May Day 10

"He is excellent on the business side" seems like a catch-all general cop-out. He has presided over the bills during a time where the nfl experienced unprecedented growth and prosperity. I can say from experience that there are thousands of Russ Brandons in the field. What he was good at, was executing ralph wilson's vision, which was keeping the decisions in the inner circle, while deflecting accountability to the outside. The same tricks still work. We are again about to outsource all the blame to Rex Ryan. Then we will be fed hope that anthony lynn was some highly coveted candidate. Next year will be again year 1. The team will stink but it will be because of new coaches, system, etc... year 2 continuity... year 3 the bottom falls out again and we are right back here, blaming lynn for everything, while the bills search for the next lackey. He has been at a senior executive role, on top of the organization for a long time, and the dysfunction continues.

The same organizational management is in place, save Littman... and Wilson, but Brandon has been a proxy of Wilson's leadership. I believe these folks work to preserve their positions and influence. Something was done to chase Polian away. When threats start to form, we see these games happen through 'leaks' in the media and blame. Marrone had documented spats with Bills management that was described as 'new' vs 'lifers'.

I will explain, but you will disagree. The Bills were moving in a direction to give Wilson's trusted money guys in Overdorf, Littman, and Brandon more say in football matters, as Donahoe was ejected. An agreeable Marv Levy was coming in, trusted by Wilson, but incapable of the GM position. One of his roles was going to be to continue showing Russ Brandon the ropes on the football side. Mularkey saw the writing on the wall and direction the Bills were going in and didnt want his career to be attached to this. The result was 2 mediocre seasons, followed by a 6-peat for last place finishes.

I am in the minority of people who do not 'hate' the prequels. I think they are unfairly panned. I really like how these new ones look though. Very well done.

I cant believe Bills fans here 'circle the wagons' and defend the team and organization whenever questioned

"Getting" a QB isn't like getting hit with a meteor. You need people in place who can identify and develop a young QB. You also need an organizational commitment... if not, desperation to find one. The Bills have failed across the board in those areas as an organization.

One of Marv Levy's functions when he was brought in as GM was to groom and further develop Russ Brandon as a football guy.

As a guy who likes star wars... it was excellent. However, IMO the movie could have been streamlined a bit better and it would have been the undisputed champ of star wars movies. Lots of unnecessary dialogue and actions that weakened the movie

Russ Whaley Rex Tyrod

Its all about the right management and organization. The right management, *hint, we do not have it right now*, will maximize the draft pick and the value. I recall not too long ago, at times, the Broncos, Seahawks, Ravens, Raiders, Chiefs, Cowboys, Cardinals, Vikings, etc... all picked ahead of the Bills... and they pulled themselves out just fine. As far as Sunday.... I don't really care. They aren't going to make the playoffs. I would rather they lose to be honest. It would be funny with the Dareus situation, draft pick position is very close, like 6 spots for 1 game... and a loss could inspire Pegula to hold a mirror to the entire organization. I am not going to worry on any lost 'glory' of the Bills being Cleveland's only win in 2016. Nobody will care or remember anyways. This organization is devoid of glory to lose anyway, save a 5-7 year aberration. In the NFL, it is fairly obvious that there are good organizations and bad ones. The Bills have always been a bad one, save those half dozen years, which was promptly destroyed by our owner. Pegula has chosen for continuity.

Ruben and Moorman

Not to mention, 4 games against the 4 wirst teams on the power rankings

Pegula's "style" is hogwash. Lindy ruff was hung onto through an offseason, a half season lockout, only to be fired early in the lockout shortened season. Crowd was becoming ugly at games. Bad timing and wasted 9 months a coach could have been in the fold and preparing. Regier was a similar thing. Crowd was getting belligerent, and was getting national attention and regier was fired in November, after another season was pretty much shot. Both moves reeked of indecision and seemed reactionary.

wow. This is so Bills. Is he going to waddle off the field with his index finger in the air?

We are saying "fans" wanted Ralph Wilson to sell the team to a winner, and to fire Polian during the Super Bowl runs.... but what percentage is that? <1% I am sure. I don't remember hearing that. I do remember a larger percentage calling for Reich to start over Kelly near the end... but again, that was like <2% and had the mouthpiece of calling WGR and WBEN, etc... At this point, fans, I would say a large majority... >90% are pretty fed up and would welcome a wholesale change with open arms and excitement, even if it meant taking an initial step back. Fans of other teams I know feel like major change is needed (and laughed about Rex Ryan initially). I think any neutral observer would see that the Bills and the Pegulas could use a large amount of guidance at this point.

The article is a bit cherry-pickey This season.... IF they win the final 3 games and finish 9-7 is held up as a success. I disagree. This schedule broke the Bills' way and was a cake-walk. They have the current consensus bottom 4 power ranked team on their schedule, as well as the #26 or #27 team on there twice (Jets). New England with a hurt 3rd string QB was a tomato can too. Yeah, I guess we should congratulate them for not being in that group. They have a total of 4 current playoff teams on their schedule, and outside of the Seattle game, they folded up against each other one (New England, Oakland, and Pittsburgh). Then you have the 'similar' non-playoff teams of Baltimore and Miami, and they got beat up there too. Every time things mattered, they folded badly. Out by late November/early December. Same identical pattern. It also says: "Look at it this way... if you took over a business that had failed for years (which is essentially what the Pegulas did), hired some of your own people to leadership positions but didn’t see profits crawl out of the negatives in the two years, would you start firing and re-hiring again?" l don't think they hired anyone for leadership positions.... at least on the side of the operation that matters to me. They kept everyone who was there for pre-Pegula. Nobody there involved on that side has proven to be worthy of continuing IMO, and an organizational rebuild is about 12 years overdue. I would be in support of giving everything 1 more year.... actually moreso than just replacing the coach and hoping for the best again and going through the cycle of "new coach, new system needs personnel" to "continuity" to "he sucks get him out of here it is all his fault"

While it will certainly be better than before because the resources are available... a potential hang-up is what kind of influence does the new HC have. Does he have control of his own destiny/career/legacy... or is he going to need to capitulate to Russ Brandon in cut meetings. The power structure here has been a turn-off as much as the $ aspect. We have had 2 coaches (our best 'drought' coaches) voluntarily walk the plank here in 10 years. That should ring alarms. To get a white whale coach, you need to offer influence/power as much as the $.

Thats where i am. If they want to give him the keys to the car and full authority to build us a football program, thats great. The one thing that puts me off though is how chemnelly says he is friendly with many in the organization. He has the qualities i would like to see instilled in the bills organization. Hard work, detail oriented, professional...

I would much prefer not. I strongly suspect that Wilson, and by an extension, Brandon employed a practice of identifying familiar, weaker, and even 'desperate' executives and coaches. Having these people in place makes it possible for decisions to be made unchallenged from ownership and top execs (Wilson, Brandon, Littman, Overdorf). I want the kind of executive who would kindly tell Russ Brandon to get him coffee if he had a suggestion. I would like it to be solely Pegulas, with the guidance perhaps of their own relationships/acquaintances. I want an unsullied person, truly from the outside, who will be given the keys to the car in its totality

Whoever is doing it (if it is an intentional leak) would probably be sensing that ownership is becoming impatient/unhappy with the results/ROI. Trying to drive a narrative that Rex is the one on thin ice because he is failing to utilize "superior talent" is exactly what team Whaley/Brandon would want

What I want, is someone from outside the organization (the organization who has won 1 non-88-95-Kelly era playoff game in 51 seasons) to come in and start to guide the process. Brandon as president cant do it. Pegulas are inexperienced and have already made critical, unforced mistakes. Whaley is too indoctrinated in the way things run at OBD... Brandon leaving the room or being banned from the room still does not cause good decisions to start happening.

There seems to be a repeat offender in that front office. This garbage has been going on since Mr Wilson passed away. I have the feeling it is Brandon and/or Whaley.

I loved Ted Black. I got a couple chances to meet him and was invited to participate in a really cool pre-game forum with STH. He was very down to earth, friendly, and receptive. Also enjoyed and respected his radio spot on WGR. He would always take abuse and not shy away or sugar coat. Fans were also able to communicate with him directly with any issue or suggestion. I was experiencing many things in the arena improving. Now, the Sabres have lost a little charm without Black.

Team president should be in on those meetings. The problem is, the most influential people on the call are clueless in winning in the nfl.... and id argue that all the participants are a whack pack of sorts. What i would like is a john elway (pres), maybe acting gm, coach go over game. John Elway reports to the owners. Winners from outside the organization need to be brought in. The program needs to be more cohesive and focused.

I guess we should wait to see if there is an interview process.