What did Fassel do wrong in his interview?

[Jeff1220]

Up until his interview, Fassel was considered the favorite for the Bills HC gig. What do you think he did to tick off TD?

I say he probably asked for too much money and wouldn't budge, thinking he had a bunch of jobs to choose from. We know the Bills don't have a history of paying top dollar for coaches and, while Fassel doesn't deserve top dollar, I'd bet he probably asked for it.

[Michael82]

Bill general manager Tom Donahoe was all set to name Jim Fassel his new coach but began to hear some things that started him thinking that maybe he should continue his search. Donahoe told people close to him that he was being talked out of hiring the guy he wanted, which is why he planned to stop making so many calls. It also didn't help that former Bears coach Dick Jauron wowed him at his interview Monday. But Donahoe has been steadfast in his belief that he wants an offensive-minded coach. That would be Fassel. So even though he isn't hired yet, it appears Fassel will be the guy -- unless Donahoe is talked out of it. If for some reason Fassel doesn't get the job and is left unemployed, look for him to possibly wind up in Baltimore with Brian Billick. There is a ton of heat on Ravens coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, so a change could be coming.

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/6990062

[Dozerdog]

I just think he wants to talk to 7-8 or more guys before picking. What isd the frakin' hurry?

Do we really need to beat Arizona out for a New TE coach that bad that we have to rush the process and pick an inferior candidate?

[Jeff1220]

Originally posted by Dozerdog
I just think he wants to talk to 7-8 or more guys before picking. What isd the frakin' hurry?

Do we really need to beat Arizona out for a New TE coach that bad that we have to rush the process and pick an inferior candidate?

I'm not suggesting that Dozer, I was just trying to think of what a guy can do to talk himself out of a job.

[Michael82]

I'm really starting to think that he wants to re-interview Charlie Weis. From what I read, Belichick didn't give the teams much time with his OC and DC because he was busy preparing for the playoffs.

[Brian Griese Rulz]

He didnt have pie charts and names of all the High School ass. coaches he kept track of.

[Dozerdog]

Originally posted by Jeff1220
I'm not suggesting that Dozer, I was just trying to think of what a guy can do to talk himself out of a job.

I know you weren't but there are a lot of chicken littles around here screaming that the sky is falling because Fassel's paper ddeadline is approaching

[Novacane]

Fassel has no deadline. He backed off that. How can he have a deadline when no one else wants him.

[caveboy]

My take is that Donahoe's probably waiting to see if there are other possibilities out there hiding so he can say he was as thorough in picking a coach as GW was in HIS interview process.

;-)

[kill4bills]

u heard fassel was thinking he had a job somewhere and went in overzealous

[Jan Reimers]

TD should put more stock in a candidates' experience and level of success, and less in his interview skills. His over emphasis on the interview process caused him to pass on Lewis and Fox, and to hire GW.

I am very concerned about his infatuation with interviews, and about his insecurity. We all know he will not hire a coach whom he percieves as a threat to his power.

I hope this does not lead to another GW-type hiring: A weak person who interviews well, but fails to perform.

[The Spaz]

If your going for a job outside of football that's pretty much how you get hired is by giving a good interview.

[Jan Reimers]

Even in the outside world, I've come to rely more on resumes and references. My experience has been that the best interviewee usually doesn't make the best employee.

[The Spaz]

I'm sorry I jst don't see the so called "ego" of TD. I think he just wants to win as badly as we do and Ralph. If he really had an ego who wouldn't be ablo to co-exist with TOM Modrak an EX GM. TD has also said multiple times he goes through the interview process with all the organization Ralph, Tom Modrak ETC. TD makes one bad coachign decision here and the only one so far and people are just killing this guy. I know he has to make up for it this tim ebut let it play out before jumping this guy.

[zone]

Originally posted by Fairway To Green
Fassel has no deadline. He backed off that. How can he have a deadline when no one else wants him.

That's exactly what scares me, lets take the coach no one else wants because he's there. Screw that I would much rather have Marv, or even Reeves for that matter.

[The Spaz]

Originally posted by zone


That's exactly what scares me, lets take the coach no one else wants because he's there. Screw that I would much rather have Marv, or even Reeves for that matter.

Has TD hied anyone yet?

[Historian]

It could be that Donahoe is waiting to see who ends up where. If no one hires Fassel at 3 mil a year, then he can come back with a "counter offer" in Buffalo dollars.

[Earthquake Enyart]

John Clayton said on ESPN radio here the other day that Fassel went into the Bills interview and asked how much and when do I start? He apparently thought that a bidding was between Arizona and Buffalo would ensue.

The way things are going, the longer TD waits, the more likely he will have his pick of the 3 hot coordinators. (Smith, Crennel, Weis)

Chicago is hot and heavy after Saban, and it looks like Art Shell is going back to HC the Raiders.

[Jan Reimers]

I, too, think that TD wants to do what's best for the Bills. I just hope that his top candidate, e.g. Weis or Haslett, is simply not available yet. What worries me is that TD has "paralysis by analysis," i.e., that he is getting too wound up in the interview process and letting strong candidates like Coughlin slip away.

[Dozerdog]

Shell could be a Davis ploy to throw off the scent. (Heard that on Satelite radio) and to fill his obligations to the league's diversity rules. Rick Neuheisl is an under - the - radar candidate.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Originally posted by Dozerdog
Shell could be a Davis ploy to throw off the scent. (Heard that on Satelite radio) and to fill his obligations to the league's diversity rules. Rick Neuheisl is an under - the - radar candidate.

Thing is that none of the hot 3 are mentioned for Oakland.

If Chicago can't get Saban, Lovie Smith has worked with Angelo in the past. Angelo liked Jim Mora Jr., and was his original backup to Saban, but Atlanta beat him to the punch. Angelo's biggest problem in hiring Saban isn't convincing Saban, it's convincing the McCaskeys to pay that much $$ for a coach.

[TigerJ]

What I'd llike to know is how all these rumors actually got started, you know: Fassel had a bad interview, Jauron had a great one, this guy or that guy is now the lead candidate. How may people were actually present in the interview? Was it more than just TD and the interviewee? If not, then any actual "horse's mouth" stuff would actually have to come from either TD or the interviewee. Maybe TD made comments to other people in the organization, but TD doesn't seem the type to deliberately leak details and I would think he knows by now that you don't tell anyone what you don't want to end up in the media. Publicly, TD has only said all the interviews went well.

BTW, TD hasn't even said what weight he gives to the interview. We have generally concluded he overweights interviews because GW aced his interview three years ago and we've been hearing this guy did well or that guy did poorly. Maybe GW also had a great resume and top notch references too.

Although TD has no timetable for naming a head coach, the thing that makes me nervous is a shrinking pool of available quality assistants if he waits too long.

[Dozerdog]

Don't forget- there are plenty of assistants still locked up in the playoffs. I'm sure some will shake loose.

[madness]

The only person I'd like to see come in here other than a head coach would be Ferentz. I was just overwhelmed on how he outcoached almost every team Iowa played this year. That Bowl Bame was a coaching masterpiece by the way.

That being said I don't have a problem with either Fassel or Jauron.

Fassel has revitalized careers of some good QB's. Why not make Bledsoe next? Seeing that clip(ESPN.2 years ago?) on what he did with Collins still amazes me. I think he's just what Bledsoe needs. It's so easy to pickup bad habits when your a QB that affect your play. Someone needs to help Bledsoe with his.

As for Jauron, I heard Marv "everyone's savior" Levy is the one who got Jauron his interview. Marv spoke very highly of him. Every Bears fan knows the talent pool in Chicago is pretty pathetic and you can't always blame that on the coach (GM). Even still they had a few nice seasons. (13-3) I've heard this guy can motivate the hell out of his players. After seeing the come back wins the Bears put together during his tenure, I wouldn't mind seeing that in Buffalo. With our talent and the right coach we shouldn't need many of them though.

I guess all we can do now though is sit back and wait...and wait...and wait...and wait! LOL

[caveboy]

To add more speculation, since I've got spare time:

Tonight on the the Fan, Boomer Esaison's take was that Fassel and his agent/people are putting too much pressure on themselves to get a HC job this year. He feels Fassel will have more chances next year after doing commentary and sitting out for a year, since more vacancies will likely be open, and his stock will rise, (he thinks Tice in Minn is a goner if they don't turn it around).

He also said that Fassel's people may have assumed that Fassel could walk into any job he wanted. He thought Fassel probably told the Cards what they had to do to fix things, but that Bidwell didn't want to hear it and was not willing to change. (Enter Denny Green who would say yes to anyone, in his opinion.)