Red

With 'Atomic' sauce, no less...

My sentiments, exactly. Thank you for putting that together. I didn't see Ron Rivera in those pics...

Then again, they have had alot of stealth meetings. Perhaps Cowher was THE guy, as Ralph even came out and stated that you'd "have to ask him (Cowher)" about his interest in the Bills. Perhaps Harbaugh was the guy, and they were not expecting to be spurned. Whatever is going on, its going to take some time to turn this image around of not being committed to winning. If that is indeed their reputation in the NFL.

And it's true. I don't know how else anyone can describe this past decade other than ultimately a lack of commitment to winning from the owner. Donahoe was a mistake (as are those 2 still hanging around at OBD in Modrak and Guy), Levy has now proven to be an error at GM, and Brandon should never have touched the football side of the operation- if even for a season. Now, Donahoe may have been hot potatoes when he left Pittsburgh, but we have since learned that he was practically chased out of Pittsburgh, and was not such a wonder boy every one was thinking he was. We also learned that Levy was a stop-gap measure at first to help guide the team back to respectability, but then Ralph goes out and reorganizes the front office putting the finance and contract guy in charge of the salaries and negotiating in Jim Overdorf. People in the know seem to indicate that he was the true Dark Lord of the Sith that was rotting the team from the inside with his ego and decision making. Let's see, no real GM, nobody up-and-coming in the front office, horrible scouting and drafting by Modrak and co., horrible free agent signings by Guy, Overdorf playing hardball with the few and far between draft picks that truly did blossom into something (Winfield, Williams, and Fletcher as a free agent), and to top it all off...nothing even remotely close to a plan on how to build or even having a QB in the wings. Yep, sounds like Mularkey was right. No commitment to winning. The Bills HAVE been horribly mismanaged since Butler left. I understand that Butler, Smith, and Nix had the Bills awash in player contracts long after those players left, but Butler also had the Bills in the playoffs. There has been nothing since then. Nothing but mediocrity. Not only that, but then the former players come out in Kelly and Thomas and stress how 'NOW' Ralph wants to win. 'NOW' Ralph realizes that he wants a winning football team in WNY again. Excuse me, but WHAT THE HECK HAS HE BEEN THINKING FOR THE PAST DECADE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

One point I think that will need to happen (that no one is mentioning thus far) is that in the event Grimm turns us down, then the onus will fall on Nix to start earning his keep. What I mean by that is that we will have exhausted ourselves going for 'the name'. Nix will then need to start digging in the college ranks to find a candidate nobody thought of. Then that person will come out of nowhere, and assemble a staff. That staff will then need to begin building a winner, and all things will be well. At this point, I would rather have an unknown who turns it around than everybody's Golden Boy.

I was all for Harbaugh. Those points all mentioned enough experience. Would it be helpful to have him as perhaps an offensive coordinator for a few years first, sure. But to say he's not ready is to deny who the man is and who he has become. As Nix stated, they want head coaching EXPERIENCE, not NFL head coaching experience. Turning 2 abysmal college programs into winners in a short period of time certainly passes as having head coaching experience in my book. And there are no guarantees that the hot coordinator or former head coach will be all that, either, as the Bills recent decade has indicated. Gibbs' 2nd run in Washington was horrible. Jimmy Johnson never got it together in Miami. Even Parcells took longer than usual to find success in Dallas. Sure, you can always look at a Steve Spurrier and crap the bed, but I'd like to think that he is more in the minority that the norm. How is Pettrino doing? Atlanta has a coach with no NFL head coaching experience, don't they? How is that going?

For what it is worth, that 'coach Sal' guy reported that one of 'sources' not too long ago stated that when they interviewed Cowher in one of their stealth sessions that he left being very impressed with the solid ownership of the Bills. Word is that all of those rumors that Ralph's family wants nothing to do with the team when Ralph should pass are just that- rumors. Shanahan was reportedly 'very impressed' with the Bills, as well. Now, he still chose the Redskins but word is that he wanted to be part of a package deal with GM Bruce Allen. If THAT is true, then I don't know why the Bills did not hire them both. Except for the fact that Allen's father is perhaps one of the top 5 legends in Redskin lore, having been one of their greatest coaches besides Gibbs. So, a return to the team his father ran and no doubt he grew up with was no doubt a factor in that decision. Kelly is also ready to go with an ownership group should the unfortunate happen to Ralph. The recent expansion into Toronto may come across as shaky, but currently I believe the Bills that this is simply a move to become more regionalized and grow revenue, not move the team. If anything is hurting us at this point is it probably more our reputation this past decade of not spending, finding, and keeping the right players. And the key people responsible for those decisions (Nix not included) are still with the team, getting a paycheck (Modrak, Guy, Overdorf, Brandon).

exactly. AS if we weren't already the laughingstock of the league for hanging on with the Bills for the past decade, now practically an entire league full of coaches is turning us down. This reminds me of the Bills when I started following them in the late 80's. No player wanted to come to Buffalo, as even Kelly chose instead to play for the Houston Gamblers of the USFL and Bruce Smith was vocal about being reluctant to come to Buffalo. But what Polian did was simply amass enough talent to win on Sunday. And then win again. And again. And again. Winning solved everything then, and it will do so again.

I'm bummed about this one. I now have hope that Arizona's somewhat quick demise in the playoffs will open Grimm up to coming to Buffalo. I mean if Grimm isn't interested, who's left?

Though I am certainly no fan of your amateurish antics thus far, that is a great point. Marty is on his way out or is out for good, why would he want to tarnish in any way the rising star that is his son by game-planning to beat him twice every year? The way these coaches pad their 'legacies' is becoming outrageous. I mean, we ALL want to walk into that dream job. Sometimes, YOU have be the one to make the job a dream.

Thank you, good sir! And I must say that Rowdy Roddy Piper rules!

Good point. Perhaps "what is your favorite color" might be good, as Brandon may not even like the Bills color scheme, and be drafting and signing players to help everybody else in the league.

Grimm has been up for several head coaching positions throughout the past few years. He lost out to Tomlin in Pittsburgh, and Washington checked him out, too. He is the assistant head coach and a positional coach right now with the Cards. I would feel that Grimm would be bringing the right style of football to the Bills, and I believe that we would finally get away from the Mauronic tendency to flood our draft and roster with defensive backs and start to assemble one of the most dominating offensive lines in football. And if Grimm does not work out, I am intrigued by Jim Harbaugh.

What is the average air speed of a swallow?

Yeah, I'm starting to separate myself from all of this coaching stuff. It will happen when it happens. Some of it seems like a shot at the Bills- and in alot of ways they deserve it for the mismanagement that was the past decade. But I think that alot of it is just being happy where they are (Schott's JR and I think Rivera- though I thought Rivera said that he would be open to interviewing with the Bills once the Chargers were out of the playoffs), or waiting for the ideal situation (it turns out Cowher is waiting for the Giants head coaching job to open up, Shanahan was rumored to want to be part of package deal w/GM Bruce Allen which the Redskins complied with). I would like to see Jim Harbaugh and Russ Grimm as candidates.

THAT, was a great find! Thanks for the perspective. I guess the grass is always greener somewhere else...

Dude, just because you're not caught does not mean you did not commit a crime. So the charges are being dropped. So what? Did he commit the crime? One would hope that punishment would be swift and equal to the crime. What we are seeing with the idiotic, thugish behavior of this moron is that he can't control himself. He's a million dollar 5 year old. At what point is enough, enough? Does someone have to die?

Mr. Wawrow, I have been wanting to ask somebody "in the know" such as yourself, as to how this reshuffled front office of Brandon as CEO and Nix as GM effects the role of Jim Overdorf. Will Brandon now have final say on contracts, and such? Also, though still in the heat of interviewing coaching candidates, Nix did promise to review the performances of both Modrak and Guy. I'd be extremely disappointed if Nix simply allowed Guy to wander off into the sunset come May when his contract comes due, as Guy deserves to be fired. I also see the horrible record of draft picks this decade as happening on Modrak's watch. For instance, from 2000-2005, the Bills selected some 50 players. Only 6 are still with the team. The 1st round draft picks this decade are also horrible. With the exception of Wood and Evans, it has been slim pickings at best. Any word on the status of those 2?

Methinks you have been too conditioned to accept negativity. Granted, the Bills, despite all of the yearly marketing glitz, have not delivered on their 'sizzle' this decade. Hope hardly springs eternal for Bills fans; myself included. But I would like to give Nix some time (3-5 seasons) to see what he can do. To respond to your point, I don't believe that Ralph or Brandon or whomever hired Nix to simply be a puppet, either.

I'm happy for the Redskins. They are building a winner. I'm slightly bummed that the Bills are not breaking greater ground, as I would love to see the elder Schottenheimer calling the shots, his son as assistant head coach/ offensive coordinator and Haslett as defensive coordinator. Ralph has said that there is no rush to hire a head coach. While I feel that this is a prudent choice, we are losing out on the assistants out there. There won't be much of a staff left for a potential head coach to hire.

Yeah, I agree with your conclusions and feel that this is what has indeed created a less than enthusiastic crowd of potential head coaches for the Bills. My sincere hope is that with a slightly reshuffled front office and with Nix as GM (and hopefully Guy being let go), the reputation that the Bills apparently have is in the past.

I'll take that as a complement coming from an obvious user of female hygeine products.

Wow, so is that picture your yearbook photo?

Still just speculation, friend-o.

Those are called analogies. And I am sorry...it's an election year...I tend to get excited over righting the wrongs.