The Quick Fix

[YardRat]

By now it's obvious to everyone what the major problem is with the Buffalo Bills, and we have to face the fact that without any major changes the team is probably going to undergo some drastic roster shuffling this off season as Rex builds 'his' team. We also all know that means 'rebuild', with the playoffs at least two or three seasons down the road still...if at all, considering his history. When Ryan was hired, he was gifted a dominant defense, solid special teams, and a broken offense that needed to be fixed. The window for success is short (the defense isn't going to remain intact for long) and Rex basically closed it with his 'my way' approach...but that isn't necessarily the case. One short year into Ryan's reign, the players are still here, and the window of opportunity really is still open, if only a crack. If the Pegula's sincerely want to get the team back in to the playoffs (next season?) they still might be able to achieve that, but some drastic and costly changes will have to be made...

Dump Ryan and the clown car cadre he brought with him from New Jersey right now. Eat the Jet money.
Retain the coaches that were here last season (Henderson, Crossman, etc).
Give free reign to Roman as OC to fill out his position coaches with his guys, release him from the burden of working with Ryan's cronies. If Roman wants to keep Kromer, more power to him.
Suck it up, dial the phone, and make Jim Schwartz a wealthy DC or HC...grovel if you have to. Let him fill out the rest of the defensive staff. If Schwartz doesn't want the HC, make him the highest paid DC in the league and bring in a HC that wants to be a head coach and work with those already in place, not a glorified coordinator.

That's the staff, as far as players...

Oline, oline, oline. Let's focus, people.
QB--bring in an NFL vet, a draft choice...hell, even mine the CFL...three guys, at least, to compete with Tyrod for roster spots and depth chart positions.
Fill in a couple of holes (MLB, blocking TE, safety, CB, dline) with a couple of free agents, the draft and UDFA's.

It really can be that easy-peasy...if you've got the balls to make the moves that are necessary, and a sincere will to win sooner rather than later. If they don't, then the window will be closed completely before the '16 season kicks off, we'll all have to suffer probably two more years of Ryan's failures and facing a full rebuild again.

[trapezeus]

I agree with the sentiment that you have to start over. but Schwarz isn't the right call. he is a DC through and through and if he comes back as one, he'll get older players. My worry is that his time came and went. he'll be chasing a dragon with the same heightened expectations.

I would prefer a college coach who runs a pro style offense in one of the schools that get routinely beaten up on. His record might not be good but he gets less talented kids to play up. and if given a shot with real talent would run a team that could compete.

I think whaley should stay. but i'll tell you this, if the next coach is standing next to russ Brandon, you know the bills will have continued tofocus on marketing over substance.

[justasportsfan]

Dump Ryan and the clown car cadre he brought with him from New Jersey right now. Eat the Jet money.
Retain the coaches that were here last season (Henderson, Crossman, etc).
Give free reign to Roman as OC to fill out his position coaches with his guys, release him from the burden of working with Ryan's cronies. If Roman wants to keep Kromer, more power to him.
Suck it up, dial the phone, and make Jim Schwartz a wealthy DC or HC...grovel if you have to. Let him fill out the rest of the defensive staff. If Schwartz doesn't want the HC, make him the highest paid DC in the league and bring in a HC that wants to be a head coach and work with those already in place, not a glorified coordinator.




I'm all in . Make sure we keep Henderson no matter what. While Schwartz made Marrone look good, Henderson made Schwartz look good as well.

[Buffalogic]

The only quick fix is to win out and have pit and nyj lose 2 games.

[justasportsfan]

I would prefer a college coach who runs a pro style offense in one of the schools that get routinely beaten up on. His record might not be good but he gets less talented kids to play up. and if given a shot with real talent would run a team that could compete.


You want Doug Marrone back?

[Victor7]

Stopped reading at retain Danny Crossman

How on earth would anybody want that guy back?

Our ST are a disaster.

[YardRat]

Stopped reading at retain Danny Crossman

How on earth would anybody want that guy back?

Our ST are a disaster.

I was iffy on that myself...Crossman has been up and down...ST's in 2013 were terrible, really decent in 2014, terrible again under Rex. I only included him because I think he should get one more season to show who he really is. Wouldn't break my heart one bit if he was 'jet'tisoned with the NY losers though.

[kingJofNYC]

We've been quick fixing every 2-3 years.

Pegula isn't giving Rex $16 million to be an ESPN loud mouth next season. Just the reality of it, get used it. The money is a sunk cost, no matter what he's paying Ryan that money, so yeah, if he's not the one no point in waiting. Hard for people in sports to understand that. It's why use see first round busts like EJ stay on an NFL roster even though they have no business being on one.

[DraftBoy]

Here is my issues with your scenario, there isn't a legitimate Head Coaching candidate that will want to come into that situation. You've given all the power to the OC and DC to fill out their own staffs and are asking a HC to just come in and do what exactly? It's a figure head position with at least two, if not all three, units operating in complete independence of the other. I don't think that's a recipe for success, and I think that's what you basically have now.

[X-Era]

I'd give Rex an ultimatum:

Fire Thurman and bring in a disciplinarian who will run a non-Rex defense or you're fired.

Ideally we'd get Pettine back. Roman misuses our offensive talent as well but he has coached us to score a lot of points. He can stay for now. Besides, he appears to actually be using Sammy as of late... unfortunately it's only for the first half.

If Rex won't can Thurman and change the defense back fire him. Then it's a coaching staff rebuild. I'd still bring back Pettine as HC even.

[DraftBoy]

I'd give Rex an ultimatum:

Fire Thurman and bring in a disciplinarian who will run a non-Rex defense or you're fired.

Ideally we'd get Pettine back. Roman misuses our offensive talent as well but he has coached us to score a lot of points. He can stay for now. Besides, he appears to actually be using Sammy as of late... unfortunately it's only for the first half.

If Rex won't can Thurman and change the defense back fire him. Then it's a coaching staff rebuild. I'd still bring back Pettine as HC even.

Why would any HC accept an ultimatum that he can't run his own defense?

Also Pettine is a former Rex Ryan pupil, he runs a similar style of defense based off an almost identical philosophy. I don't think bringing Pettine in gets you into a non-Ryan defense.

[BuffaloRedleg]

Teams that fire coaches every 1-2 years shouldn't complain that it is hard to bring in talented coaches.

[jamze132]

I'd give Rex an ultimatum:

Fire Thurman and bring in a disciplinarian who will run a non-Rex defense or you're fired.

Ideally we'd get Pettine back. Roman misuses our offensive talent as well but he has coached us to score a lot of points. He can stay for now. Besides, he appears to actually be using Sammy as of late... unfortunately it's only for the first half.

If Rex won't can Thurman and change the defense back fire him. Then it's a coaching staff rebuild. I'd still bring back Pettine as HC even.
I'm not sure Thurman is the problem here. He may or may not agree with 4-3 style DEs and DTs dropping into coverage.

The bottom line, Rex and his "smarter than the rest" philosophy is the #1 problem and we won't win 10 games while he's in charge.

[Victor7]

Don't know about the firing Thurman part. How much does he really do ?? I doubt much. Its Rex's baby. Sort of like Curtis Modkins when Gailey was coach. Everyone knew it was just a name and the real OC was Chan.

[MillsapsBillsFan]

Here is my issues with your scenario, there isn't a legitimate Head Coaching candidate that will want to come into that situation. You've given all the power to the OC and DC to fill out their own staffs and are asking a HC to just come in and do what exactly? It's a figure head position with at least two, if not all three, units operating in complete independence of the other. I don't think that's a recipe for success, and I think that's what you basically have now.

I want my Head coach to be a CEO and know about special teams. The O and D coordinators should be able to run their units with minimal interference from the HC. I hate this idea that a HC has to be a offensive or defensive genius, that's what the coordinators are there for. The HC in my opinion needs to keep the team disciplined, manage the clock, keep the team motivated keep everyone on the right track, Like a well rounded boss not a boss whos really good on one side but a complete idiot on the other (though Rex isn't that good at either side).

[MillsapsBillsFan]

Teams that fire coaches every 1-2 years shouldn't complain that it is hard to bring in talented coaches.

Its not even that its that hard to bring in talented coaches, we just cant seem to make the right decisions when it comes to that position.

[X-Era]

Why would any HC accept an ultimatum that he can't run his own defense?

Also Pettine is a former Rex Ryan pupil, he runs a similar style of defense based off an almost identical philosophy. I don't think bringing Pettine in gets you into a non-Ryan defense.Then I'm at a loss as to why Pettine managed to get the pass rush and results out of the team that can't do squat under Rex's same system.

I think Pettine ran his own system for Buffalo.

[YardRat]

Here is my issues with your scenario, there isn't a legitimate Head Coaching candidate that will want to come into that situation. You've given all the power to the OC and DC to fill out their own staffs and are asking a HC to just come in and do what exactly? It's a figure head position with at least two, if not all three, units operating in complete independence of the other. I don't think that's a recipe for success, and I think that's what you basically have now.

That's a legit concern. However, what business model would somebody want to establish that expects a member of upper management to perform a function yet not allow that manager to surround himself with the people he feels are best suited to help them achieve success? Granted, it would be difficult to find a guy to be a head coach if the coordinator positions were already filled, but IMO the ideal 'style' for coaching hierarchy equals the OC running the offense, the DC running the defense, and the HC over-seeing the show.

Scenario A-Schwartz runs the D, Roman runs the O, find somebody who wants to be a head coach not a glorified coordinator (sorry to repeat myself)
Scenario B-Schwartz is the head coach, lets Roman bring in his guys as assistants, and Schwartz gets to bring his guy in as DC along with the DC's assistants.

Scenario A, although the most unlikely to come to fruition, worked pretty well for the team under Levy. Although Levy got to choose his coordinators, his business model was to let Marchibroda and Corey run their sides of the ball.

[YardRat]

Then I'm at a loss as to why Pettine managed to get the pass rush and results out of the team that can't do squat under Rex's same system.

I think Pettine ran his own system for Buffalo.

Pettine ran a dumbed-down version of Ryan's defense...less complicated, less reads, less responsibilities...although the scheme he ran certainly had it's flaws, it didn't put players in a position to fail as much as Ryan's does.

[cookie G]

We've been quick fixing every 2-3 years.

Pegula isn't giving Rex $16 million to be an ESPN loud mouth next season. Just the reality of it, get used it. The money is a sunk cost, no matter what he's paying Ryan that money, so yeah, if he's not the one no point in waiting. Hard for people in sports to understand that. It's why use see first round busts like EJ stay on an NFL roster even though they have no business being on one.

What we've really been doing is a 2-3 retooling of the defense by a new regime.

Project this over the next 2-3 years.

They spend 3 of our top 4 draft picks over the next 3 to 4 years on "Rex's defense" Don't believe me, look at the Jets' draft history during his tenure. Almost always, the defense took priority over the offense.
They spend the vast majority of the FA money on "Rex's defense".
Guys like Mario and Kyle Williams are cut loose because "they don't fit the scheme". They eat whatever guaranteed money they may still have coming to them;
A guy like Cordy Glenn doesn't get re-signed, but then doesn't get replaced because they need the higher draft picks/FA dollars for "Rex's defense";
Tyrod Taylor ends up somewhere else after next year, because they are paying for more defensive players. He's not replaced because there is some DB that Rex can't pass up in the first round;
And so on and so on.

After 3 years, the defense is no better than when he got here, and most likely is worse (he averaged around 20th in points allowed in his last 4 years with the Jets, after building with 'his" guys);

The offense not only fails to get upgraded, but declines.

Sorry, you end up spending more keeping this guy around than you save on his salary.

If this was a situation of a rebuilding team, and giving him more time to rebuild, it might be one thing. But paying him $5 million a year, AND let him dismantle a playoff contender...that's a really, really bad idea.

Cut losses now. His salary is about that of an above average defensive player. Pegula can eat that.

The guy was given a second chance, a golden opportunity to redeem himself, and he blew it...by being himself.

Not too many fired coaches are given a second chance with a playoff caliber team.

He showed a lot this year, and it isn't good.

[X-Era]

Pettine ran a dumbed-down version of Ryan's defense...less complicated, less reads, less responsibilities...although the scheme he ran certainly had it's flaws, it didn't put players in a position to fail as much as Ryan's does.Pettine ran a scheme that had more 4-3 variants than Rex's system IMO. He rushed the passer much more often and with more bodies.

[X-Era]

What we've really been doing is a 2-3 retooling of the defense by a new regime.

Project this over the next 2-3 years.

They spend 3 of our top 4 draft picks over the next 3 to 4 years on "Rex's defense" Don't believe me, look at the Jets' draft history during his tenure. Almost always, the defense took priority over the offense.
They spend the vast majority of the FA money on "Rex's defense".
Guys like Mario and Kyle Williams are cut loose because "they don't fit the scheme". They eat whatever guaranteed money they may still have coming to them;
A guy like Cordy Glenn doesn't get re-signed, but then doesn't get replaced because they need the higher draft picks/FA dollars for "Rex's defense";
Tyrod Taylor ends up somewhere else after next year, because they are paying for more defensive players. He's not replaced because there is some DB that Rex can't pass up in the first round;
And so on and so on.

After 3 years, the defense is no better than when he got here, and most likely is worse (he averaged around 20th in points allowed in his last 4 years with the Jets, after building with 'his" guys);

The offense not only fails to get upgraded, but declines.

Sorry, you end up spending more keeping this guy around than you save on his salary.

If this was a situation of a rebuilding team, and giving him more time to rebuild, it might be one thing. But paying him $5 million a year, AND let him dismantle a playoff contender...that's a really, really bad idea.

Cut losses now. His salary is about that of an above average defensive player. Pegula can eat that.

The guy was given a second chance, a golden opportunity to redeem himself, and he blew it...by being himself.

Not too many fired coaches are given a second chance with a playoff caliber team.

He showed a lot this year, and it isn't good.:clap:

If Pegula won't can Rex he needs to demand an overhaul of the defensive scheme which most likely means canning Thurman. If Rex stays he must use what he has and use it properly; not force a round peg in a square hole.