It wasn't that widely reported. Even still, just because he favored Hue did not mean he didn't think Rex would be successful.
Whaley and Rex absolutely had the same ideas about how to build a team. Don't just take it from me, though.
“For me his philosophy on how to build a championship team, a consistent championship team is exactly the way I think a team should be built,” said Whaley.
“It’s proven. This past postseason everybody was talking about the conference championship games and the four quarterbacks in there were unbelievable quarterbacks, but the common theme in both of those games was the running game. A running game and a defense is a quarterback’s best friend. And those types of teams consistently compete for championships."
“I knew when he started talking about how he wanted to build a team and I could complete his sentences and he could complete mine in how we want the Buffalo Bills to look we were on the same page.”
“And at that point Kim said, ‘Well then how do you know?’ [Whaley] said, ‘Unfortunately it’s like when I asked people who were married and I was single. How do you know? You just know.’ And when we got to that point we all looked at each other and knew that Rex was the guy who we wanted to be our next head coach.”
http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/How-the-Bills-decided-on-Rex-Ryan-as-head-coach/19b740de-0ca3-4dd6-8fdc-58c0cf013fa2
But yeah, Doug Whaley gets a pass for this blunder.