dpberr

Not to mention the "blowup" was nearly 12 years ago.

Trying to make Los Angeles and California football happen will be another nail in the NFL coffin. It was always unstable even when the demographics favored it decades ago. The Rams and the Raiders didn't move around as they did because they simply had too many fans and were making too much money. The league should be looking at consolidation.

I have not met this Scott Berchtold individual.

Best - He makes some downright inspired FA and trade moves. Worst - Cutting Fred Jackson. His leadership has been missed on a team that desperately needed it in 2015 and 2016. It set the wrong tone.

I see Kim phoning in from Aspen excited the Bills are going to hire the NFL's first female head coach in Kris Richards. Terry phoning in from Buffalo speed reading through all the notes Whaley has sent him but he hasn't read, curious why the WR on the team will make a good head coach... Doug phoning in from the darkened front office where he's managed to fool everyone that he's not there and can't take media phone calls... Everyone likes someone different...then you hear Terry quickly speed dialing another extension... "Sorry to bother you Russ, but well Russ..., we can't decide. What do you think?" And then Russ smiles slowly and widely as he stares at Two Bills Drive, open on his laptop, and starts talking.. As the scene starts fading to black, you hear Terry go "That's a great idea, Russ. Let's run with that."

The Ravens approach is probably more or less the standard approach to handling such press conferences in the NFL. That's what makes the Bills approach feel amateur, aloof and unprofessional in comparison.

I see getting over the hump and into the playoffs as an incremental stage in shaping an annually competitive team. Much like the Pittsburgh Pirates who suffered a similar drought, getting into the playoffs was a very big deal. It reset expectations.

Haha. All three are LONG overdue. Plus, with three items, it gives Kim, Terry and Doug all something to "decide" on.

Red helmets. The old end zones. A little less train whistle.

Andy Reid will get his revenge on the Pats this year.

Never hire a coach who was just fired. This is known as the Rex Ryan rule. In doing so, you hire a coach who has not spent time evaluating what went right, what went wrong. That's important to do.

I recall reading that Sears last had a truly profitable year in 1989. Kmart - 1993. The slow bleed of Sears has everything to do with shareholders getting their maximum value before it dies. Bankruptcy made sense a decade ago if they wanted to truly save the company. I'm sure that the Internet has contributed but terrible management and terrible decision making by that management had these companies on the slide long before Wal-Mart turned into the juggernaut and Amazon was even a "thing". The decline of Kmart, Sears, JC Penney's, Nordstrom's and Macy's is putting significant stress on the "traditional" enclosed mall market. Malls are heavily mortgaged properties - and if you have lost an anchor or two, it's hard to pay the mortgage.

I'm not sure what ESPN's "plan" is while they continue to hemorrhage subscribers and viewers. I was shocked at how poor the Sports Reporters show has become. The stories are garbage and about as hard hitting as a MyPillow. I don't know why Berman stays after a demotion like that. He helped build that network into what it is today.

I see it differently. If the decision to not retain Taylor has been made, that is a signal IMO, that the Bills are open to other coaches besides Anthony Lynn. Which is fine. However, they better have a plan and that's what concerns me.

It seems that every year there is a specific crop of candidates to be interviewed and teams only interview certain candidates in that group. Does anyone have insight into why certain coaches become hot names, others do not, and why teams seem to target specific coaches? I wonder why teams wouldn't want to interview all candidates and all candidates wouldn't want to interview for all the open jobs.

He didn't meet the quota for incoherent wrestler voice shouting on the broadcast. ESPN is tailoring its programming towards the younger generation - that doesn't watch television. Bad move. The generation that happens to keep television around is seeing all the people it likes and knows replaced by poorly trained television personalities/former NFL players. I watched a mid-80s CBS broadcast of THE NFL TODAY the other night that had Brent Musburger, Dick Butkus with some awesome hair and Irv Cross for in studio commentary. It was Masterpiece Theater in comparison to today's shows. No yelling, no lifetime stories and bonafide real analysis.

I'm not as enthused about him as I was prior to the last game of the season. I expected better performance. Not a win, but a decent looking, respectable loss. The press conference wasn't inspiring either only being slightly less disasterous than Whaley's. I'm disappointed that the interviews are once again taking place in Florida. That tells me that it's not Doug Whaley's choice. If they want an authentic process - bring them all to Buffalo, not Aspen, not Boca and have Doug do his job. Being even somewhat truthful about the process would help too. Second rounders can go see whoever is playing "owner" that day. Sometimes it's Kim. Sometimes it's Terry. Nobody's sure.

This is an excellent thread because the more I think about how the press conferences themselves have become news, it reinforces the fact that Berchtold isn't doing his job well. The media is not to blame for the sub-par Lynn and Whaley press conferences. The media can ask whatever questions it wants to, however many times, about any subject. The Bills can't control all of that. However, they can put their employees in the best position to answer questions and that takes preparation and having the right people available to answer the questions, including the owner. You also don't let the employees twist in the wind, at the complete mercy of the press. It's appalling to me that this Berchtold guy was invisible at perhaps the two most important press conferences of the year. They have failed miserably at that. Public speaking is part of the job. If Whaley has problems doing it, get him the help he needs to do it better and give him some prepared remarks for crying out loud.

"Howard Hughes-like Pegulas" I agree with his take on that.

I agree. You get the feeling there are a lot of hall walkers at OBD.

Not yet. Just had lunch with him yesterday. He's tired of hanging out at the same airport. If you want Seifert, you have to go to him now. We should see what Barry Switzer is up to.

Don't forget Ron Meyer. He has a winning record (54-50) with lots of AFC experience. Everybody says it's going to be the 80s again anyways...

Wouldn't surprise me that NFL owners and the NFL organization are stoking the media fire on the Bills. There are too many unstable franchises. The NFL can't be delighted to have mercury spills in San Francisco, San Diego and Buffalo and the failed nation/state of Cleveland Browns all the while trying to keep the Titans, Raiders and the Rams from descending into the same depths at the same time.

Out of those choices, I'll take Tom Coughlin. I think the ship needs to be righted and he has the experience, track record, consistency and gravitas to do it. The Week 17 game and yesterday's press conference opened my eyes to the problems this team faces in 2017. I think first-time head coaches would get eaten alive. Buffalo is perhaps the most challenging place to coach in the NFL.

Got you all beat. I flew to talk to George Seifert. Had an enjoyable light lunch. I know, I know. We usually wait for him to come up but this time why not get ahead of the game. Who's up for a road trip to visit Ron Meyer? Ron doesn't have a jet.