Feel like going back to Gregg Williams era again

[ghz in pittsburgh]

except we may have a better scouting department under Nix than Donahoe.

The theme in this draft is raw talent. Physical talent. high ceiling. Listening to Marrone talk, he mentioned several times that the coaching stuff is teaching, bring the football player out of those talents.

When Gregg Williams was here, he talked in refreshing tones about treating the players like college players. Teach and you get them for about 4 years anyway - that's what I remembered.

Of course unlike Williams, Marrone actually did the teaching in Syracuse and have the results to show for it. But this is pro. Money changes everything, as Donahoe famously said it, which I truely believe. If Maroone and his staff can get ONE of the high ceiling guy reaching his potential, it will be a success. And if that player is EJ, he'll be reach Levy's status in Buffalo.

I have no doubt that Marrone played a big role in this culture change. Nix, since being in Buffalo, is about as an old fashioned scout as he can be. His famous saying to me is that "if a guy has done it in high school, and in college, chances are he's going to do it in NFL". This is all sound and good. But you have to be in the right position, in other words with luck, to get the guy you want because everyone else see s that too. So now Nix is modified his motto to "if a guy has done it in high school, but not in college, as long as he has the physical talent, we can bring it out in NFL." I have to believe Marrone is the reason behind it.

[Bill Cody]

I suspect Marrone had a lot of input into this draft. And since he's coming straight from the college game that input should be very useful- he KNOWS a ton of these players

[Historian]

If he shows up at camp with a bullhorn the circle will be complete.

[swiper]

except we may have a better scouting department under Nix than Donahoe.

The theme in this draft is raw talent. Physical talent. high ceiling. Listening to Marrone talk, he mentioned several times that the coaching stuff is teaching, bring the football player out of those talents.

When Gregg Williams was here, he talked in refreshing tones about treating the players like college players. Teach and you get them for about 4 years anyway - that's what I remembered.

Of course unlike Williams, Marrone actually did the teaching in Syracuse and have the results to show for it. But this is pro. Money changes everything, as Donahoe famously said it, which I truely believe. If Maroone and his staff can get ONE of the high ceiling guy reaching his potential, it will be a success. And if that player is EJ, he'll be reach Levy's status in Buffalo.

I have no doubt that Marrone played a big role in this culture change. Nix, since being in Buffalo, is about as an old fashioned scout as he can be. His famous saying to me is that "if a guy has done it in high school, and in college, chances are he's going to do it in NFL". This is all sound and good. But you have to be in the right position, in other words with luck, to get the guy you want because everyone else see s that too. So now Nix is modified his motto to "if a guy has done it in high school, but not in college, as long as he has the physical talent, we can bring it out in NFL." I have to believe Marrone is the reason behind it.

You're right. All through this draft I thought this was Gregg Williams all over again. Hope Marrone doesn't have a bullhorn. I don't suspect he does. Maybe the outcome will be better this time.

[justasportsfan]

I see GW when Marrone is talking to the press. No nonsense except he dun't say "didly pooh"

[ublinkwescore]

Gregg Williams' downfall was Kevin gilbride. The d was stout. Special teams serviceable. The o had talent that could win once bledsoe got here, but gilbride's playcalling negated that. Lets hope the o is new orleans-like and the d is jets-like. Given what I have seen so far from the draft, im actually looking forward to this upcoming season now. Too bad I probably wont be able to catch many games...

[Bill Cody]

Gregg Williams' downfall was Kevin gilbride. The d was stout. Special teams serviceable. The o had talent that could win once bledsoe got here, but gilbride's playcalling negated that. Lets hope the o is new orleans-like and the d is jets-like. Given what I have seen so far from the draft, im actually looking forward to this upcoming season now. Too bad I probably wont be able to catch many games...

That's such a cop out. Gregg Williams was the freakin head coach! It's one thing to have an OC it's another to completely hand over all control to him. Kevin Gilbride won a SB with the Giants. He did it running a balanced offense, you can look it up. Can you take a guess why he did that? I'll wait while you think this through.

[swiper]

Gregg Williams' downfall was Kevin gilbride.

You say that. And we all thought that at the time. But how does Gilbride seem to thrive under Coughlin? Went to Super Bowl. I'm not so sure it was all Gilbride.

[ublinkwescore]

Coughlin calls the plays. Gilbride passed on EVERY 3rd down.

[psubills62]

Yeah, I felt like the majority of this draft was similar in essence to the Spiller selection. The goal is to upgrade the overall talent of the team by getting fast, athletic players. That's fine, as long as we have the coaches to develop and make use of them (I think that's become my mantra). It all comes down to coaching and putting these players in a position to succeed, both offensively and defensively. Goodwin seems like a nice weapon, but if our coaches fail to get him into space, I don't see it helping the team that much.

[Bill Cody]

Coughlin calls the plays. Gilbride passed on EVERY 3rd down.
He did. Either Williams agreed with that or he was afraid to object. Either way the head coach is 100% responsible. Period.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

If he shows up at camp with a bullhorn the circle will be complete.
Bring on the opportunity laps!

[NOT THE DUDE...]

You're right. All through this draft I thought this was Gregg Williams all over again. Hope Marrone doesn't have a bullhorn. I don't suspect he does. Maybe the outcome will be better this time.


you guys make winning so much more complicated than it is. if you have a franchise qb, a couple athletic pass rushers and a couple speed demons, you will win....

greg williams lost because drew bledsoe failed. simple as that

[ublinkwescore]

He did. Either Williams agreed with that or he was afraid to object. Either way the head coach is 100% responsible. Period.

Im not saykng hes not responsible, but gilbride does need a leash.

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I thought they were called thinking laps

[Bill Cody]

you guys make winning so much more complicated than it is. if you have a franchise qb, a couple athletic pass rushers and a couple speed demons, you will win....

greg williams lost because drew bledsoe failed. simple as that
no

[Bill Cody]

Im not saykng hes not responsible, but gilbride does need a leash.

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I thought they were called thinking laps
Agreed. Williams was not a HC so he couldn't give him one

[NOT THE DUDE...]

no

yes, in todays nfl with all the even talent, the best qbs, best pass rushing team wins....



throw in a couple playmakers on o, and you will get to the dance...

you really think bruce arians or jim caldwell are "great" coaches? lol

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denver gets manning, drafts von miller and now " boom"

[NOT THE DUDE...]

if ej manuel becomes a great qb, you will see us all of a sudden making the playoffs, and other players playing better...

guys like moats, urbik, wood, mckelvin make pro bowls, etc....

[JoeMama]

except we may have a better scouting department under Nix than Donahoe.

The theme in this draft is raw talent. Physical talent. high ceiling. Listening to Marrone talk, he mentioned several times that the coaching stuff is teaching, bring the football player out of those talents.

When Gregg Williams was here, he talked in refreshing tones about treating the players like college players. Teach and you get them for about 4 years anyway - that's what I remembered.

Of course unlike Williams, Marrone actually did the teaching in Syracuse and have the results to show for it. But this is pro. Money changes everything, as Donahoe famously said it, which I truely believe. If Maroone and his staff can get ONE of the high ceiling guy reaching his potential, it will be a success. And if that player is EJ, he'll be reach Levy's status in Buffalo.

I have no doubt that Marrone played a big role in this culture change. Nix, since being in Buffalo, is about as an old fashioned scout as he can be. His famous saying to me is that "if a guy has done it in high school, and in college, chances are he's going to do it in NFL". This is all sound and good. But you have to be in the right position, in other words with luck, to get the guy you want because everyone else see s that too. So now Nix is modified his motto to "if a guy has done it in high school, but not in college, as long as he has the physical talent, we can bring it out in NFL." I have to believe Marrone is the reason behind it.

No way.

2001 was one of the greatest drafts in Bills history.

Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Ron Edwards, Jonas Jennings, etc etc.

Tom Donahue is a brilliant genius compared to Buddy Nix. The guy is flat out ******ed. It makes me angry he's allowed to have a job in this economy. ****ing ******ed hick.

[ublinkwescore]

No way.

2001 was one of the greatest drafts in Bills history.

Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Ron Edwards, Jonas Jennings, etc etc.

Tom Donahue is a brilliant genius compared to Buddy Nix. The guy is flat out ******ed. It makes me angry he's allowed to have a job in this economy. ****ing ******ed hick.

Donahoe had one solid draft & that was it. Donahoe took losman, everrett, Roscoe, kelsay, Bannan, got lucky as hell with Jason Peters. Donahoe let Clements & Winfield walk along with Pat Williams.

Sorry, but Nix is significantly better. see Lee Evans, Spiller, resigning our guys, and Dareus and M. Williams

[POTLAND PSILBYLO]

At least GW wanted to draft Brees

[JoeMama]

Donahoe had one solid draft & that was it. Donahoe took losman, everrett, Roscoe, kelsay, Bannan, got lucky as hell with Jason Peters. Donahoe let Clements & Winfield walk along with Pat Williams.

Sorry, but Nix is significantly better. see Lee Evans, Spiller, resigning our guys, and Dareus and M. Williams

Nix is better how?

Have you seen our record, you ****ing idiot?

We're worse than we've ever been.

[BillsFan64]

Gregg Williams also had Rob Johnson as qb.

[JoeMama]

I can't believe this ****ing moron is an ambulance tech. I'd sooner put my life in the hands of a brain-dead zombie than this guy.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Nix is better how?

Have you seen our record, you ****ing idiot?

We're worse than we've ever been.

1- RELAX... wow

2- a record does not always reflect talent...

obviously stevie and cj are awesome...

the oline is the best its been in years, same for dline talent

its always been about the qb, but our roster is much better than years past.

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if you look at the drafting under nix, and compare it to the 2000-2008 drafts, well just look it up buddy

[ublinkwescore]

I can't believe this ****ing moron is an ambulance tech. I'd sooner put my life in the hands of a brain-dead zombie than this guy.

I guess no one ever schooled you on basic rules of debate... we also had a brain-dead hc who refused to put the ball in the hands of his would-be-elite rb, an interception distribution machine that we all thought was our savior, and two lameduck def. coordinators who worshipped our opponents qbs.

[JoeMama]

I guess no one ever schooled you on basic rules of debate... we also had a brain-dead hc who refused to put the ball in the hands of his would-be-elite rb, an interception distribution machine that we all thought was our savior, and two lameduck def. coordinators who worshipped our opponents qbs.

Don't lecture me.

I'm literally the ONLY fan who predicted Chan Gailey would be worse than Dick Jauron.

I know my ****.

[ublinkwescore]

yup.... sure buddy. neither could have coached our better more recent rosters to the playoffs...

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yup.... sure buddy. neither could have coached our better more recent rosters to the playoffs...

[ghz in pittsburgh]

No way.

2001 was one of the greatest drafts in Bills history.

Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Ron Edwards, Jonas Jennings, etc etc.

Tom Donahue is a brilliant genius compared to Buddy Nix. The guy is flat out ******ed. It makes me angry he's allowed to have a job in this economy. ****ing ******ed hick.

Don't get me started with the Donahoe debate again! I used to know a lot about the Steelers org, with Donahoe from IUP, internship, scouting, all the way to Player devlopment director. The Rooneys knew exactly what's going on and they kept the right guy during the famous Cowher/Donahow power fight when both men submitted resignation letters.

Donahoe is an organizational guy. He knows people, he knows intel. The Ryan Denny trick he pulled prompted the Steelers a month long internal cleansing, resulting one fired, several warned and eventually let go. Now I LIKE a GM to have that kind of skills. However, he is NOT a good scout and had no eyes for players. He had one good year of drafting relying on the existing scout structure and data. Then when he brought in his people Modrak and changed the whole scouting department, it went straight downhill in terms of talent. Also the scar of losing the power struggle to Cowher changed him for ever in terms of selecting coaches. He'd never gave the kind of influence Marrone enjoys with the Bills to any coaches he hired. From a business viewpoint, unless you are one of the few genius like Steve Jobs, you are not having a healthy organization that promotes collaboration for progress.

Donahoe has the right idea, but he just won't let the idea to prosper. Williams and Mularkey, while they were not completely ready when they were with the Bills, are not bad choices when we look at their career path now. Donahoe could not draft well enough for them, and never let them felt at ease in their job like Jauron and Gailey had.