hondo in seattle

I'm sure all the candidates will articulate seemingly good plans for subordinate coaches. They know they'll be asked and they'll have canned answers. But how do you know which one will really deliver? That's one of the things I like about big name coaches. I'm not sure how many coaches out there want to work for Frank Reich or Adam Gase, for example. I do know that a lot of coaches would love to work with Bill Cowher or Tony Dungy. And a lot of players would love to play for them.

None of these top personnel guys (maybe Matt Millen excluded) are idiots. Certainly some are better than others but any GM knows more about football than you or me. Bobby Beathard thought highly of Casserly and made him his assistant GM. Does that make Beathard an idiot too? Together they won two Super Bowls. Let's see how many Super Bowls you can win with your most knowledgeable friend. Apparently you're smarter than Bobby Beathard who clearly judged Casserly as a non-idiot. Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, USA Today, and PFW all voted Casserly "Executive of the Year" (or something equivalent) at one time or another. Were all these sportswriters paid off? They obviously didn't think he was an idiot. But you know more. Of course, all of Casserly's success was with the Skins. He failed miserable in Houston. It does make you wonder why he was so successful in DC and so bad in Texas. But it doesn't make him an idiot. Sorry if I sound preachy but it always strikes me as both arrogant and unkind to judge people as "idiots" when we don't have the knowledge to make such a judgment. Generally I think name-calling is resorting to 'short-man's syndrome.' We cut the legs off others to make ourselves feel better about our doubts in our own intellect or self-worth or whatever.

Most other OLs do a better job protecting their QBs and opening lanes for their RBs. Regardless of any theories about DLs, our OL needs to get better. That's my theory. And whatever challenges Hackett and Marrone may have faced, every team has shortcomings in talent. The question you have do ask about coaches: did they do the best they could with the hand they were dealt? On offense, many fans feel the answer was a resounding "NO."

Yeah, I won't pretend to know if EJ will ever be good. I don't think anyone can know that yet. Even the guys who do this kind of stuff for a living (GMs, scouts) aren't great at predicting which QBs will step up and which won't. But because we don't know if EJ will make it, we need to find sign the best FA QB out there or trade for the best QB on the trading block. And then draft a QB.

Sully's never actually worried about getting his facts right. I don't think he considers it part of his job. His job is to stir the pot.

I'm actually kind of intrigued by Reich. He clearly doesn't have a strong resume. He's only been a NFL coach for 7 years with only one unmemorable year as a coordinator. But over the years I've kept hearing positive things about his smarts and leadership. I can't remember who said it, but more than once I've heard "He'll be a head coach some day." So I don't think he's just the nostalgia choice. Some people in New York City are advocating for him for that vacancy and I don't think that's nostalgia. They don't care about his off-the-bench heroics for the Bills and he never did crap for them as a player. They see him as an up-and-coming coaching star. Then again, you can't ignore that he's only been an OC for one year and the results weren't impressive. I'd feel a lot better about Reich's candidacy if (1) I knew he'd retain Schwartz at DC, and (2) I knew he'd hire a dynamite OC.

For Schwartz to get another shot at being a HC (assuming that's his ambition), he needs redeem his reputation with success as a coordinator. What better place to do that than Buffalo? The players seem to like him. He knows how to use them. The Bills D has loads of talent. And Schwartz already had one good year here. Why not rack up 1 or 2 more good seasons as DC in Buffalo rather than rolling the dice somewhere else? Anyway, as has been noted, he's under contract.

We've heard stories before that the Old Guard (Littman, Berchtold, Overdorf, and maybe a few others) viewed themselves as the heart of the team and weren't anxious to change things for a coach when we all know coaches come and go. According to TG, Marrone's beef was mostly with the Old Guard, not so much with Whaley. Rumor has it that Whaley himself has been frustrated with the Old Guard as he tries to change the organization. Polian was fired because he had conflict with the Old Guard, particularly Littman. And this shows you how powerful the Old Guard was. When Ralph had to choose between the guy who built the Bills into a SB contender or the Old Guard, he chose the Old Guard. Pegula needs to dismantle the Old Guard. And that's what he seems to be doing. Littman, probably seeing the writing on the wall, retired. None of the Old Guard will be involved in the HC interviews (contrary to initial reports). And none of the Old Guard will have any authority over our new coach who will report directly to the Pegulas. And these are just the first steps we've learned. I'm sure Pegula has an overarching strategic plan though he's still assessing things, too. Of course, he's not sharing the plan or the assessments with us. But his first moves are dropping some telling hints. I don't see a circus. I see hope. We've known for a long time (since Polian was wrongly fired, at least) that OBD needs to change. Now we see signs of change. It's about time.

From EJ to Brady would be a HUGE upgrade and I'd immediately buy a Brady jersey. But it's not going to happen. Simmons may be a smart guy but the Brady section was really just a lot of pseudo NFL guru mental masturbation. Pleasurable maybe, but all just a fantasy.

I'd be thrilled if they had a chance to interview Tony Dungy.

Maybe my favorite is when people write "Hugh Jackson" - or better yet, "Hugh Jackman" - instead of "Hue Jackson." Hopefully if we hire him to be our next HC - and hopefully we don't - we all learn to spell the name correctly. Sadly, I spell Pegula right because I tend to pronounce it phonetically as PEG-you-la.

Pegula might have told Whaley that the final decision is his. But with the Pegulas attending every interview, it will be hard for Whaley not to know which way they lean. And then what? Does Whaley go with his own judgment or defer to the Pegulas? There's never been a lot of job stability in defying owners. Let's hope the Pegulas and Whaley agree.

I don't want to hire a HC based on EJ's need for a mentor. Especially when I'm not convinced EJ will ever be a good starter, even with the best mentors in the world. I want a HC who's a great HC, not just a QB guru. I do however believe we should find the best QB coach around. Maybe we already have him - Todd Downing. I don't know. Given that we might not find a QB better than EJ before the 2015 season begins, it makes obvious sense to coach EJ up as best as possible. And we need a creative OC who doesn't need a top-flight QB to deliver offensive production. Because we're probably not going to have that kind of QB next year. Adam Gase is a great coordinator when he has Peyton Manning out there. I wonder what he could do with a lesser QB.

Wny? Unorthodox? Maybe. Screwed up? Not necessarily. Really the only thing the GM is supposed to do with coaches is hire the HC. Other than that, in most cases, he lets the coach do his thing. In a couple cases, the GM reports to the HC. I don't see why the HC has to report to the GM or vice-versa. They're distinct job functions. Too often you see good coaches get fired by bad GMs because the GM doesn't want to accept the fact that he just hasn't acquired enough player talent for his coach to work with. If Pegula separates the two (GM and HC) in the organization structure, you preclude that.

It's hard not to imagine that Marrone and Hackett had something to do with it. And the state of the offensive line. I believe Orton was in the top five of the league in snap-to-throw time, which was of course a factor of his lack of faith in protection. It must have been frustrating to know you were missing open receivers either because you were (1) getting hit, or (2) rightfully afraid of getting hit. I'm not saying Orton was a great QB. But looking at things from his POV, it's easy to find reasons why he might have been unhappy with the state of the offense and, particularly, the passing attack. And didn't Boobie say Marrone doesn't have the best personality?

With all the talk of Polian coming in, I worried that Pegs had soured on Whaley or that Whaley's relationship with the Pegulas was strained. Worst case scenario would be that Whaley was so miffed that he would quit. Hearing that Whaley is leading the search gives me a feeling that there is some stability at OBD after all.

Somewhere I read that Hue Jackson comes on like Pete Carroll when you first meet him with all sorts of confidence and positive energy. But, according to the article, the pretense wears thin after a while and you see Jackson for what he really is: a fraud & pretender. I'm smart enough not to believe everything I read yet this negative description of Jackson sticks with me even though I've read more positive takes since. Hue did go 8-8 with a weak Raiders squad in 2011. They haven't won more than 4 games in a season since he left.

I'm not sure they saw this coming but they certainly allowed it to happen. The Pegulas have tons of money. If they really wanted Doug to coach the team for the next four years, they would have accepted his conditions. But, in fact, that's not what they wanted. Their faith in Saint Marrone was far from absolute. So they let him walk. There is so much speculation and contradictory reports on the internet right now. It's hard to know what's true. But the one undeniable fact is that Pegs allowed Marrone to leave and that says a lot.

I'm a fan of anyone who wears Bills colors so I was a Doug fan until he quit. I was a Doug fan with reservations, of course. His NFL experience was at OC and OL and yet our offensive, especially our OL, struggled. You had to be worried about that. But you also had to give Doug credit for delivering the first winning season in a decade. I don't wish ill upon anyone but I won't be pulling for Marrone going forward either.

Let's remember, Pegula let Marrone walk. Marrone had conditions for staying, including a 2 year extension. If Pegula et al were enamored with Marrone and truly believed in him, I imagine they would have met those conditions. It's not like Terry couldn't afford contract extensions. Clearly Pegula (and, I assume, OBD) were not convinced that Marrone was the long term answer at HC. They decided it was best for the team to not meet his conditions and let him leave. Let's see how that decision pans out.

If Gase was able to import some of Denver's offensive productivity and Schwartz kept the defense good....

What was Polian's new role supposed to be and where would that have left Whaley?

Worst bind ever? How about when we had to start one of our WRs (Ed Rutkowski) at quarterback? Or when we were stuck with Harvey Johnson as our Head Coach - twice?!?!? If we find a good coach and competent QB, we'll be okay.

Yessir!

I'm not sure we know enough of the circumstances involved but your observations do indeed beg the question.