Tom Donohoe

[rschepise]

Our General Manager has done an outstanding job since he took over in 2001. The only decision that I was in conflict with was picking Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Doug Flutie was a great quaterback that may have very well saved our franchise. He did not deserve to lose the job to the worst quaterback in Buffalo Bills history. Rob Johnson was a quaterback with no heart, passion, or drive. Tom Donohoe has done a good job surrounding this franchise with talent (especially considering our salary cap circumstances). People blame him for the Bills inability to make the playoffs. I blame the players and coaching ineptitude. The GM can only go so far. Must we hold our GM accountable just for the sake of holding someone accountable. In our society, it's unfortunate that we must always make this mistake. If you break down most of Tom Donohoe's moves you will find he has done a good job:

1. Getting us out of salary cap Hell
2. Getting talent on our revampt #2 defense.
3. Singing a franchise QB. (Bledsoe didn't deliver but TD took a calculated risk)
4. Having the Balls to make a bold move (McGahee)
5. Holding the coaching staff accountable (GW and his staff) Don't give me the argument that he should have never hired Greg Williams in the first place. He was an excellent defense coordinator, TD took a gamble, it did not work out. Do we expect TD to be a wizard?
6. His drafting has been above average (Jennings, McGee, Henry, McGahee, Clements, Schobel, Edwards, Wire, Evans,)
7. Give the guy a break, he is doing a good job. We would not have been able tally a 9-7 record in the best division in football if the guy did not know what he was doing.

[Tatonka]

Re: Tom Donohoe



you listed his failures as great things he has done.. like signing a franchise qb then saying (oh yeah.. not his fault it didnt work out)

give me a break.

[The_Philster]

Re: Tom Donohoe

Keep in mind that Flutie made that decision for Donahoe and Williams

[rschepise]

Re: Tom Donohoe

you listed his failures as great things he has done.. like signing a franchise qb then saying (oh yeah.. not his fault it didnt work out)

give me a break.

That's what I'm trying to say. He takes risks and is unimpeded by failure. The makings a great GM. TD still has a job, so Ralph Wilson must still have faith in him.

[juice]

Re: Tom Donohoe

Our General Manager has done an outstanding job since he took over in 2001. The only decision that I was in conflict with was picking Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Doug Flutie was a great quaterback that may have very well saved our franchise. He did not deserve to lose the job to the worst quaterback in Buffalo Bills history. Rob Johnson was a quaterback with no heart, passion, or drive. Tom Donohoe has done a good job surrounding this franchise with talent (especially considering our salary cap circumstances). People blame him for the Bills inability to make the playoffs. I blame the players and coaching ineptitude. The GM can only go so far. Must we hold our GM accountable just for the sake of holding someone accountable. In our society, it's unfortunate that we must always make this mistake. If you break down most of Tom Donohoe's moves you will find he has done a good job:

1. Getting us out of salary cap Hell
2. Getting talent on our revampt #2 defense.
3. Singing a franchise QB. (Bledsoe didn't deliver but TD took a calculated risk)
4. Having the Balls to make a bold move (McGahee)
5. Holding the coaching staff accountable (GW and his staff) Don't give me the argument that he should have never hired Greg Williams in the first place. He was an excellent defense coordinator, TD took a gamble, it did not work out. Do we expect TD to be a wizard?
6. His drafting has been above average (Jennings, McGee, Henry, McGahee, Clements, Schobel, Edwards, Wire, Evans,)
7. Give the guy a break, he is doing a good job. We would not have been able tally a 9-7 record in the best division in football if the guy did not know what he was doing.

TD fails to upgrade the O-Line.. that 9-7 could've been 10-6 and a Wildcard if our O-Line wasn't trying to become a cohesive unit over those first 4 games.

On paper this years line is worse than last years.

[feelthepain]

Re: Tom Donohoe

TD fails to upgrade the O-Line.. that 9-7 could've been 10-6 and a Wildcard if our O-Line wasn't trying to become a cohesive unit over those first 4 games.

On paper this years line is worse than last years.

I completely agree, but I also agree if your line was better you'd be a much scarier team.

[mysticsoto]

Re: Tom Donohoe

TD fails to upgrade the O-Line.. that 9-7 could've been 10-6 and a Wildcard if our O-Line wasn't trying to become a cohesive unit over those first 4 games.

On paper this years line is worse than last years.

There are alot of circumstances that affected those 1st 4 games. MM made some bad calls here and there. But he's a rookie coach so most people have dismissed those. Still, they did affect the game. Nate Clements not batting down that pass, affected a game. Two of those games could have gone the other way. We could just as easily been 11-5 and in the playoffs. Things just didn't fall for us - but the mistakes made in those 1st 4 games are not TD's fault. And neither is Mike Williams coming in 40 lbs overweight and being a distraction to the whole line. Yeah, I feel bad that someone close to him died and I know that he's a good guy and all. Nevertheless, he did affect the line. Atleast, this year he seems to be making up for it.

As I stated in my CBS Sportsline post, I don't think the line is weaker at all. Last year our right side was the strongest and where Willis got most of his yards. And that was with an overweight and slowed down RT. This year MW is quicker and leaner. And we have a massive LG that we've added. Willis, in my mind, will no doubt be gaining alot more yards. Barring any injury, I predict he will be in the top 5 RBs this year. As for LT, McNally is high on Gandy having the abilities for the position. I guess it comes down to what you believe about McNally's abilities. I listed in the previous post all that McNally did in 1 year only (sacks were down to the lowest they've been since 1998, turnovers in offense changed from -16 to +10, etc). Last year we had half a good line, this year we have 80% (with Bennie Anderson). Anderson at 345 lbs is a massive upgrade to Ross Tucker who was 316 - and Tucker did okay last year. Next year, when we get our monster LT, and Preston takes over Center, we will have a line that will last us a long time and dominate! Rome wasn't built in a day...

[Jan Reimers]

Re: Tom Donohoe

While TD has done some very good things, the bottom line is that he has made enough mistakes - most notably Williams/Gilbride and Bledsoe - to keep us out of the playoffs his entire tenure. I feel we need to get there this season, or I'll continue to view him as mediocre at best.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Tom Donohoe

Our General Manager has done an outstanding job since he took over in 2001. The only decision that I was in conflict with was picking Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Doug Flutie was a great quaterback that may have very well saved our franchise. He did not deserve to lose the job to the worst quaterback in Buffalo Bills history. Rob Johnson was a quaterback with no heart, passion, or drive. Tom Donohoe has done a good job surrounding this franchise with talent (especially considering our salary cap circumstances). People blame him for the Bills inability to make the playoffs. I blame the players and coaching ineptitude. The GM can only go so far. Must we hold our GM accountable just for the sake of holding someone accountable. In our society, it's unfortunate that we must always make this mistake. If you break down most of Tom Donohoe's moves you will find he has done a good job:

1. Getting us out of salary cap Hell
2. Getting talent on our revampt #2 defense.
3. Singing a franchise QB. (Bledsoe didn't deliver but TD took a calculated risk)
4. Having the Balls to make a bold move (McGahee)
5. Holding the coaching staff accountable (GW and his staff) Don't give me the argument that he should have never hired Greg Williams in the first place. He was an excellent defense coordinator, TD took a gamble, it did not work out. Do we expect TD to be a wizard?
6. His drafting has been above average (Jennings, McGee, Henry, McGahee, Clements, Schobel, Edwards, Wire, Evans,)
7. Give the guy a break, he is doing a good job. We would not have been able tally a 9-7 record in the best division in football if the guy did not know what he was doing.

All the good points you made about TD means nothing. We haven't seen a playoff with him as GM. Not even having a first year starting qb will be an excuse if the bills don't make playoffs this year.