Source: Bills new coach will report directly to Kim and Terry

[RedEyE]

Curious everyone's thoughts on this Tim Graham gem:
http://www.buffalorumblings.com/buffalo-bills-news/2015/1/2/7482761/buffalo-bills-next-coach-will-report-directly-to-terry-pegula

Kim and Terry will also be in interviews.

[SpikedLemonade]

Stupid.

The HC should report to the GM and not the owner.

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

Curious everyone's thoughts on this Tim Graham gem:
http://www.buffalorumblings.com/buffalo-bills-news/2015/1/2/7482761/buffalo-bills-next-coach-will-report-directly-to-terry-pegula

Kim and Terry will also be in interviews.

WTF? why neuter your GM? This makes no sense to me! ugh. Please don't tell me this is not Dan Snyder........

[WagonCircler]

This tells me that Whaley is a temp.

Bye Whaley.

[YardRat]

The Pegs should be involved in the interview process, but I don't like the idea of the HC reporting directly to them. Interesting, considering that has been one of the excuses reported as a reason why Marrone opted out...losing that access.

[BertSquirtgum]

The Pegs should be involved in the interview process, but I don't like the idea of the HC reporting directly to them. Interesting, considering that has been one of the excuses reported as a reason why Marrone opted out...losing that access.

What are Pegs?

[Ed]

I don't know that it makes much difference. It's not like the owner doesn't have final say on everything anyway.

[RedEyE]

It could be they're just getting a feel for the business. Or maybe Terry was blindsided by Marrone's clause and doesn't want anything like that happening again.

I'm really curious if Ralph knew about that contract clause. Ralph was a damn good businessman and I don't think he would have been that quick to leave a loophole for someone to have the ability to walk away unscathed with 4$ million.

[feldspar]

Power jockeys in Bills front office spoke ill of Polian in Marrone's presence. Marrone told Polian on way out. Polian told Pegula yesterday.

per Tim Graham

https://mobile.twitter.com/ByTimGraham/status/551108840184643584

[X-Era]

Wait a second...

How bad would this be? Is it not a chance for better checks and balances? In this situation it would be difficult for a GM to put a HC under his thumb. And, the HC won't be worried about the GM firing him.

HC handles what happens on the field
GM handles what happens off the field

Both report directly to Pegula.

Not sure I hate this.

Is it bad for the owner to be aware of how a GM may have made a poor choice on a FA or draftee? Where it may be hidden from Pegula by the HC for fear of retribution?

Is it bad for the GM to talk directly to the owner about what the HC has done with the players he provided?

[JohnnyGold]

If true, that is some of the best news to come out of Buffalo since Pegula bought the team.

Undoubtedly, once the next "President of Football Operations" is announced, the GM and Coach will report directly to them.

I would guess that Polian was going to be the "defacto" president, as Pegula thought there was some (or rather, enough of a) degree of a working relationship between Marrone and Whaley. With Marrone walking away though, Pegula sees that the front office is untenable with its current management structure and needs to be reorganized.

Face it: with Wilson passing, we were left with an organizational leadership vacuum. Brandon tried to fill that, but by creating some sort of triumvirate with him, Whaley, and Marrone... you saw public fighting (like training camp), grudges (Mike Williams im sure), differing philosophies (who knows how bad EJ really is?), and ultimately a divorce.

Things keep getting better for the Bills.

[JohnnyGold]

Wait a second...

How bad would this be? Is it not a chance for better checks and balances? In this situation it would be difficult for a GM to put a HC under his thumb. And, the HC won't be worried about the GM firing him.

HC handles what happens on the field
GM handles what happens off the field

Both report directly to Pegula.

Not sure I hate this.

Is it bad for the owner to be aware of how a GM may have made a poor choice on a FA or draftee? Where it may be hidden from Pegula by the HC for fear of retribution?

Is it bad for the GM to talk directly to the owner about what the HC has done with the players he provided?

It's not bad at all.

We've been run by a marketing director for a decade. He catered to our every whim--football decisions were made as the winds (or focus groups) blew.

Now we're developing a real, business-based management structure geared towards winning football games, not selling out 3 home games in September.

There will be some growing pains. There will be bad press. There will be an entire GENERATION of fans accustomed to complaining about everything and being rewarded with a new shiny toy in the spring (TO, Mario, etc.) to get them to renew their tickets suddenly forced to deal with the reality that short term sacrifice and decisions you don't understand ultimately results in a consistently strong organization that can field at least a 9-7 team every year, and push for a championship once or twice a decade when they get a few bounces--just like Pit, NE, Den, Baltimore etc. etc. etc.

The team needs to be run differently.
The business needs to be run differently.
Why ANYONE on here thinks that they feel qualified to criticize the management decisions that are happening and will happen is beyond me.

Just ignore these things and get ready to watch football again.

[The Doc]

Sounds good to me. Look, the Pegulas are steering the ship. There's a couple ways to look at it:

1- a straight chain of command that starts with the Pegulas and works down going GM, Coach, and so on. For some organizations this works.

2- then there's another way that has department heads report to the top. The GM is in charge of personnel and contracts. Russ is in charge of marketing and business relations. The coach is in charge of being the coach with all having to report to the owner and not the GM. This is how I'd do it if I were the owner. This way works too.

[justasportsfan]

Wow, Marrone is one huge fagina the more this goes along.

[DetDannyWilliams]

This is how the Pegula's run the Sabres also. Nolan reports to Murray and then Murray reports to Pegula

[sudzy]

Power jockeys in Bills front office spoke ill of Polian in Marrone's presence. Marrone told Polian on way out. Polian told Pegula yesterday.

per Tim Graham

https://mobile.twitter.com/ByTimGraham/status/551108840184643584

OMG. This is like Junior High. And what's worse is the 72 year old Polian is taking part. Why would Polian care? All that matters in what Terry thinks. That's the only person Bill would have to answer to. And if Terry didn't like Bill he wouldn't have tried to hire him.

[DraftBoy]

This tells me that Whaley is a temp.

Bye Whaley.
Basically this.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

It could be they're just getting a feel for the business. Or maybe Terry was blindsided by Marrone's clause and doesn't want anything like that happening again.

I'm really curious if Ralph knew about that contract clause. Ralph was a damn good businessman and I don't think he would have been that quick to leave a loophole for someone to have the ability to walk away unscathed with 4$ million.

By definition, it wouldn't have been Ralph's money. The opt out triggered on a change in ownership.

[RedEyE]

By definition, it wouldn't have been Ralph's money. The opt out triggered on a change in ownership.

Good point. Even if Ralph had just sold the team it would have been the new owners problem.

[chris66]

Sounds good to me. Look, the Pegulas are steering the ship. There's a couple ways to look at it:

1- a straight chain of command that starts with the Pegulas and works down going GM, Coach, and so on. For some organizations this works.

2- then there's another way that has department heads report to the top. The GM is in charge of personnel and contracts. Russ is in charge of marketing and business relations. The coach is in charge of being the coach with all having to report to the owner and not the GM. This is how I'd do it if I were the owner. This way works too.Then why bother with a GM. give the next coach full control of football ops

[OpIv37]

Wait a second...

How bad would this be? Is it not a chance for better checks and balances? In this situation it would be difficult for a GM to put a HC under his thumb. And, the HC won't be worried about the GM firing him.

HC handles what happens on the field
GM handles what happens off the field

Both report directly to Pegula.

Not sure I hate this.

Is it bad for the owner to be aware of how a GM may have made a poor choice on a FA or draftee? Where it may be hidden from Pegula by the HC for fear of retribution?

Is it bad for the GM to talk directly to the owner about what the HC has done with the players he provided?
Here's the only problem I see: the Pegulas have no football experience. They are fans like us who just happen to be stinkin' rich for reasons completely unrelated to football.

It's very Snyder-esque.

[chris66]

Here's the only problem I see: the Pegulas have no football experience. They are fans like us who just happen to be stinkin' rich for reasons completely unrelated to football.

It's very Snyder-esque.dont even think you can call them football fans. They are fans of the city and stepped in to make sure the city keeps its team

[feldspar]

OMG. This is like Junior High. And what's worse is the 72 year old Polian is taking part. Why would Polian care? All that matters in what Terry thinks. That's the only person Bill would have to answer to. And if Terry didn't like Bill he wouldn't have tried to hire him.

Yep, if what Graham said is true, it's actually a lot worse than Junior High.

Just going by what Graham said, I'm not sure if it would influence Polian's decision. But why say it? The thing to me would be that Marrone would actually be deliberately trying to sabotage the Buffalo Bills organization by telling Polian this, if true. Why else would he go out his way to tell Polian that "power jockeys in the Bills front office" were bad-mouthing Polian as the Bills were trying to hire him? Marrone was already out the door. Not like those two are buds. It's a huge middle finger to the Bills from Marrone, if this is true.

True or not, I'm actively rooting against any future Marrone success. Hope this guy gets hit by the proverbial bus. He'd better not show his face in Buffalo anymore if he wants any respect, I'll tell you that.


dont even think you can call them football fans.

Are you kidding me? Of course the Pegula's are football fans. Holy cripes.

[JohnnyGold]

Yep, if what Graham said is true, it's actually a lot worse than Junior High.

Just going by what Graham said, I'm not sure if it would influence Polian's decision. But why say it? The thing to me would be that Marrone would actually be deliberately trying to sabotage the Buffalo Bills organization by telling Polian this, if true. Why else would he go out his way to tell Polian that "power jockeys in the Bills front office" were bad-mouthing Polian as the Bills were trying to hire him? Marrone was already out the door. Not like those two are buds. It's a huge middle finger to the Bills from Marrone, if this is true.

True or not, I'm actively rooting against any future Marrone success. Hope this guy gets hit by the proverbial bus. He'd better not show his face in Buffalo anymore if he wants any respect, I'll tell you that.



Are you kidding me? Of course the Pegula's are football fans. Holy cripes.


Whats more, look at it this way.

Someone leaked the info to the press that Marrone heard power players at OBD badmouthing Polian which is why Polian declined the role.

1 of 3 people had to leak that to the press:
1) Polian
2) Pegula
or
3) Marrone

What would each person stand to gain/lose from that leaking to the press?
1) Polian would gain nothing, unless there was the remote chance he was trying to get Overdorf fired to enact revenge for a 20 year old slight... and he could lose quite a bit--he wants this story to die so he can get those Hall of Fame votes. Every day that passes with this still generating headlines is one day closer to his HOF vote, and right now he looks VERY much "still involved with football". He was likely not the leak.

2) Pegula would gain nothing by leaking this to the press, it makes the team look bad.

3) Marrone is the only person out of these 3 without a job. He's the only person that has any interest in keeping this non-story alive. He's trying to use his agents connections to get him the head coaching gig in NY. A story like this makes him look connected AND influential: "hey, he got the great Bill Polian to change his mind just by calling him up!"

[YardRat]

This is how the Pegula's run the Sabres also. Nolan reports to Murray and then Murray reports to Pegula

That doesn't make sense if the football organizational chart has the HC reporting directly to the owner and not through the GM.

[YardRat]

dont even think you can call them football fans. They are fans of the city and stepped in to make sure the city keeps its team

Pretty sure it's been reported that at least Kim has been a Bills fan for a long time.

[chris66]

Pretty sure it's been reported that at least Kim has been a Bills fan for a long time.Were they season ticket holders? i know terry has said on several occasions that he is a huge hockey fan. Never really heard him say anything about the bills except he wanted to make sure they stayed in buffalo

[stuckincincy]

Another 15 years on the outs...

[better days]

Stupid.

The HC should report to the GM and not the owner.

BS. Marv Levy called Ralph Wilson EVERY DAY when he was HC of the Bills.

- - - Updated - - -


Were they season ticket holders? i know terry has said on several occasions that he is a huge hockey fan. Never really heard him say anything about the bills except he wanted to make sure they stayed in buffalo

The Pegula's were Bills season ticket holders before they bought the Sabres.

[stuckincincy]

BS. Marv Levy called Ralph Wilson EVERY DAY when he was HC of the Bills.

- - - Updated - - -




Levy was a knee-biting opportunist.

[better days]

Levy was a knee-biting opportunist.

Let's hope there is another that comes along this year.

[coastal]

What a mess this is... Clean the cupboard and tank it.

[Don't Panic]

If the Pegulas can follow the Rooney model instead if the Snyder/Jines model then I'm ok with this. The Rooneys have been fairly active owners but they've been smart enough to keep a fair distance. Do that and we're fine.

[BillsImpossible]

Reporting to the boss is called accountability and responsibility.

It's not new, just an old American tradition I guess.

What's wrong with being held accountable and having a responsible direct access to the people that sign your paycheck?

How dare the Pegula's hold their individual employees responsible for their actions!

They actually want to TALK to their employees?

How old fashioned.

[TacklingDummy]

Meddling owners always work out.

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

Meddling owners always work out.

yup. My thoughts exactly. Part of the reason the patriots are so successful is that Kraft is busy whoremongoring and paying off refs instead of injecting himself in day to day b.s. Ala jerry jones, Dan Snyder, mike brown etc

[DraftBoy]

I don't like this at all.

[feldspar]

Meddling owners always work out.

LOL, are you serious?

The Pegulas just bought this team just a couple of few short months ago FOR $1.4 BILLION. They've done nothing so far to "interfere", nor should they have. But the starting QB just retired, and the Head Coach just opted out of his contract inexplicably. The people who are responsible for this situation should not be being policed at this moment? A huge evaluation process will be going on here for a while.

I don't think it outrageous that it should be a priority that I'm kept in the loop had I just spent $1.4 BILLION on anything...even if the situation wasn't as ****ed up as it is...and it is. Time will tell. Hopefully, the Pegulas will take a step back once they are satisfied the correct competent people are in place to run this team. We aren't talking about Jerry Jones here...although, we'll see if Dallas can finally make some noise in the playoffs this year. Don't think we'll have a Daniel Snyder on our hands, either.

Relax. It's been a week, for Christ's sake. A very strange one.

"Meddling" is a ridiculous word to use to describe ANYTHING the Pegulas do at this moment or in the foreseeable future. Where exactly do you think this change we've all been hoping for is supposed to come from?

[Mace]

Well, good that they're sitting in on interviews, they can add power if needed, and know how to evaluate executives.

I find it real hard to believe they'll have the HC reporting directly to them unless it's for an uber candidate I'm not aware of.

[Buddo]

Yep, if what Graham said is true, it's actually a lot worse than Junior High.

Just going by what Graham said, I'm not sure if it would influence Polian's decision. But why say it? The thing to me would be that Marrone would actually be deliberately trying to sabotage the Buffalo Bills organization by telling Polian this, if true. Why else would he go out his way to tell Polian that "power jockeys in the Bills front office" were bad-mouthing Polian as the Bills were trying to hire him? Marrone was already out the door. Not like those two are buds. It's a huge middle finger to the Bills from Marrone, if this is true.

True or not, I'm actively rooting against any future Marrone success. Hope this guy gets hit by the proverbial bus. He'd better not show his face in Buffalo anymore if he wants any respect, I'll tell you that.



Are you kidding me? Of course the Pegula's are football fans. Holy cripes.

Apparently Marrone and Polian have known each other for years. One of the local reporters mentioned this in something recently. As such, for all I consider Marrone a chickensh1t coach for leaving as he has, I don't blame him for giving Polian the head's up.

I think you have to look at Overdorf, Berchold (sp?) as the most likely suspects, but I suppose Brandon might not be too impressed either. Whaley doen't strike me as a 'power monger', more of a guy who works his ass off trying to make the team better.

[Strongman]

For me, a few possibilities come to mind on why the Pegulas want the HC to report directly to them. First, the Pegulas might have Whaley on a short leash and don't want him to hire a coach who might be more loyal to him than to them or the organization. Second, they might be trying to avoid the coaching turnover that would happen if Whaley is fired and a new GM is hired who then wants one of his guys to coach and does everything in his power to make life miserable for the current HC. Or it could simply be they think Whaley is a little wet behind the ears and don't think a more experienced coach would be very keen on taking orders from such a newbie.

[pmoon6]

If the Pegulas can follow the Rooney model instead if the Snyder/Jines model then I'm ok with this. The Rooneys have been fairly active owners but they've been smart enough to keep a fair distance. Do that and we're fine.You mean the Rooney model that had only three over .500 seasons in forty years before they hired Chuck Noll?

[Don't Panic]

"Meddling" is a ridiculous word to use to describe ANYTHING the Pegulas do at this moment or in the foreseeable future. Where exactly do you think this change we've all been hoping for is supposed to come from?

Don't let yourself get too worked up... its TD after all.

[Don't Panic]

You mean the Rooney model that had only three over .500 seasons in forty years before they hired Chuck Noll?

No I meant the one that's been the most dominant franchise in the NFL since then and done so with only three coaches. Did you seriously just go back to the 1930's to make a point?

[Dr. Who]

Basically this.

You're going to have a temp lead the search to find the new coach. That makes no sense.

[Meathead]

frankly i dont believe it. i suspect this report is just wrong, doesnt make sense to have the hc report to the owner bc you would force the owner to break any ties, that would be dumb and terry isnt dumb

at most he plans to have a team president between him and the hc/gm, which would work. but with just terry/kim and the two other jobs, no way

[RedEyE]

frankly i dont believe it. i suspect this report is just wrong, doesnt make sense to have the hc report to the owner bc you would force the owner to break any ties, that would be dumb and terry isnt dumb

at most he plans to have a team president between him and the hc/gm, which would work. but with just terry/kim and the two other jobs, no way

I thought the same thing and then I read an article that Marrone was reporting directly to the Pegulas as well, and that part of the reason Marrone parted ways was that he didn't like the idea of having a buffer (Polian) between he and the owner. Polianthought highly of Marrone but Marrone wasn't apparently high on the ol' codger.

[X-Era]

I think the chain of command may be a bit overstated too.

The communication lines are wide open by all reports anyways. Everyone talks to everyone. Hirings, firings, drafts, free agency are more group consensus than sending recommendations up the chain for sign off's. Sure, final say may come into play but that's different than one guy making all the decisions.

[YardRat]

"Our goal is to win football games, and we can only do that if you work together. You two need to play nice, or one (maybe both) are gone. Got it?"

Geez...that's really ****ing difficult. If that's 'heavy lifting', sign me up.

[CommissarSpartacus]

Marrone told Polian that people in the Bills front office were talking **** about him?

What is this, Mean Girls?

[RedEyE]

Yeah the "heavy lifting" quote really bothers me. Polian doesn't want the nuisance having to rebuild a team. He'd rather walk some where in and have dinner already on the table. I expect more from a future HOFer. I expect a guy like that to look adversity in the eye and give it the middle finger.

[The Jokeman]

Has anyone thought maybe this is a smoke screen by Polian? As everyone has talked earlier that he wasn't going to take the position until he gets into the HOF. So maybe by declining the position now he's just doing the wait and see if the Bills end up getting Reich and if they do he will take the President job. In other words let the owners do all the dirty work and then he can step in? I know it's far fetched.

[Demon]

Marrone told Polian that people in the Bills front office were talking **** about him?

What is this, Mean Girls?

Nope, just Pegula's wonderland.

Look at the whole LaFontaine thing that went down.

[WagonCircler]

You're going to have a temp lead the search to find the new coach. That makes no sense.

Polian was supposed to do it, but he bailed. But this is the time to interview prospective Head Coaches, so they have no choice but to let Whaley do it.

[Meathead]

ill say this, if they really have the hc and gm and vp and whotf else report direct to terry thats going to be another clusterfudge. that was the net result of marvs admittedly failed stint as fake gm/really a consultant gig, he orchestrated them into what i thought was an extreme collective decision mindset. ive lived under those mgmt experiments, they usually dont work in the long run bc whoever it is that breaks ties gets tired of always breaking ties. or the organization fails bc of gridlock that can and usually does naturally form eventually bc ppl get embedded in their no-tie-breaking fox holes

frankly thats what ive been assuming has been happening at one bills drive ever since ralph become not really ralph. lots of different ppl trying to put their influence on as large an area as they can, essentially the jockeying for position process everybody knew was coming. if terry were to think that structure was gonna work under him, well i guess im very dubious

[pmoon6]

No I meant the one that's been the most dominant franchise in the NFL since then and done so with only three coaches. Did you seriously just go back to the 1930's to make a point?Pfft. They were dominant in the '70's. They aren't what I call "dominant" since then. They sucked during the '80's and early '90's. Cowher got handed the Super Bowl. Even in SB X, the Steelers, the most penalized team in the league that year, did not have one penalty called on them even when Lambert body slammed Cliff Harris after a missed field goal.

So, my conclusion is that Pittsburgh has benefited by being a "storied" franchise.

If you couldn't guess, I hate the Stealers.

They have always played dirty and got away with it because of who they are.

So, buy into the myth of the "great" Pittsburgh Steelers and kiss that black and gold ass.

[Mr. Pink]

It's funny, Jerry Jones gets involved with football decisions and he's meddling.

If the Pegulas decide to do it, it's smart business.

[WagonCircler]

It's funny, Jerry Jones gets involved with football decisions and he's meddling.

If the Pegulas decide to do it, it's smart business.

That's asinine.

Jerry Jones fired a great football coach because Jone's ego couldn't deal with all the credit Jimmy was getting. He has since done basically nothing. Barry Switzer won with Jimmy's team.

The Pegulas have owned the Bills for ten God damn minutes, and the mentor they chose just bailed on them, and they don't trust the incompetent fux currently in the front office, but there's no time to replace them before all the good coaching prospects are gone.

The Pegulas are doing this out of necessity of the current circumstance, not because they think they're football people, the way Rodent Face Jerry Jones does.

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

Pfft. They were dominant in the '70's. They aren't what I call "dominant" since then. They sucked during the '80's and early '90's. Cowher got handed the Super Bowl. Even in SB X, the Steelers, the most penalized team in the league that year, did not have one penalty called on them even when Lambert body slammed Cliff Harris after a missed field goal.

So, my conclusion is that Pittsburgh has benefited by being a "storied" franchise.

If you couldn't guess, I hate the Stealers.

They have always played dirty and got away with it because of who they are.

So, buy into the myth of the "great" Pittsburgh Steelers and kiss that black and gold ass.

ugh. lived there for 6 years. if you think new england fans are bad....... UGH. i'm with you brother