFL is winning the battle in the trenches. Our O and D lines need to be better. Run + Stopping the run = winning football games.

[Fixxxer]

Houston is down to their 3rd QB, a 5th round rookie, lost their best defensive player & have had their best RB & WR miss games & all they do is keep winning.
Injuries are a part of the game but somehow it's always the Bills coaches who can never come up with the answer to overcome them. Every year this team gets devastating injuries and every year the fans use them as excuses for losing. The only excuse is that from the top down, this is a bad organization. We need a new owner, GM, coach & better players. Oh yeah-we could probably get a better water boy too.

To this day, I never heard Gailey using injuries as an excuse for poor performance. Our best game of this awful losing streak (Jets 2nd game) was without many of those injured players.

Did you know that Kubiak was on the same hot seat you guys are trying to seat Gailey on now?
If he didn't make the playfoffs this year, he was fired. He got the experienced DC, Manning didn't play a game and now Kubiak is a hero in Houston.

Chan needs to be honest with himself. He chose Fitz as his leader, a leader that can't find consistency, even in his best days, a leader that hangs his head at the first sign of trouble and lately can't call an audible to save his life.
He trusted that Fitz was all he needed but he's now realizing that unfortunately Fitz, while a great guy, will not have his back on the field.
Fitz is shellshocked right now, he's questioning if he really deserved they money and position he is in, he needs to start believing or this gig will be short lived.

As Kubiak wisely realized, Chan needs an experienced guy calling the shots on defense, he should go out and find someone with the knowledge of the hybrid defense.

Edwards does not know how to use players properly; a guy like Spencer Johnson should be battling against guards and not athletic LTs. He shouldn't be trying to catch up with the Chris Johnson of the world when they turn the corner.
I'm starting to hear doubts about Sheppard's ability, wonder why would that be?
Our best all around (or second best) defender is Nick Barnett and the first thng you hear from fans after the game is how awful our LBs are.
This defensive players are being misused and the gamplans are simply awful, the last two games the opposition scored on on the first 3 drives of the game.

Chan needs to realize this might be his last gig as a HC, he needs to be true to himself and make the changes needed to extend his job security.

[bf1]

Trading down is something arm chair GMs love to talk about. Not as easy to do in real life when you have to make a deal with another team and another team has to WANT to pay the price and trade away picks for yours.

Truth be told we needed either Dareus or Von Miller. At the time, it appeared we needed Dareus more - as Merriman looked good in TC. That didn't work out as expected and we are having a terrible season b'cse of it. No pass rush means teams can do what they want with us, and us playing from behind means we have to rely on Fitz' arm which frequently leads to interceptions. A real pass rush will change this.

I'm not saying Nix is genius level, but I'm not going to condemn him for making what so far seems like decent picks in '11 - certainly much better than the Maybins/Whitners that were drafted by the previous administration.

Quite frankly, I think the formula for us to win is the following: Get a pass rusher OLB in 1st rd next yr (and is any are available in FA or by trade, I'd look into it). Then draft better some better CBs who can go one on one and draft a few OT/OG maulers that can make holes for Freddy next year. Defense improves by default with a pass rush and better secondary. Offense improves by a) relying on our pro-bowl level back and b) not having to rely on Fitz' arm so much. We need to become a team that wants to run, other teams know we want to run, but they still can't stop it!!!

I was just using that as an example of something orchestrated with brainpower and effort. Rather than simply getting credit for being handed someone with a #4 pick.

[better days]

I was just using that as an example of something orchestrated with brainpower and effort. Rather than simply getting credit for being handed someone with a #4 pick.

Well, Dareus was there when the Bills picked, but in the PAST, the Bills would have taken someone else instead of Dareus, the obvious pick.

Nix gets credit for making the CORRECT pick & like I said there were many on this board that wanted the Bills to take a WR or DB rather than Dareus.

Like I said GREAT players especially BIG FAST players are hard to come by. It would have been STUPID to let a GREAT player get away for even 4 contributing players.

The trade of the draft pick the Bills used on Dareus would have shown a LACK of brainpower even if they could have gotten 4 picks in return.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

I can't figure out what that one thing that has been here all along is making people weary about working for the Bills.
Easy: the high rate of injuries. Who is going to come here and jeopardize their career? They're going to a place where they can stay healthy and productive. Until the Bills can stay healthy, they'll never be able to attract anyone but the most desperate of free agents.