Tom Donahoe is staying in Buffalo

[G. Host]

The Bills' surge into playoff contention has apparently secured president and general manager Tom Donahoe's future in Buffalo. "He can be here as long as he wants. He's done a good job. I'm happy," owner Ralph Wilson told reporters in the wake of last Sunday's record-setting 37-7 victory over Cleveland. "We're friends. He had a very tough job to do coming in here." Donahoe, who joined the Bills in 2001 and rolled up his sleeves to clean up a dire salary cap situation, is signed through 2005. But Wilson said it's likely he'll open talks for an extension this off-season. more (CBS)

To those who will be prepetually unhappy as long as Donahoe is with Bills and have one foot in another camp already, why not jump bandwagons now?

[Iehoshua]

The Bills' surge into playoff contention has apparently secured president and general manager Tom Donahoe's future in Buffalo. "He can be here as long as he wants. He's done a good job. I'm happy," owner Ralph Wilson told reporters in the wake of last Sunday's record-setting 37-7 victory over Cleveland. "We're friends. He had a very tough job to do coming in here." Donahoe, who joined the Bills in 2001 and rolled up his sleeves to clean up a dire salary cap situation, is signed through 2005. But Wilson said it's likely he'll open talks for an extension this off-season. more (CBS)

To those who will be prepetually unhappy as long as Donahoe is with Bills and have one foot in another camp already, why not jump bandwagons now?

I'm unhappy with the results seen OVERALL under Donahoe (average to losing records, no playoffs) but I like the majority of his personnel choices. I'll be happier with him when I see more success. I'm not going to be hating life if he remains. I'll be more upset if we don't at least make the playoffs under him though.

[juice]

The Bills' surge into playoff contention has apparently secured president and general manager Tom Donahoe's future in Buffalo. "He can be here as long as he wants. He's done a good job. I'm happy," owner Ralph Wilson told reporters in the wake of last Sunday's record-setting 37-7 victory over Cleveland. "We're friends. He had a very tough job to do coming in here." Donahoe, who joined the Bills in 2001 and rolled up his sleeves to clean up a dire salary cap situation, is signed through 2005. But Wilson said it's likely he'll open talks for an extension this off-season. more (CBS)

To those who will be prepetually unhappy as long as Donahoe is with Bills and have one foot in another camp already, why not jump bandwagons now?

TD should give Rusty Jones a raise for getting Big Mike up and running, with that injury to his leg early in the season MW was as close to a bust as a young Tackle could be. When MW got into shape so did the Line and they started Protecting and opening run lanes for Willis.

The emergence of Willis in the run game and the protection in the Pass game allowed Willis and Lee, 2 of 3 of TD's Major 1st Rd draft selections, to develope.. while the offensive schemes became effective.

MW, WM, Lee Evans are the main reasons TD's job security is excellent.

[shelby]

i think Mularkey's progress as head coach has something to do with TD's job security as well.

[dannyek71]

wait and see what td does next year. a few weeks ago we wanted his head on a platter. Now many of us want to give him an extension?


While the teams had a great turnaround, we have not really beat many good teams and i hate to base a gms performance on the last few games.

Wait until after the 2005 season to give him an extension..........

[G. Host]

TD should give Rusty Jones a raise for getting Big Mike up and running, with that injury to his leg early in the season MW was as close to a bust as a young Tackle could be. When MW got into shape so did the Line and they started Protecting and opening run lanes for Willis.

I think the Bills showed the respect they have for Rusty by giving him a promotion (creating a new position fo him) and then hiring a replacement stating it was not a phony title-only position. Rusty has been the best in the league at what he does for a long time.

[G. Host]

wait and see what td does next year. a few weeks ago we wanted his head on a platter. Now many of us want to give him an extension.

Nope. Never wanted his head on a platter. Too many fans are short sighted which are resulting in league becoming short sighted.

[Iehoshua]

Nope. Never wanted his head on a platter. Too many fans are short sighted which are resulting in league becoming short sighted.

I don't consider 3 years (potentially 4) of mediocrity being short sighted in today's NFL.

[G. Host]

I don't consider 3 years (potentially 4) of mediocrity being short sighted in today's NFL.

I do considering how in bad shape we were when Butler left; Butler consumed the team attempting to win and it has taken a long time to recover. Choosing Gregg Williams (who I still think is a better choice than Lewis who I considered worse possible choice) put us deeper in the hole. Donahoe unfortunately is too "hands off" as GM and President which works when coach is stong but not when coach is weak.

[Iehoshua]

I do considering how in bad shape we were when Butler left; Butler consumed the team attempting to win and it has taken a long time to recover. Choosing Gregg Williams (who I still think is a better choice than Lewis who I considered worse possible choice) put us deeper in the hole. Donahoe unfortunately is too "hands off" as GM and President which works when coach is stong but not when coach is weak.

The team's performance is ultimately his responsibility, so his choices of being more hands off do not give him a pass for mistakenly hiring a weak head coach.

[G. Host]

The team's performance is ultimately his responsibility, so his choices of being more hands off do not give him a pass for mistakenly hiring a weak head coach.

Gregg Williams did not APPEAR to be a weak coach when he was hired. I have worked with BS spinners before and they are such good sellers you believe what they are saying until it is too late and step into one of his droppings. Donahoe has been criticized for hiring too many Steeler-connected people so I think he tried to go outside his normal network when Willams, who was a highly respected DC at the time, and someone oversold him. None of the other candidates truly wanted the job from their interview remarks and I think all saw this as a "loss" due to what was left in the cupboard.

Williams is GM and President - do you dislike both parts of the job he has done?
Did you expect any GM to turn around the team quickly?

It is a lot easier to turn around a team when a team's problem is the head coach; Donahoe was not trying to solve just the siding of the house - he needed to replace the major systems in it as well. The house was gutted, fire damaged and had limited capital for repairs. It also had an albatross (RJ) it could not get rid of for a year and he needed to live in it while he rebuilt it.

Several teams completely regutted their organization on a rebuild accepting multiple year, losing seasons as part of the process because their fan base was locked up with season tickets and would go even if team did that - can you say the same for Buffalo and its supporters?

I was plenty critical of Donahoe initially - comments on kickers being able be picked up in 2nd or 3rd week of preseason, cutting Christie day before opener, handling of Holeseck, refusing to play straight with fans on season prospects but after the garbage was cleaned up (and he did not make mess), after he paid the unpaid bills he did spend on, etc he has been solid. Not top 5 but certainly a keeper.

The Bills have just emerged out of bankruptcy and it takes time to build a credit rating up again.

[Mr. Cynical]

wait and see what td does next year. a few weeks ago we wanted his head on a platter. Now many of us want to give him an extension?


While the teams had a great turnaround, we have not really beat many good teams and i hate to base a gms performance on the last few games.

Wait until after the 2005 season to give him an extension..........

Wise words indeed.

[Mr. Cynical]

I'm unhappy with the results seen OVERALL under Donahoe (average to losing records, no playoffs) but I like the majority of his personnel choices. I'll be happier with him when I see more success. I'm not going to be hating life if he remains. I'll be more upset if we don't at least make the playoffs under him though.

Agreed. If we make the playoffs next year and don't revert to 500 or below in '06, then I'm fine with TD as GM. In the end it is about results...period. But nothing short of that however should keep him here IMO. Ralph's call obviously, but I think he is becoming a bit too lenient in his advanced years. He should wait until the end of '05 to make the decision and see where the team is headed.

[The_Philster]

Wait until after the 2005 season to give him an extension..........

yeah...cause having a lame duck GM worked so well for us last time

[dannyek71]

yeah...cause having a lame duck GM worked so well for us last time

When you go to work, you work hard to try to keep your job. Your not going to your job every day as a lame duck employee. You are going everyday to prove what a good employee you are and that you deserve to keep your job.

TD wont be a lame duck necessarily, just will be working to keep his job and get an extension.