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Don't click. Please, for the love of god don't click. I'm actually sorry I did. It's clicking on these stupid links that actually provide incentive and reward for this form of unsubstantiated and mostly incomprehensibly unsound style of writing to continue and, fearfully, grow. Don't click. Heck, don't even post this shill. jw

based on the people I spoke to, Anthony Lynn was the front-runner to replace Rex entering the final game of the season. reported that as well. and he was until things began shifting with Pegulas impressed by McDermott. the tide began shifting McDermott's way immediately after he interviewed, and word filtered out that he was the clear favorite a few days before he was hired. jw

couple'a things here. once McDermott was hired, i stopped checking sources and let the assistant coaching hire process work it's way through, especially once it became evident it wasn't going to be McCoy, who was the only one i made a few cursory calls. otherwise, i called no one. i asked no one to call me within the Bills or outside. and there was far too much rabid speculation out there to pinpoint on one person, rather than four or five. it was a long season and made even longer with yet another coaching search. so once McDermott was hired, a move that was a key priority for me, i moved on. i needed a break and i'm sure the people I've dealt with needed one, too. and i'm sure the people i deal with would have pointed me in the right direction. but at this juncture, there was no real benefit from my end to push them on it. better to use them for more key moves down the road come March and April. jw

if he's selling a total rebuild then, maybe. if he's selling a win-now thing, and it's unlikely, then probably not. jw

"Instilling core values?" what does that mean. have there been no core values previously? "It's not going to be a quick fix." oh. "These guys have to know that there's a standard that we are setting." ummm, ok. evidently, this has been the ongoing problem. the previous bills regime, of which the GM was a part of, failed to establish core values or set any standards. yes, thanks for your time. jw

"First of all, thanks for having me." jw

you act as if this is some great new revelation. so naivete it is, then. jw

there are two ways to avoid being second-guessed and being the focus of criticism. 1) winning. that gets you off the hook on just about everything. 2) having a good relationship with those in a position of influencing public opinion. a few bon-mots go a long way in having a few mis-steps forgiven, allowing for a bit of slack. it won't save a person once things begin spiraling, but it can ease the slopes when the valleys come. (it's human nature. when someone's nice to you or goes out of their way to do something for you, you tend to give them more of a benefit of the doubt than those who ignore you.) trouble here is Whaley lacked both 1 and 2 this season. jw

what's also true, is there were numerous concerns within OBD regarding Whaley's performance in the hours leading up to the press conference. yes, BEFOREHAND. so either he muffed the script or ignored it and allowed the whole thing to veer of the rails. he could have mitigated some of it in November upon addressing the Percy Harvin signing. instead, the media was limited to Harvin questions only, and a three-minute availability. he could have mitigated it a week earlier, by answering questions about the coaching change, rather than let Anthony Lynn dangle in the wind. he could have mitigated it had he at the very least established any sort of working relationship with regular beat writers over the course of the season, rather than spend the media portion of practices hiding in the off-limits area of the weight room. GMs deal with the media. it's something Whaley had done irregularly in the past. that he waited so long, and declined several opportunities beforehand, led to a heaping pile of questions left at his feet, be it Rex's dismissal, Lynn's promotion and the Tyrod benching. he had few answers for any of them. managers, highly-paid ones, are employed to have foresight into preparing for times of crisis. and with each decision he made in punting, the more questions built up. it was a tire fire much of his own making. jw yes, it's always someone else's fault isn't it with you. a communications person is only as good as the person willing to work with him. the Bills in fact had their two most senior PR people in the media room during the news conference. what did you expect them to do when things started going off the rails, jump up on the podium and rescue GM by waving their arms "No Mas! No Mas!" or, perhaps, they could have threatened to kick reporters out of the room because that went over swimmingly in Philly. !@#$ me. jw jw

smh. "must be great?" he didn't even manage a level of "poor" in the press conference. it was an unmitigated disaster, such that the Bills had to scramble out the Pegulas to clear up many unanswered questions. that a person at such an executive level is unable to answer basic questions such as whether he was aware his team's head coach's job was in jeopardy is unpardonable.a GM has a variety of functions, and one is to deal with the media, which is an NFL requirement to do so within 10 days following the end of a season and in the weeks leading up to the draft. it's clear based on numerous questions you've raised either on this board or on twitter, that you either are incapable of understanding how things work or are merely naive to that reality. i mean, geezus. jw

My guess is that they limit any Whaley exposure and place the focus on McDermott. If Pegulas are there, I'm sure Terry might get an interesting question or two thrown his way. Otherwise, the obvious focus will be on the new coach. jw

1) McDermott and his camp came in fully aware of the dysfunction inside OBD. It stands to reason that they came in and asked for some additional authority and clarity. 2) Though Whaley headed the coaching search and scheduled McDermott first, it's clear based on text from Pegula to AP that he needed to be very comfortable and have a connection to the new coach. 3) The reports coming out of OBD drive before coaching search began officially calling Anthony Lynn as the clear front-runner didn't materialize out of thin air, or at the very least in the AP's reporting. That Anthony Lynn wasn't selected indicates the Bills didn't follow a pre-planned agenda that was initially laid out. 4) Numerous people within OBD were unpleased with Whaley's performance during the so-called "news conference." It did not reflect well on Whaley, the Pegulas or the organization as a whole. It begs the question how that performance could not have led to a reduction in confidence in Whaley's ability to perform his duties as a GM. 5) The Pegulas aren't in the business of going through yet another coaching search any time soon now that the Bills have have hired McDermott. So if there is a shift in the power structure based on optics alone, Whaley is the one on thinner ice moving forward. jw

that warrow couldn't even break wind, i'm told. jw

always. thanks. jw

for what it's worth, i didn't see anything wrong with Terry's text to me. it spoke to his commitment as an athlete in a tough sport that's demanding of precision and will. and as Terry himself noted, though wrestling might not have anything to do with being an NFL HC, as he put it, it does speak to character and commitment. and he then noted the guidance provided by working under "AReid," as he put it. remember, too, Terry texts using a old-timey flip phone. so that he managed to thumb out more than 3-4 lines was actually impressive. that these things caught his attention provides insight into what struck him. in the end, as always, we'll get an opportunity to evaluate McDermott based on the coming months and once the season begins. and the first glimpse shall come tomorrow. i'm keeping an open mind. jw

Two words: Tom Freakin' Landry. jw

i guess i deserved that. jw but tell me, what's this stand for: fuktd.

i think there's a debate going on. jw devastated. absolutely. jw

Simply told no interviews scheduled for tomorrow, or likely to be. Nothing else beyond that. jw

No. None at all. Been a long day of travel. Not sure if they're re-grouping tomorrow or waiting. And don't read anything into that because I'm not speculating one way or another. jw

I'd go with B all day, and every day. jw

Bills expected to take a break from coaching search process tomorrow with no interviews planned at this moment. Unsure as to where things stand moving forward in regards to further interviews taking place. jw

thanks. i think. (i kid, i kid). the reason i've resisted floating what i've been told this morning is whether there might be someone else entering the mix out of left field, perhaps. sure, i can be accused of stirring things up unnecessarily, but i was confident at the time, things might be winding down. now, unsure. and by saying, unsure, i'm not saying there is another candidate or not still out there. i do stick with what my initial tweets were in being curious how this all plays out in regards to who is recommended and who is hired. jw

it would mean Phase 1 of coaching search is over, making it much easier to figure out Phase 2. jw

all i can say is the one puzzle piece missing from all this is whether the Bills are done interviewing. no one I've talked to yet can definitively say one way or another, and the people in a position to know haven't responded. jw