Questionable hires

[Sportsuser101]

All across the board. The best move they made this offseason was giving April the assistant head coach title. Not happy with ANY of the hires.

[PromoTheRobot]

Based on what? Lack of big-name coaches? A hunch? Unless you know something about NFL coaching, I suggest you let the current regime do their job before you judge them.

PTR

[OpIv37]

Based on what? Lack of big-name coaches? A hunch? Unless you know something about NFL coaching, I suggest you let the current regime do their job before you judge them.

PTR

Dick Jauron has a losing record as head coach. Fairchild is a good OC but runs a system that may not work well with Buffalo's personnel, and with limited cap room and tons of holes we won't be making too many personnel changes in the off-season. The new DC is completely inexperienced at DC. Sam Wyche is gone.

It doesn't take any particular knowledge of football coaching to see problems here. Sportsuser has every right to be concerned- this franchise has been losing for too long and is not in a position to be experimenting/rehabilitating coaches. None of this proves that the new coaching staff will be unsuccessful, I'd rather see them go after proven winners to get the fans excited rather than expecting us to give them "the benefit of the doubt" once again. Ralph does not exactly have a stellar record with coaches since Marv left.

[FirstDownBills]

Blah, you all are a bunch of whiners. I wouldn't trust any of you to run this franchise. It would probably be worse than the Donahoe era, and thats saying a lot.

[L.A. Playa]

What team do all the GM's on this board work for ?? Just out of curiosity

[FirstDownBills]

What team do all the GM's on this board work for ?? Just out of curiosity

Exactly. A bunch of armchair GM's is all they are.

[OpIv37]

Blah, you all are a bunch of whiners. I wouldn't trust any of you to run this franchise. It would probably be worse than the Donahoe era, and thats saying a lot.

I see, so because we're not football professionals we have no right to have opinions about the actions of the team? If that's the case, why do we even have this message board? We should all just worship whatever moves Ralph Wilson makes, since he's been SOOOO successful for the past decade.

Oh and while you're at it- don't say anything political unless you're a Congressional staffer, don't complain about roads or other infrastructure unless you're a state government bureaucrat, and don't comment on prices or services from a company unless you work for that company and were involved with their creation. In fact, why even bother having free speech at all?

[L.A. Playa]

bottom line is no one here really knows what goes on behind doors, maybe Mike Sherman, who alot here wanted, smelled like brocolli and made Jewish jokes to break the ice at the interview??

Maybe he said Tennis is for limp wristed ******s???

You dont know what went on behind close doors, football is about chemistry and team unity. The team with the best talent doesnt always succeed or the team with the best x and o's . Its the team that believes in its leadership and trusts and plays together.

The Bills need players and coaches that will bring unity, even though the Bills of the early 90's fought amongst eachother they always fought as one against the opponent and tahts why they where succesful.

All the coaches and players being trown around are just "names" unity will be what makes a winner. Here is a good example once the Bills teams of the 90's broke up and the players that where superstars in Buffalo went to other teams did even one of them have a succesful season somewhere else ??

The answer is no, those players played great together but when not togethere where just average NFL players. The Bills need unity and teamwork and a coaching staff that will bring that and players that will believe in that.

We dont need the best players we need the best teamates so alot of the "names" out there wont fit so dont be upset till you see if the Bills get the right FIT of player not the best talent.

[FirstDownBills]

I see, so because we're not football professionals we have no right to have opinions about the actions of the team? If that's the case, why do we even have this message board? We should all just worship whatever moves Ralph Wilson makes, since he's been SOOOO successful for the past decade.

Oh and while you're at it- don't say anything political unless you're a Congressional staffer, don't complain about roads or other infrastructure unless you're a state government bureaucrat, and don't comment on prices or services from a company unless you work for that company and were involved with their creation. In fact, why even bother having free speech at all?

Dude, too much hyperbole there. What I am saying is we get a million of these same type of threads after every hiring the Bills make, and it's getting a little tedious if you ask me. Everyone thinks they could of made a better choice than what Jauron, Marv, and Ralph decided on, but the fact is Marv knows a whole lot more about football than any of us at the game. So can we see how the decision pans out before we go jumping down the front offices' throat?

[madness]

What team do all the GM's on this board work for ?? Just out of curiosity

:rofl:

[LifetimeBillsFan]

.... I'd rather see them go after proven winners to get the fans excited rather than expecting us to give them "the benefit of the doubt" once again. Ralph does not exactly have a stellar record with coaches since Marv left.

We've just gone through a period where the team had a well-known, experienced OC in Kevin Gilbride and brought in a well-known, experienced, well-respected Associate DC in Dick LeBeau; highly regarded assistants moving up the ladder in Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Jerry Gray, Tim Krumrie and Tom Clements. And, a bunch of well-known and/or respected, veteran ball-players in Sam Adams, Lawyer Milloy, Troy Vincent, Jeff Posey, Chris Villarial, London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes. And, what have the Bills won during this period?

The Bills' best assistant coach during this period has been Bobby April who was canned by the Rams after his special teams were the worst in the NFL for two years running. And, how many people here moaned and groaned when April was hired by the Bills to take over their special teams?

Be honest, now: other than Ted Marchibroda, who had a losing record as the HC of the Colts, how many of Marv Levy's assistants during the Super Bowl years were recognizable "big name" coaches when they were hired by the Bills? Wade Phillips was known more for being Bum Phillips' son than for being a football coach. Elijah Pitts was known as a player on Green Bay's SB teams, but not as a coach. Who had even heard of Ted Cottrell? I could go on but I won't other than to say that those assistants might not have been very well known, but they did a pretty good job for the Bills, didn't they? BTW: Was Bill Polian a "big name" anywhere in football outside of Canada when he got the Bills' GM job?

With all the money that Danny Snyder has spent on coaches since buying the Redskins, what have they won...with a HOF HC and the highest paid DC in the history of the NFL, they have managed to barely make the playoffs once (remember that Spurrier had Marvin Lewis as his DC at a time when Lewis was the hottest assistant in the league).

The point I'm trying to make is that there is much more that goes into building a coaching staff than going out and hiring the biggest "names" (and biggest egos!) available. The job of the GM and HC is to decide on what the team's philosophy, system and identity will be. The GM and the scouts then go out and acquire the best available players that can get the job done on the field playing in that system. The HC and GM hire assistant coaches who they believe that they can work with who know how to coach that system and get the most out of their players within that system. And, it's the HC's job to work with the OC and DC and their assistant coaches to get the entire team to play to the maximum of their ability within that system by getting everyone on the same page and teaching them the proper techniques that they need to have internalized in order to play effectively within that system. That's a pretty complicated and difficult thing to do (and this is actually a simplified version--there's a lot more to it). Not only do the coaches have to know and be able to teach their part of the overall system, but each one has to accept his role and be able to work with the other coaches and the players that he is coaching. Everything has to mesh together and the personalities that are involved are sometimes as important or more important than the Xs and Os.

Of course, all of the people involved are professionals who are supposed to know what their roles are and what they are supposed to do, but, as in every profession, getting the right balance can be a lot trickier than it appears from the outside. For example, just going out and hiring the top traders in every investment area wouldn't necessarily make an investment bank the best in the business--if it did, it would have been done already. But managing the egos, etc. and getting everyone to work together without trying to kill one another would be a problem. There's more to putting together a successful investment firm than simply hiring the biggest "names" in the business--and there is more to putting together a successful NFL coaching staff than meets the eye as well. And, just as most people on the outside wouldn't know how to put together a successful investment firm, most of us fans don't know everything that one has to know in order to put together a successful NFL coaching staff and front office.

While the Bills haven't done a very good job of putting together a successful organization in recent years, as judged by the results on the field, we do know that Marv Levy has played an important part in putting together a successful NFL organization during the Bills Super Bowl years. Marv also had some success in putting together a winning organization when he was with Montreal in the CFL. Now, that's no guarantee that he will be successful with the Bills this time around and there is no way to tell at this stage whether the coaching staff that the Bills have been putting together has any chance of being successful. But, I do believe that, based on his past experiences, Marv knows a lot more about what it's going to take and what kind of coaches will be needed to make the Bills successful than any of us fans who are not in the business and have not been privy to the discussions that have been taking place at OBD with regard to the direction that R.Wilson and M.Levy want to take this team this year or over the next couple of years. You either trust that Levy knows what he is doing and has a plan or you can sit back and criticize every move that you don't agree with and wait to see what happens. None of us fans, myself included, will know how good or bad these hires are going to turn out to be until the end of next season.

[tonyc37]

all you need to know is Dick coulndn't put together a top notch staff in Chi town and the same thing is happening here.No body else interviewed Fewell any of Dc jobs around the league.Fairchild did not run the Rams oofense Martz did.Steve only has 11 games as an actual OC.So we are not getting the cream of the crop.We wanted Bates,but didn't want to pay him.Same old same old

[mysticsoto]

all you need to know is Dick coulndn't put together a top notch staff in Chi town and the same thing is happening here.No body else interviewed Fewell any of Dc jobs around the league.Fairchild did not run the Rams oofense Martz did.Steve only has 11 games as an actual OC.So we are not getting the cream of the crop.We wanted Bates,but didn't want to pay him.Same old same old


A few things... Ithink that Fairchild not running Martz' offense is a good thing. Or do you want to get rid of McGahee sine he would be completely unused in a Martz system?

As for Bates, he has luxury. He is getting paid for sitting this year and taking a vacation. Why would we want to get him when in truth, his heart is not in it and he is willing to wait for a HC position? If he had taken it, he would have left next year anyway and then people would be complaining that we have to get someone new and start over.

LTBF makes some good points about coaching in the past. With many people's line of thinking here, they would never have given Belicheck a chance at NE - and yet look at him now.

Let's put the bellyaching aside and see what happens...

[Dont drink the water]

What team do all the GM's on this board work for ?? Just out of curiosity
I am sure they have played Madden, Front Office Version, and won every time!

:rofl:

[OpIv37]

We've just gone through a period where the team had a well-known, experienced OC in Kevin Gilbride and brought in a well-known, experienced, well-respected Associate DC in Dick LeBeau; highly regarded assistants moving up the ladder in Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Jerry Gray, Tim Krumrie and Tom Clements. And, a bunch of well-known and/or respected, veteran ball-players in Sam Adams, Lawyer Milloy, Troy Vincent, Jeff Posey, Chris Villarial, London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes. And, what have the Bills won during this period?

The Bills' best assistant coach during this period has been Bobby April who was canned by the Rams after his special teams were the worst in the NFL for two years running. And, how many people here moaned and groaned when April was hired by the Bills to take over their special teams?

Be honest, now: other than Ted Marchibroda, who had a losing record as the HC of the Colts, how many of Marv Levy's assistants during the Super Bowl years were recognizable "big name" coaches when they were hired by the Bills? Wade Phillips was known more for being Bum Phillips' son than for being a football coach. Elijah Pitts was known as a player on Green Bay's SB teams, but not as a coach. Who had even heard of Ted Cottrell? I could go on but I won't other than to say that those assistants might not have been very well known, but they did a pretty good job for the Bills, didn't they? BTW: Was Bill Polian a "big name" anywhere in football outside of Canada when he got the Bills' GM job?

With all the money that Danny Snyder has spent on coaches since buying the Redskins, what have they won...with a HOF HC and the highest paid DC in the history of the NFL, they have managed to barely make the playoffs once (remember that Spurrier had Marvin Lewis as his DC at a time when Lewis was the hottest assistant in the league).

The point I'm trying to make is that there is much more that goes into building a coaching staff than going out and hiring the biggest "names" (and biggest egos!) available. The job of the GM and HC is to decide on what the team's philosophy, system and identity will be. The GM and the scouts then go out and acquire the best available players that can get the job done on the field playing in that system. The HC and GM hire assistant coaches who they believe that they can work with who know how to coach that system and get the most out of their players within that system. And, it's the HC's job to work with the OC and DC and their assistant coaches to get the entire team to play to the maximum of their ability within that system by getting everyone on the same page and teaching them the proper techniques that they need to have internalized in order to play effectively within that system. That's a pretty complicated and difficult thing to do (and this is actually a simplified version--there's a lot more to it). Not only do the coaches have to know and be able to teach their part of the overall system, but each one has to accept his role and be able to work with the other coaches and the players that he is coaching. Everything has to mesh together and the personalities that are involved are sometimes as important or more important than the Xs and Os.

Of course, all of the people involved are professionals who are supposed to know what their roles are and what they are supposed to do, but, as in every profession, getting the right balance can be a lot trickier than it appears from the outside. For example, just going out and hiring the top traders in every investment area wouldn't necessarily make an investment bank the best in the business--if it did, it would have been done already. But managing the egos, etc. and getting everyone to work together without trying to kill one another would be a problem. There's more to putting together a successful investment firm than simply hiring the biggest "names" in the business--and there is more to putting together a successful NFL coaching staff than meets the eye as well. And, just as most people on the outside wouldn't know how to put together a successful investment firm, most of us fans don't know everything that one has to know in order to put together a successful NFL coaching staff and front office.

While the Bills haven't done a very good job of putting together a successful organization in recent years, as judged by the results on the field, we do know that Marv Levy has played an important part in putting together a successful NFL organization during the Bills Super Bowl years. Marv also had some success in putting together a winning organization when he was with Montreal in the CFL. Now, that's no guarantee that he will be successful with the Bills this time around and there is no way to tell at this stage whether the coaching staff that the Bills have been putting together has any chance of being successful. But, I do believe that, based on his past experiences, Marv knows a lot more about what it's going to take and what kind of coaches will be needed to make the Bills successful than any of us fans who are not in the business and have not been privy to the discussions that have been taking place at OBD with regard to the direction that R.Wilson and M.Levy want to take this team this year or over the next couple of years. You either trust that Levy knows what he is doing and has a plan or you can sit back and criticize every move that you don't agree with and wait to see what happens. None of us fans, myself included, will know how good or bad these hires are going to turn out to be until the end of next season.

1. None of those coaching moves turned into wins for Buffalo, regardless of how successful the coaches turned out to be AFTER Buffalo.
2. The Skins made the playoffs and won a playoff game on the road. That's more that the Bills have done in the last decade. And while they've struggled recently as well, they have a better record than the Bills over the last 6 years or so.

Your examples are moot.

[OpIv37]

Dude, too much hyperbole there. What I am saying is we get a million of these same type of threads after every hiring the Bills make, and it's getting a little tedious if you ask me. Everyone thinks they could of made a better choice than what Jauron, Marv, and Ralph decided on, but the fact is Marv knows a whole lot more about football than any of us at the game. So can we see how the decision pans out before we go jumping down the front offices' throat?

why do we have to wait until it's too late before we criticize. The fans keep this team (and every NFL team) going by buying the tickets, merch, and the products advertised during the games. I don't see the problem with someone complaining if they think the FO made a dumb move.

[FirstDownBills]

why do we have to wait until it's too late before we criticize. The fans keep this team (and every NFL team) going by buying the tickets, merch, and the products advertised during the games. I don't see the problem with someone complaining if they think the FO made a dumb move.


Because theres about 6000 other threads similar to this. Couldn't he have spared the precious space by simply making a post in one of those other 6000 threads?

[OpIv37]

Because theres about 6000 other threads similar to this. Couldn't he have spared the precious space by simply making a post in one of those other 6000 threads?

It gets more attention if you start a new thread, which means he was either looking for attention or honestly wanted responses to his thoughts. If he put it in another thread, it would get buried.

[Mr. Cynical]

All across the board. The best move they made this offseason was giving April the assistant head coach title. Not happy with ANY of the hires.

:bf1::bf1::bf1::bf1:

Wow. There is someone else who has put down the Kool Aid and sees the reality of the situation.

Get ready for the neg birds to come a flockin'.

[lynobx]

I don't know for sure, but I hope we are following Marv's philosophy of hiring coaches that are strong teachers, good at working with others in the organization, and possess positive attitudes and high character.

I'm willing to wait and see.

[TigerJ]

Since I can't do anything about it, and I'm not knowledgeable enough to evaluate the qualifications of the newly hired assistant coaches, I personally take a wait and see attitude and hope for the best. If anyone wants to judge Dick Jauron and all his assistants as miserable failures seven months before the season starts, that's their business.

[PromoTheRobot]

I see, so because we're not football professionals we have no right to have opinions about the actions of the team? If that's the case, why do we even have this message board?

Exactly. We have the message board so we can mock your opinions. :D

PTR