Clayton on the Bills

[Dicknoze69]

Bills president Ralph Wilson held two news conferences Wednesday, but the second was more definitive than the first. Wilson announced that Mike Mularkey will be back as the head coach in 2006. Tom Modrak received a promotion to run the college scouting department and will have a major say in pro personnel, but won't be the general manager. That's fair because Modrak, a close friend of outgoing general manager Tom Donahoe, never wanted the perception that he did anything against a friend to promote himself. By not being the GM, Modrak affirmed he is a loyal friend because he couldn't leave since he is under contract.

Clement departure a surprise: The firing of Bills offensive coordinator Tom Clements is a surprise. Mularkey took the play-calling ability away from Clements and started calling the plays himself in the middle of the season. Mularkey never said anything publicly, but Clements was upset about the move. Clements ended up calling plays in the final months of the season but his relationship with the head coach wasn't the same. Over the next week, there could be as many as four changes on the coaching staff, some that will affect the defense.

Levy a matter of time: Marv Levy won't be announced for his front office role until Thursday or Friday, but he is coming. He's a general manager who isn't really the general manager. His job is to advise and evaluate. Owner Ralph Wilson will rely on Levy to give a true evaluation as to whether Mularkey is the right coach for the Bills. Mularkey has three more years on his contract, but 2006 will be a critical year for him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=clayton_john#20060104

[vicmantak]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Clement departure a surprise: The firing of Bills offensive coordinator Tom Clements is a surprise. Mularkey took the play-calling ability away from Clements and started calling the plays himself in the middle of the season. Mularkey never said anything publicly, but Clements was upset about the move. Clements ended up calling plays in the final months of the season but his relationship with the head coach wasn't the same. Over the next week, there could be as many as four changes on the coaching staff, some that will affect the defense.

If true, we're done...

[AndreReed83]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

I think Mularkey isn't only the worst coach the Bills have had, he's the worst person that's coached the Bills. What a dick.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Translation: 2006 will be another wasted season.

[Kerr]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

So basically Levy is giving Mularkey a chance to prove himself or else get out of town. I guess that as long as JP progresses and we get the right players in FA and the draft, next year won't so bad if we don't make the playoffs. It will just make the following year that much more exciting because Mularkey would be gone.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Why are we done? We don't know who our new OC is going to be and we haven't even begun the FA period.
So many people take the fun right out of being a fan, it's a wonder they even bother.

[ublinkwescore]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

I agree.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

It's not fun when your team sucks for 6+ years.

[SpillerThrills]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

It's not fun when your team sucks for 6+ years.

what really sucks is when some of the fans are already saying next year is gonna be a waste and the playoffs haven't even started for this year yet!!! give the guys a chance to make some moves and try to right the ship, you guys are giving up on them way way way to soon

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

give the guys a chance to make some moves and try to right the ship, you guys are giving up on them way way way to soon

Mularkey has had two years and has showed no leadership, no playcalling ability and no fire. He has had his chance. Time to flush the toilet.

[ublinkwescore]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Hmmm...

I'm pretty sure you (like all of us) were prepared to call Mularkey a savior after last year's Buffalo Bills and their 6 game win streak.

No one is willing to accept the possibility that maybe we just had an off year, but our O-line has seemed to regress - I don't necessarily blame McNally for this - I think McNally can only do so much to make crap look like gold and I think and hope that if we give him some talent, we'll see a drastic difference - I'd start with the guards.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

I'm pretty sure you (like all of us) were prepared to call Mularkey a savior after last year's Buffalo Bills and their 6 game win streak.

Actually that's not true. Look at my old posts. There were one or two occasions where I thought he did something well, but I never thought he was a savior after last season. Of our 9 wins last year, only TWO were against winning teams. I knew that this team and the coach were not that good.

[ublinkwescore]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Ok, now don't get me wrong, I'm not one to defend mediocrity after I've watched my team go to superbowl after superbowl after superbowl after superbowl, but you do realize that we had a very tough schedule this year and some very key injuries (Spikes was a huge loss, and Edwards was too I think - he would have gotten better as the year wore on), but we did have a very tough schedule this year - the Pats twice, an up and coming Dolphins team (I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but if the Bills are up or down one year, and the Dolphins are the opposite - it's never an easy win for the other team), the Broncos, the Panthers, the Bucs, the chargers, the Falcons, the Bengals, we definitely had to have a top 10 schedule in terms of difficult opponents. I think if we stayed healthy, we would have finished closer to 8-8.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

Ok, now don't get me wrong, I'm not one to defend mediocrity after I've watched my team go to superbowl after superbowl after superbowl after superbowl, but you do realize that we had a very tough schedule this year and some very key injuries (Spikes was a huge loss, and Edwards was too I think - he would have gotten better as the year wore on), but we did have a very tough schedule this year - the Pats twice, an up and coming Dolphins team (I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but if the Bills are up or down one year, and the Dolphins are the opposite - it's never an easy win for the other team), the Broncos, the Panthers, the Bucs, the chargers, the Falcons, the Bengals, we definitely had to have a top 10 schedule in terms of difficult opponents. I think if we stayed healthy, we would have finished closer to 8-8.

I hear you, but that's just the point - we played good teams this year and we ended 5-11. When we have a cake schedule we finish 9-7. I think that just shows how bad this team really is....

[ublinkwescore]

Re: Clayton on the Bills

we finished 9-7 with a healthy team though, and let's not forget that we were doing what good teams to do mediocre/crappy teams SPANK THEM!!

But I do think our team healthy or not did take a step back this year - on the lines. Pat Williams was missed - most likely because Ron Edwards was hurt all year long, and Jonas Jennings was definitely missed, not that he was talented or anything - he just happened to play the right position at the right time to get paid the way he did.

I can't count the number of times I've seen people in Holcomb's or Losman's face in less than a second from them completing their dropback (if they were lucky enough to be able to complete their dropback).